Insurance news

• Enstar to sell Pavonia life for $120mn

  17-02-2017 23:31
  Bermudian Enstar is set to sell Pavonia, which comprises a large
  portion of its legacy life business, to a subsidiary of US
  investment house Eli Global for a total consideration of
  $120mn.
  The legacy-to-live carrier acquired Delaware-domiciled Pavonia
  from HSBC for $155.6mn in a deal that closed at the end of March
  2013.
  "Since acquiring the business in 2013, we have put in place
  improved processes and effective systems that have driven solid
  contributions to Enstar and have significantly enhanc
  
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• BP Marsh & Partners backs CBC management buyout

  17-02-2017 20:49
  The listed private equity firm BP Marsh and Partners has
  acquired over a third of CBC UK, a retail and wholesale Lloyd's
  broker, as part of a management-led buyout.
  According to a statement from BP Marsh on 17 February, the
  private equity house will take a 35 percent stake in CBC, with the
  independent broker's management team led by CEO Robert
  Cottingham taking a 50 percent stake.
  An additional 15 percent of the shares have been acquired by
  Andrew Wallas,...
  
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• Fairfax 'pretty confident' on $500mn extra Allied World funding

  17-02-2017 18:48
  Fairfax Financial CEO Prem Watsa today said he was "pretty
  confident" he would secure an extra $500mn of funding from
  third party investors for its near $4.9bn takeover of Allied
  World.
  In a conference call with analysts on the company's fourth
  quarter results, Watsa said Fairfax was in final negotiations with
  a number of parties interested in participating in the deal.
  The Toronto-based owner of Brit and other insurers posted a
  $704.2mn Q4 net loss late yesterday after chalking up...
  
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• Zurich names Waterman as Asia head of commercial

  17-02-2017 16:44
  Zurich has reshuffled the management of its Asia Pacific business
  following last year's decision to merge its global corporate
  and commercial units into a single commercial insurance operation.
  The company has named Chris Waterman as the head of the Asia
  Pacific commercial insurance business, as well as the regional head
  of property.
  Waterman joined Zurich from AIG last year as commercial
  insurance chief underwriting officer for the region. He reports to
  Asia Pacific CEO Jack Howell, as well as
  
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• XL Group to buy back $1bn in shares

  17-02-2017 14:36
  XL Group is launching a new share buyback programme which allows
  the company to repurchase $1bn of common stock.
  In a statement released today the company said a previous
  buyback programme, which had $349mn remaining, had been
  cancelled.
  The announcement was made after the buyback programme was
  approved by the company's board of directors.
  The purchases are expected to be funded with cash on hand, XL
  said.
  Additionally, the carrier announced a quarterly dividend of
  $0.22 a share, an increase...
  
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• Willis Towers Watson promotes duo in Midwest

  17-02-2017 14:36
  Willis Towers Watson has promoted Scot Housh to regional lead for
  its corporate risk and broking business in the Midwest US.
  The broker also named Mark Vila as the lead for corporate risk
  and broking in the greater Chicago market.
  Housh first joined Willis in 1997. His most recent position in
  the company was as market leader for Minneapolis and St Paul.
  A statement from Willis Towers Watson on 16 February said that
  alongside Housh's day-to-day responsibilities to clients, he...
  
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• Opinion: AIG's contagious malaise

  17-02-2017 14:36
  In its pre-financial crisis days of dominance, it could
  justifiably have been said that if AIG sneezed, the rest of the US
  commercial insurance sector would catch a cold.
  But such has been the insurer's transformation in recent
  years that it is difficult to diagnose whether its reserving ills
  are an isolated case or symptomatic of a virus that could spread
  across the industry.
  In a bid to restore its underwriting credibility after what some
  view as years of systematic...
  
