Insurance news

• Chaucer confirms McDonagh hire

  13-01-2016 23:59
  Chaucer has confirmed the hire of onshore energy underwriter Laura
  McDonagh from Zurich in a move first revealed by The
  Insurance Insider in November last year.
  In a statement today (13 January), Chaucer said McDonagh would
  write worldwide downstream oil, gas, refining and petrochemical
  property business.
  McDonagh has worked at Zurich since she joined as a graduate,
  and in her new role will report to Chaucer's head of energy
  Kelan Hunt.
  Hunt said: "We have a market-leading energy team at...
  
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• NIG puts 71 roles at risk in offshoring move

  13-01-2016 17:58
  
  Katie Marriner Postonline Commercial insurer NIG is shrinking staff numbers at its Bristol and Manchester underwriting centres as part of an offshoring move, Post can reveal.
  
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• IG adds nuclear risks under treaty renewal

  13-01-2016 17:54
  Renewal negotiations for the International Group (IG)'s $3bn
  reinsurance treaty resulted in the club introducing nuclear
  liabilities up to a $1bn limit, it revealed today (13 January).
  In a note to the market about its renewal pricing, the IG
  confirmed The Insurance Insider's
  story from 12 January of relatively lenient terms and a third 5
  percent private placement being introduced.
  The IG noted that price reductions had been achieved across all
  layers of the programme and on the excess war...
  
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• BI top concern for global businesses: AGCS

  13-01-2016 17:54
  The impact of business interruption (BI) remains the top concern
  for global companies for 2016, according to Allianz Global
  Corporate & Specialty (AGCS).
  Some 38 percent of respondents to the firm's 2016 Risk
  Barometer, which surveyed more than 800 risk managers and corporate
  insurance experts from more than 40 countries, rated BI and supply
  chain disruption as one of the three most important risks they face
  today.
  This is the fourth successive year BI risk has been highlighted
  as a...
  
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• Romero profits up 68.3%

  13-01-2016 17:08
  
  Broker’s group commission and fee income also increased by 21.3% to £9.3m
  
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• Flood Re looks to Pen and ProSight for new team members

  13-01-2016 15:38
  
  Scheme hires general counsel and operations head
  
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• Flood Re appoints operations chief and general counsel

  13-01-2016 15:25
  Karen Clautour has joined Flood Re as head of operations, the UK
  reinsurance pool announced today (13 January).
  Clautour joins from Pen Underwriting, where she was responsible
  for underwriting operations and conduct and regulatory risk.
  She previously held similar roles at Travelers, Talbot and
  Lloyd's.
  Clautour will report to director of operations Aidan Kerr and
  will be tasked with maintaining partnerships with outsourcers and
  ensuring the smooth running of the business.
  Flood Re has also hire
  
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• Flood Re completes exec team with hires from Pro Sight and Pen

  13-01-2016 15:01
  
  Callum BrodiePostonline Flood Re has completed its executive team with the appointment Harriet Boughton as its general counsel and Karen Clautour as head of operations.
  
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• Hyperion CEO: £84.1m loss "does not tell story of the group"

  13-01-2016 14:37
  
  CEO says the group will focus on the expertise and knowledge it possesses following acquisitions.
  
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• Willis Towers Watson appoints FI leader

  13-01-2016 13:55
  Willis Towers Watson has appointed Alexander van Kuffeler as
  regional leader of financial institutions for Central and Eastern
  Europe, the Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA) with immediate effect.
  Van Kuffeler was previously executive director in Willis's
  political and trade credit risk practice, where he worked with a
  number of the broker's largest financial institution
  clients.
  With more than 10 years' experience in the credit and
  political risk market, he joined Willis in 2008 having formerly le
  
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• Pembroke to join Lloyd's China

