Insurance news

• Frost resurfaces at Axis Specialty Europe

  19-04-2016 18:31
  Dominic Frost has been appointed head of professional indemnity
  for the Lloyd's business of Axis Specialty Europe.
  In September last year, The Insurance
  Insider reported that Frost was leaving his role as
  head of special lines for AmTrust at Lloyd's.
  Before that Frost was active underwriter of AmTrust's
  Syndicate 2526, having taken on the role following the February
  2014 departure of its founder Andy Doré.
  In his new role, Frost will report to Neil Ross, senior vice
  president at Axis...
  
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• AIG appoints chief human resources officer

  19-04-2016 18:31
  American International Group (AIG) has appointed Claudine Macartney
  as its chief human resources officer, the carrier announced today
  (19 April).
  She will be based in New York and report to company chief
  operating officer Jeff Hurd.
  Macartney was previously the insurer's head of human capital
  planning and business partner practice.
  She has worked in AIG's human resources division since 1997,
  when she joined the company as director of learning and
  development....
  
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• AmTrust to buy Lloyd’s insurer ANV for £154m

  19-04-2016 17:37
  
  US financial services group AmTrust has agreed to buy Lloyd’s insurer ANV for $218.7m (£154m) in cash from its current owner, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.
  
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• RMS: 'Significant' economic damage from Ecuador quake

  19-04-2016 15:08
  A major magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck Ecuador's central
  coast on Saturday (17 April), killing 413 people so far, is likely
  to result in more economic damage than originally thought.
  "As well as the fatalities and the impact on people's
  lives there is likely to be significant economic damage in
  Ecuador," Dr Robert Muir-Wood, chief research officer at
  catastrophe modeller RMS, said today.
  Aon Benfield's Impact Forecasting estimated that the quake
  was likely to cause relatively limited econo
  
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• (Re)insurers retaining more 1-in-100-year risk: AM Best

  19-04-2016 15:08
  (Re)insurers were retaining more risk at the 1-in-100-year level
  by the end of 2015 compared to 2012, according to research by AM
  Best.
  The rating agency studied probable maximum loss (PML) data from
  25 of the largest AM Best-rated companies writing
  catastrophe-exposed business in London, Europe and Bermuda.
  The research found that carriers had adjusted their risk
  retentions in response to pricing fluctuations at the 1-in-100-year
  level, keeping more risk in 2013 when the rating environment was
  
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• AmTrust seals $219mn ANV deal

  19-04-2016 15:08
  AmTrust has struck a deal to acquire troubled Lloyd's
  insurer ANV for $218.7mn in cash, the distressed M&A specialist
  announced today (19 April).
  The consideration represented a sale multiple of more than 2x
  tangible book value, well in excess of market expectations for the
  business, which had suggested a slim premium to net tangible asset
  value.
  AmTrust did not disclose the book value of the business, but
  sources have previously placed net tangible assets at around
  $105mn, with goodwill of.
  
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• AJG acquires Nevada-based MGA

  19-04-2016 15:08
  Global broker Arthur J Gallagher (AJG) has acquired Nevada-based
  managing general agent KDC Associates, the company announced
  yesterday (18 April).
  KDC was founded in 2008 and provides admitted and excess and
  surplus, P&C and other specialty products and services to
  independent retail insurance broker clients.
  The company specialises in the motor, manufacturing, commercial
  construction, wholesale, hotels and property owner sectors.
  KDC chief executive Kevin Lay and his team will continue to
  
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• Markerstudy restructures retail division after departure of Russell Bence

  19-04-2016 14:43
  
  Markerstudy’s retail division will undergo a restructuring following the resignation of managing director Russell Bence.
  
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• Axa grows in Africa through tie up with Lloyd’s specialty Chaucer

  19-04-2016 14:21
  
  A new venture between Axa and specialty insurer Chaucer will cover political risk, energy and infrastructure.
  
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• Advent targets $100m in growth delegated authority market

  19-04-2016 13:50
  
  Advent Solutions Management has announced plans to target growth and plans to be processing $200m (£139.3m) in premiums within five years following significant investment by Abbey International Finance.
  
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• Markerstudy reorganises retail division as Russell Bence leaves

  19-04-2016 12:35
  
  Managing director Bence leaves after seven years with the company.
  
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• Markerstudy restructures retail division as Russell Bence resigns

  19-04-2016 12:07
  
  Markerstudy’s retail division managing director Russell Bence is to leave on 30 April after 7 years with the company, triggering a restructure.
  