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• National Lloyds sale pulled

  17-02-2017 14:36
  The proposed sale of Texas-based homeowners' specialist
  National Lloyds has been scrapped after owner Hilltop Holdings was
  unable to secure the price it was looking for, The
  Insurance Insider understands.
  In October, this publication
  revealed that the Dallas-based, New York-listed financial
  services company had instructed investment bank Sandler O'Neill
  to handle the sale of the insurance business.
  But now it is understood that the process has been halted after
  Hilltop could not obtain the price
  
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• Jeff Greenberg divests $26mn Validus stake

  17-02-2017 14:36
  Former Marsh & McLennan Companies CEO Jeff Greenberg has
  divested shares in Bermudian carrier Validus worth nearly $26mn.
  In a series of transactions between the 7 and 14 February
  Greenberg cashed in the bulk of his stake in the company, according
  to US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings.
  The divestitures leave Greenberg with just 3,027 shares in the
  company that he owns directly. The stake is currently worth
  approximately $177,300, according to Validus' closing share
  price yes
  
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• Week in Post: Moves and booze

  17-02-2017 14:23
  
  For the first time ever, I had to purchase home insurance this week and despite working with the insurance industry, I had no idea how to go about it. So I ended up on an aggregator site.
  
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• FCA hits firm with multi-million-pound insurance redress bill

  17-02-2017 12:14
  
  Poor value products led to the gift firm being hit with the multi-million pound insurance redress bill
  
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• FCA hits firm with multi-million-pound insurance compensation bill

  17-02-2017 12:14
  
  Poor value products led to the gift firm being hit with the multi-million pound insurance compensation bill
  
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• Opinion: Lancashire's secret sauce

  17-02-2017 12:08
  Other London market firms will almost certainly be looking atLancashire's Q4 results with a touch of envy.
  At this stage in the cycle, a combined ratio of 79 percent is a
  rarity - and an achievement (even acknowledging the carrier's
  leverage disadvantage versus its peer group).
  As Shore Capital analyst Eamonn Flanagan noted, this metric of
  underwriting profitability is unlikely to be beaten by any of
  Lancashire's UK peers.
  Investors certainly liked what they saw. Shortly after market
  opening...
  
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• IAG enlists Singapore central bank for InsurTech hub

  17-02-2017 12:08
  IAG has unveiled plans to launch an InsurTech incubator in
  Singapore in conjunction with central bank the Monetary Authority
  of Singapore (MAS).
  The vehicle will draw from a A$75mn ($57.8mn) venture fund the
  Australian carrier established in December.
  The hub will be called Firemark Labs and will back the
  developers of new products and services in Asia and Australasia,
  IAG said.
  The carrier said its partnership with the MAS reflects the
  central bank's push to promote innovation in the financial.
  
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• Allianz profit jumps as it announces buyback

  17-02-2017 12:08
  Allianz posted a 9.3 percent gain in fourth quarter operating
  profit as it announced a EUR3bn ($3.2bn) buyback and a new
  "flexible" approach to M&A investment.
  Profit rose to EUR2.8bn ($2.46bn), the Munich-based company said
  today.
  The giant insurer and money manager's buyback will target
  about 19 million shares, or 4.2 percent of share capital. At the
  same time Allianz ditched a strategy of ringfencing 20 percent of
  net income attributable to shareholders for M&A, with any
  unused portio
  
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• Allianz buyback needed to achieve 2018 target: Bernstein

  17-02-2017 12:08
  Allianz's EUR3bn ($3.2bn) share buyback, the first in its
  history, is likely to be a capital deployment strategy to ensure
  the carrier achieves its 2018 financial targets, according to
  Bernstein analyst Thomas Seidl.
  Allianz announced the share repurchase programme late yesterday
  alongside itsfourth-quarter results.
  The firm said the move was part of a previously announced plan
  to return unused capital from its external growth budget for the
  period from 2014 to 2016.
  In the future, Allianz will
  
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• FCA orders firm to reimburse 33,000 customers sold unnecessary insurance

  17-02-2017 11:38
  
  The Financial Conduct Authority has ordered a direct mail order business with permission to sell general insurance products to pay £12.5m redress to approximately 330,000 customers.
  