  13-01-2016 13:55
  Ironshore International subsidiary Pembroke Managing Agency will
  establish an office in Shanghai in January 2016 as part of the
  Lloyd's China platform, the carrier announced today (13
  January).
  In Shanghai Pembroke Managing Agency will underwrite specialty
  lines of business, with an initial focus on the agriculture, marine
  and healthcare sectors.
  Tracy Ma has been appointed underwriting manager of the entity,
  reporting to Hui Yun Boo, managing director of Ironshore's Asia
  Pacific region.
  Ma has
  
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• Hyperion records 5% organic growth for 2015

  13-01-2016 13:55
  London-based insurance group Hyperion defied the soft market
  conditions to record 5 percent organic growth for 2015, the firm
  announced today (13 January).
  However, one-off acquisition costs and new investments last year
  led the group to record an IFRS accounting loss of £81.4mn,
  driven by £84.8mn of non-recurring costs.
  This included £29.7mn earmarked for the deferred
  consideration payable to RK Harrison employee shareholders after
  Hyperion completed its takeover of the broker
  
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• Guy Carpenter establishes EMEA advisory council

  13-01-2016 13:55
  Guy Carpenter has appointed former Lloyd's franchise
  performance director Rolf Tolle to its new Europe, Middle East and
  Africa (EMEA) advisory council, it announced today (13
  January).
  Former PartnerRe Global chairman and CEO Bruno Meyenhofer, Guy
  Carpenter managing director Morley Speed and former Sirius
  International Insurance Corporation chief executive Göran
  Thorstensson also join the body.
  The council will support Guy Carpenter's growth plans in the
  region, providing advice and informi
  
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• Global nat cat insured losses hit $35bn in 2015

  13-01-2016 13:55
  Global insured losses from natural catastrophes declined by 12.5
  percent year-on-year to $35bn in 2015, despite an uptick in the
  number of events, according to Aon Benfield's Impact
  Forecasting unit.
  The broker said 2015 insured nat cat losses were 31 percent
  lower than the 15-year average of $51bn and comprised the lowest
  total since 2009's tally of $29bn.
  Some 300 events were recorded last year, compared to the 15-year
  average of 269.
  The costliest event for insurers in 2015 was...
  
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• Beale: Insurers need better incentives to invest in green projects

  13-01-2016 13:55
  The regulators and the UK government are not doing enough to
  incentivise (re)insurers to invest in renewable energy or other
  green investments, according to Lloyd's CEO Inga Beale.
  Speaking at a climate change event last night (12 January),
  Beale asked the UK's secretary of state for energy and climate
  change Amber Rudd whether the government could work with the Bank
  of England to alter solvency regulation so insurers were better
  incentivised to invest in renewables.
  Solvency II regulations deno
  
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• Hyperion could make loss for next two years on RKH costs

  13-01-2016 13:36
  
  But chief executive David Howden says statutory accounts do not paint true picture of performance
  
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• Fraudster sentenced for trying to con LV= out of £60,000

  13-01-2016 13:35
  
  During investigation officers discovered that eight of 11 invoices Kaustubh Ghosh submitted had been fraudulently made up
  
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• ABI's Huw Evans focuses on sustainable development after floods

  13-01-2016 13:17
  
  The director general also says the FCA faces big questions in 2016.
  
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• Night-time curfews for young drivers to be introduced in Northern Ireland

  13-01-2016 12:47
  
  Callum BrodiePostonline A comprehensive package of new measures to improve road safety has been passed by the Northern Ireland Assembly that includes night restrictions on young drivers carrying passengers.
  
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• ISO launches new personal injury compensation tool

  13-01-2016 12:06
  
  Data analysis said to help insurers determine accurate settlements
  
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• Hyperion's revenue increases 50% to £299m

  13-01-2016 11:58
  
  But the group made a loss of £81.4m as a result of acquisition costs.
  
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• Cyber seen as top risk by UK businesses

  13-01-2016 11:48
  
  Allianz survey shows cyber rose from third biggest risk a year ago
  
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• H&H celebrates chartered award

  13-01-2016 11:42
  
  Carlisle and Durham-based broker has achieved corporate chartered broker status from the Chartered Insurance Institute.
  