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• Watchstone rejects takeover bid

  19-04-2016 11:55
  Claims outsourcing specialist Watchstone has rejected a takeover
  bid from an unspecified private company, it announced this week.
  The group, formerly known as Quindell, issued a statement that
  confirmed it had received a "draft and highly conditional,
  non-cash proposal" for its assets, excluding actual and
  contingent liabilities.
  The statement came after the group's share price jumped 8.32
  percent over the last week, peaking yesterday (18 April) at 242.58
  pence per share.
  The price had settled a
  
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• Five dead after Texas floods

  19-04-2016 11:55
  Texas governor Greg Abbott declared a state of disaster yesterday
  (18 April) after severe floods in the state left five people dead.
  Abbott said that the severe weather and flooding event that
  began on 17 April caused a state of disaster in the counties of
  Austin, Bastrop, Fort Bend, Colorado, Grimes, Harris, Montgomery,
  Waller and Wharton.
  According to the Insurance Council of Texas, a slow-moving
  weather system dumped up to 20 inches of rainfall west and
  northwest of Houston, causing...
  
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• AmTrust completes Republic Group purchase

  19-04-2016 11:55
  Israeli finance and energy conglomerate Delek Group has sold its 66
  percent stake in US insurance group Republic Companies Inc for
  535mn shekels ($140mn) to AmTrust, the company announced today (19
  April).
  The acquisitive US insurer purchased the stake yesterday for
  $35mn in cash, with the balance of $105mn given to AmTrust as a
  seller's loan for a period of four years to be repaid in four
  equal instalments at an annual interest rate of 5.75 percent.
  Delek Group said...
  
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• Aegis London finance director resigns

  19-04-2016 11:22
  
  Finance director of Aegis London, James Halley, is leaving the company.
  
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• Motor: Manufacturers and insurers – joining up the data

  19-04-2016 10:30
  
  With a raft of new technology being installed in motor vehicles, the debate has started over who owns the data it produces – insurers or manufacturers?
  
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• C-Suite Insurer: Liberty's Matthew Moore on attracting millenials to insurance

  19-04-2016 10:15
  
  Change within the specialty insurance and reinsurance markets is as fast-paced as any part of the financial sector
  
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• Saga sees improving motor COR and profit growth

  19-04-2016 10:14
  
  The over-50s specialist insurer and service provider Saga has announced an improved combined operating ratio in its motor book of 74.4% (2015: 77.9%) in the year to January 2016.
  
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• Decline in reserve releases to hit motor insurer profits

  19-04-2016 10:00
  
  A slow down in premiums in the first quarter of 2016 will hit motor insurer profits as prior year reserve releases from the highly profitable 2011-2013 period come to an end, analysts from investment bank Macquarie have said.
  
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• Believe in what you’ve achieved, states 2015 UK Broker Awards winner

  19-04-2016 09:50
  
  Lancaster Insurance Services’ Richard Morley says winning made the whole team proud.
  
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• AXA expands African operations in joint venture with Chaucer

  19-04-2016 09:33
  
  AXA is expanding its reach into Africa following the launch of a joint venture with Lloyd’s insurer Chaucer.
  
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• Saga motor unit reports 74.4% COR and 10.3% profit growth

  19-04-2016 09:21
  
  Over 50s insurance provider Saga’s motor underwriting business made an operating profit of £82.8m in the year ended 31 January 31 2016, up 10.3% on the £75.1m it made the previous financial year.
  
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• Marsh networks boss Martyn Denney departs

  19-04-2016 09:16
  
  Marsh UK head of networks Martyn Denney has left the company.
  
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• Watchstone rejects acquisition offer

  19-04-2016 07:30
  
  Watchstone has rejected an ‘unworkable’ bid from a private company to buy all of its assets, excluding the actual and contingent liabilities.
  
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• Ping An buys 48% of major Chinese online car retailer

  19-04-2016 05:34
  
  Ping An has bought 47.7% of the shares of Beijing-based retail car website Autohome from Australia-based Telstra for $1.6bn (£1.1bn).
  
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• FWD buys health insurer in Singapore

  19-04-2016 05:04
  
  Hong Kong-headquartered health and life insurer FWD has acquired 90% of corporate medical insurer Shenton Insurance.
  
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• Brown & Brown beats despite sluggish retail organic growth

  19-04-2016 03:24
  Brown & Brown opened the first quarter reporting season with
  a narrow earnings beat as better-than-expected margin offset
  sluggish organic growth in its core retail business.
  The US broker reported revenues up 4.9 percent to $424.2mn for
  the period, as its top line demonstrated overall organic growth of
  1.3 percent.
  There was strong organic growth of 3.4 percent in Brown &
  Brown's smaller wholesale business, with 1.6 percent in
  programs.
  But revenues in retail increased organically by on
  
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• Insurers can export risk management skills to governments: Catlin

  19-04-2016 00:08
  Insurers can export their risk management skills to global
  governments to help manage natural disasters, XL Catlin executive
  deputy chairman Stephen Catlin said at the inaugural meeting of the
  Insurance Development Forum (IDF) in Washington DC last week.
  The forum is a partnership involving representatives of the UN,
  the World Bank Group and the insurance industry.
  The aim of the forum is to integrate insurance industry risk
  expertise into governmental disaster management programmes and to
  expan
  
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