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• Top 5: Reaching the bombarded consumer

  17-02-2017 11:12
  
  Sam Madden, director at Wiraya, explains why insurance brokers must consider new ways of reaching customers in an increasingly saturated communications environment.
  
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• Markel to enter surety market in March

  17-02-2017 10:54
  
  London-based specialist insurer Markel International will enter the surety market in March this year, following the appointment of two senior underwriters.
  
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• Brit profit surges as investments recover

  17-02-2017 10:54
  
  Mark Cloutier warns of tough conditions as Brit profit surges
  
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• Brit reports 2016 slight dip in profit

  17-02-2017 10:49
  
  Brit has reported profits falling slight, with a slip in its combined operating ratio from 91.7% in 2015 to 96.4% in 2016.
  
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• Allianz posts drop in revenues but rise in profit for 2016

  17-02-2017 10:22 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  Operating profit in its property and casualty division fell 4.2% for the year.
  
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• Brit 2016 profit surges on improved investment return

  17-02-2017 10:14
  Brit full-year operating profit bounced to $175.0mn for 2016
  following a much-improved investment return and more favourable
  foreign exchange effects during the course of the year.
  In 2015, the Fairfax-owned company reported an operating profit
  of $28.3mn, after it took a loss of $95.9mn on foreign exchange
  movements. This loss was not repeated in 2016.
  The investment return improved significantly in 2016 to
  $102.9mn, or 2.6 percent, from $5.0mn, or 0.1 percent, the previous
  year.
  Brit said it h
  
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• Allianz profit jumps as it announces buy-back

  17-02-2017 10:14
  Allianz posted a 9.3 percent gain in fourth-quarter operating
  profit as it announced a EUR3bn ($3.2bn) buy-back and a new
  "flexible" approach to M&A investment.
  Profit rose to EUR2.8bn ($2.46bn), the Munich-based company said
  today.
  The giant insurer and money manager's buy-back will target
  about 19mn shares, or 4.2 percent of share capital. At the same
  time Allianz ditched a strategy of ring-fencing 20 percent of net
  income attributable to shareholders for M&A, with any unused
  portion r
  
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• Express Gifts to pay back £12.5m for insurance mis-selling

  17-02-2017 10:12
  
  Firm was authorised to sell general insurance products but delivered cover with “little or no value”.
  
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• Quizzical Questions: 17 February 2017

  17-02-2017 10:09
  
  Test your knowledge of the week's news with our topical quiz.
  
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• Axa launches commercial mid-market app

  17-02-2017 09:35 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  New service for eight sectors will include insurance trade news aggregation.
  
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• Dual's Hillier on the opportunities for title insurance providers in India and the US

  17-02-2017 08:00
  
  While they differ in scale, legislation and stage of development, today’s US and Indian title insurance markets have one important commonality: both offer interesting new opportunities for growth.
  
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• IAG to open insurtech incubator in Singapore

  17-02-2017 05:31
  
  Australian-headquartered insurer IAG is opening an insurtech hub in Singapore later this year.
  
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• IAG opens insurtech incubator in Singapore

  17-02-2017 05:31
  
  Australian-headquartered insurer IAG has opened an insurtech hub in Singapore.
  
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• Zurich restructures Asia-Pacific commercial business

  17-02-2017 03:16
  
  Swiss global giant Zurich is reorganising its commercial business in Asia-Pacific, headquartered in Hong Kong, following the worldwide decision to integrate its global corporate and commercial divisions.
  
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• Navigators misses despite top and bottom line growth

  17-02-2017 03:11
  US specialty insurer Navigators reported an 8 percent gain in
  profit to $17.7mn in the fourth quarter, even as its international
  segment held back the results.
  The $0.58 per share result fell short of the consensus view of
  $0.63 per share held by five Wall Street analysts surveyed by
  MarketWatch.com.
  The carrier reported gross written premium growth of 13.6
  percent as it revealed revenue of $367.5mn for the final quarter of
  last year.
  The group saw premium growth across its...
  