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• Pioneer launches new environmental liability unit

  13-01-2016 11:21
  
  Team hired from XL Catlin
  
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• Brit expands Versutus sidecar

  13-01-2016 11:17
  Brit increased the collateralised reinsurance capacity provided by
  its Versutus sidecar by 10 percent at renewal, it announced today
  (13 January).
  Versutus is capitalised at $82.5mn and began taking risk from 1
  January. It will provide reinsurance support to Brit's property
  treaty portfolio for 2016.
  GC Securities acted as placement agent for the Versutus Series
  2016 Notes.
  Brit first launched its sidecar on 1 January last year with an
  initial capitalisation of $75mn.
  Jon Sullivan, head of short
  
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• Acquisition and finance costs push Hyperion to £81.4m loss

  13-01-2016 11:15
  
  But underlying profit rose 31% to £56.7m in year to 31 September 2015
  
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• Gallagher names Coldman as UK unit non-exec director

  13-01-2016 11:10
  
  Industry veteran already on board of parent group
  
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• AIG strategy failing to win support among majority of investors

  13-01-2016 10:21
  
  Callum BrodiePostonline Only a small minority of shareholders back AIG’s present strategy amid pressure from activists such as Carl Icahn for a change to the insurer’s approach, according to a poll by investment management firm Bernstein.
  
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• Guy Carpenter sets up advisory council as it plots growth in EMEA

  13-01-2016 10:11
  
  Council is composed of senior figures from Guy Carpenter and wider reinsurance industry
  
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• Subsidence: A close call with cracks

  13-01-2016 10:00
  
  Edmund Tirbutt Postonline While subsidence claims have been insignificant of late, some subsidence experts believe another event year could be around the corner.
  
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• Small minority of shareholders back AIG’s present strategy - poll

  13-01-2016 09:54
  
  The poll of more than 100 investors points to dissatisfaction with AIG management and some sympathy for activists
  
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• Saga review of motor underwriting options is 'positive'

  13-01-2016 09:52
  
  Analysts say the move could lead to reduced capital consumption
  
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• Insurers encouraged to improve claims experience as poll highlights delays

  13-01-2016 09:51
  
  Callum BrodiePostonline More than two in five (41%) motor and home insurance customers have suffered delays and problems when making claims, according to research by Consumer Intelligence.
  
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• 41% of motor and home insurance customers suffered delays in claims

  13-01-2016 09:49
  
  However the research by Consumer Intelligence found that 84% of customers said their claims were handled fairly.
  
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• Businesses are paying later in China but economy is resilient, says Euler Hermes

  13-01-2016 07:12
  
  Andrew Tjaardstra Postonline Credit insurer Euler Hermes believes domestic consumption in China will support the economy but volatility is delaying business payments.
  
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• Analysis: Hong Kong's 2016 prospects

  13-01-2016 04:58
  
  Nicky Burridge Postonline Insurers in Hong Kong look set to have a testing year in 2016 as competition remains intense, margins are tight and the market gears up for a new regulatory regime writes Nicky Burridge.
  
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• Business interruption from cyber attacks a growing concern, says AGCS

  13-01-2016 04:20
  
  Andrew Tjaardstra Postonline Business interruption is the top risk globally for the fourth year in succession according to Allianz's Risk Barometer 2016 - an annual survey of risk managers.
  
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• Alphacat AuM surges to $2.4bn

  13-01-2016 03:14
  Validus Holdings' fund management arm AlphaCat saw its assets
  under management (AuM) surge by more than 70 percent year-on-year
  to $2.4bn as of 1 January 2016.
  AuM at 1 January 2015 was $1.4bn, with the current- and
  prior-year totals excluding assets of PaCRe for comparative
  purposes, as the entity was off risk with effect from the start of
  this year.
  In a statement, Validus said the $2.4bn includes $2.1bn of third
  party AuM, with the balance representing the Bermudian's own...
  
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