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The proclamation of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the world economy shutdown, which ultimately caused a global recession. Although the consequences of the pandemic were not the same in all national economies and economic sectors, the governments of most countries, in order to mitigate the negative effects of the crisis, adopted fiscal packages to support the citizens and subsequently business entities in their countries, which ranged from 1% to 7% of gross national product. However, these measures do not guarantee the possibility of rapid economic recovery in the long run. During the crisis, a large number of economic entities expected that a part of the loss caused by the negative effects of the pandemic will be covered. However, insurers have encountered not only an increased number of requests, but also an intensification of operational risks, threatened solvency and profitability. Reorganization of business activities of insurance companies has become mandatory, whereas ensuring fair treatment of policyholders and the stability of the insurance sector has become an ultimate condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of every business activity is maximising profits, which explains the tendency of business entities to make products and services readily and easily available for customers. The insurance activity is not free of placement problems. In order to survive, an insurance company must constantly follow the trend of the development of services and distribution channels. As an emergence of global insurers has raised the issue of the placement of insurance services, innovations related to the placement of insurance services will be the subject of this paper. However, the success of the placement of services is dependent upon the fulfilment of the following preconditions: the service is of great quality; it is adequately distributed - available, its price - the insurance premium - suits the quality and is competitive; the service is presented to customers in a quality manner, while the sales personnel is highly motivated to do their job. The merger of a banking and insurance subject may result in the reduction of costs, as well as in spurring the synergistic effects and an increase in revenue. New technologies, new approaches and dexterities of businessmen contribute to delivering better business results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the applicability of the CAPM (Capital Asset Pricing Model) and conditional CAPM in the Belgrade Stock Exchange (BSE) in order to determine whether both the CAPM and conditional CAPM can be reliably applied to this emerging market. The returns were collected from the official BSE website for the period from January 2010 to December 2014. Time-series data were then collected for 60 monthly returns of the selected stocks, which is a common practice in model testing. The time-series data were observed for 60 months, which is long enough for all short-term shocks to be neutralized and for beta coefficients to be adjusted to their long-term values. The results of this study indicate that both the CAPM and conditional CAPM cannot be reliably applied in the BSE. The paper suggests that beta cannot be reliably used as a tool for explaining cross-sectional differences in the returns in the BSE and as a measure of market risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the paper is to research if the specificities of insurance business influence the fact that in insurance companies more components of other comprehensive income occur, as well as if in insurance companies different components of other comprehensive income are represented compared to the companies from the real sector. Furthermore, the paper should show if net income and net comprehensive income of insurance companies are significantly different, and which one of them is more volatile over time. The results of the research suggest that in the insurance companies more components of other comprehensive income are represented than in the companies from the real sector, as well as that that the most represented components of other comprehensive income in insurance companies are not different from the real sector companies, but that their frequency of appearance is higher. Statistical analysis conducted at the level of population has shown that net income and net comprehensive income are not significantly different. Also, it was established that net comprehensive income of insurance companies was more volatile over time than net income. However, by segmentation of total population according to types of insurance dealt with by insurance companies to life insurance companies, non-life insurance companies and those doing activities of both life and non-life insurance, it was established that in certain cases net income and net comprehensive income are statistically significantly different, as well as that net income was more volatile than net comprehensive income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]