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• Kinsale taps Rhoades and Pully to lead underwriting units

  17-02-2017 03:11
  Kinsale Capital has elevated two executives to underwriting
  leadership roles.
  Clayton W. Rhoades takes over the Richmond, Virginia's
  Management Liability, Professional Liability and Public Entity
  Divisions as a senior vice president, the company said late
  yesterday.
  Benjamin F. Pully will oversee Kinsale's Allied Health,
  Health Care and Life Sciences Divisions, also as a senior vice
  president, the company said....
  
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• Fairfax takes a $1bn+ Q4 investing loss exiting hedges

  17-02-2017 03:11
  Fairfax Financial, in the middle of raising cash to buy Allied
  World Assurance for almost $5bn, reported a net investment loss
  that topped $1bn in the fourth quarter, erasing an operating profit
  mainly derived from its insurance subsidiaries.
  Fairfax closed out all its defensive equity hedges and reduced
  the duration of its bond holdings to about one year to adjust to
  rapid, fundamental changes in the US economy in the fourth quarter,
  chairman and CEO Prem Watsa said in a...
  
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• Cyber Security rules posted in final form by NY State

  17-02-2017 03:11
  New York state regulators published their forthcoming cyber
  security rules today, hailed by Governor Andrew Cuomo as a landmark
  regulation that will protect sensitive consumer data held by
  insurers, banks and other financial services firms.
  The rules, adjusted at the request of insurers and other covered
  entities, call for companies to encrypt customer data when it is
  either in transit over external networks or at rest in their
  offices when in the judgment of the companies it represents a
  risk..
  
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• Allianz's global P&C profits fall 4.2% in 2016; P&C COR improves to 94.3%

  17-02-2017 02:32
  
  German global insurer Allianz finished the year with a strong fourth quarter to meet its profit expectations for 2016 despite weaker investment returns in its P&C business.
  
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• Allianz's global P&C profit falls 4.2% in 2016; P&C COR improves to 94.3%

  17-02-2017 02:32
  
  German global insurer Allianz finished the year with a strong fourth quarter to meet its profit expectations for 2016 despite weaker investment returns in its P&C business.
  
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• Greenberg ends epic battle with NY AG over AIG deals

  17-02-2017 00:53
  Maurice "Hank" Greenberg quietly put an end to 12
  years of arguments, appeals and court appearances today as the
  former AIG boss foreclosed on what promised to be the insurance
  trial of a generation.
  The final coda came after New York Supreme Court Judge Charles
  Ramos in Manhattan approved a $9.9mn settlement that state Attorney
  General Eric Schneiderman had hammered out with Greenberg and
  former AIG CFO Howard Smith.
  With the accord, the prosecutor and the two executives resolved
  civil...
  
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• Endurance's Worman emerges as CNA chief underwriter

  17-02-2017 00:53
  Doug Worman who used to head up Endurance's US insurance
  business has resurfaced at CNA, a Chicago-based carrier that
  announced the hire today.
  In July last year, The Insurance Insider revealed that Endurance
  had parted company with Worman, however at the time it was not
  known what his next move would be.
  Now at CNA Worman will take up the newly created role of
  executive vice president and chief underwriting officer when he
  officially joins his new employer next month....
  
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• AIG confident over Swiss Re quota share renewal

  17-02-2017 00:53
  AIG is confident it will be able to renew the Swiss Re quota
  share for its US casualty book on "favourable terms" when
  it expires at the end of this year, despite higher loss picks on
  current underwriting.
  The insurer has been working closely with its reinsurers as it
  reshapes its ongoing book of business, president and CEO Peter
  Hancock said today at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2017
  insurance conference in New York. The two-year Swiss Re deal...
  
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