Insurance news

• Markel's E&S business up 'single digits' in Q2

  11-08-2016 19:45
  Markel's excess and surplus lines (E&S) business grew in
  the second quarter but only by "single digits", the
  carrier's president Michael Crowley told investors last
  week.
  Speaking on the firm's Q2 conference call, the executive
  said: "This growth was driven by our largest wholesale brokers
  and our Markel online portal for binding property and casualty
  business."
  Crowley said the carrier had seen increases in general liability
  premium within its wholesale division.
  "This growth came from both
  
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• Kinsale shares up 22% two weeks after IPO

  11-08-2016 19:45
  Shares in US specialty insurer Kinsale Capital Group are trading
  up more than a fifth on the initial offer price when it went public
  a fortnight ago.
  Shares in the excess and surplus lines (E&S) specialist
  closed at $19.59 when trading ended on Wednesday (10 August), up
  22.4 percent on its initial $16 listing price and 40 percent up on
  the bottom end of its $14-$16 range.
  The sale could be seen as a litmus test for investor appetite in...
  
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• E&S reserve charge hits AFG's casualty profits

  11-08-2016 19:45
  American Financial Group (AFG) has revealed that a second
  quarter reserve charge within its excess and surplus lines
  (E&S) business hampered the profitability of its specialty
  casualty division.
  The US carrier reported the reserve charge along with flat
  group-wide operating profits of $113mn for the quarter, which at
  $1.28 a share were just ahead of analysts' consensus forecasts
  of $1.26 a share.
  AFG's specialty casualty business saw underwriting profits
  slip from $37mn this time last year t
  
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• AIG dials back E&S writings

  11-08-2016 19:45
  AIG has been scaling back its excess and surplus lines (E&S)
  exposure as it responded to increased pricing pressure in the first
  half of the year.
  On the insurance giant's second quarter earnings call, the
  carrier's executive vice president and CEO of commercial Robert
  Schimek revealed that rate increases in parts of the business had
  been partially offset by dwindling E&S pricing.
  "We continued to observe pressure in the excess and surplus
  lines property business," he said.
  "Property rat
  
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• AIG's work experience programme makes students u-turn on ruling out insurance as a career

  11-08-2016 16:45
  
  Two-thirds of participants in AIG’s two-week work experience programme said they were "quite likely” or “very likely” to consider a job in insurance after completing the course, compared to 67% unknowns at the start.
  
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• Hastings "on track" to achieve its targets

  11-08-2016 15:59
  
  Group CFO Richard Hoskins says company profits from using price comparison website distribution model.
  
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• Insurers are breaching regulations over credit card charges, claim Fairer Finance

  11-08-2016 15:47
  
  Insurers are breaching regulations by charging customers over the odds for paying by credit card, Fairer Finance has claimed.
  
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• Zurich hires Asia Pacific CEO

  11-08-2016 14:16
  Zurich has appointed Jack Howell as Asia Pacific CEO from 1
  September, it announced today.
  Howell joins the carrier from Generali, where he has been
  regional officer for Asia since early 2015. He has also held CEO
  positions in the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia at AIG and
  Prudential plc.
  Based in Hong Kong, Howell will report directly to group CEO
  Mario Greco.
  Stuart Spencer, who has held the Asia Pacific CEO role on an
  interim basis, will continue to work...
  
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• Voyager launches high risk travel cover

  11-08-2016 13:44
  
  Product to cover travellers heading to areas deemed high risk by the Government.
  
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• Inperio unveils terrorism policy for brokers outside London Market

  11-08-2016 13:43
  
  Product will offer alternative to the historic Pool Re Terrorism coverage.
  
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• New roles for Carslaw and Blanc in Aston Scott reshuffle

  11-08-2016 13:35
  
  Company rejigs top team as it guns for more growth
  
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• Hastings Group remains focused on competitive pricing as GWP grows 28%

  11-08-2016 13:25
  
  Hastings Group's half year results, released today, revealed gowth in profit, gross written premiums and policies.
  
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• Inperio and Ark launch terrorism product for brokers outside the London market

  11-08-2016 12:58
  
  Inperio and Ark outlines terrorism product as alternative to Pool Re
  
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• Inperio and Ark launch terror cover for non-London market brokers

  11-08-2016 12:58
  
  Inperio and Ark outline terrorism product as alternative to Pool Re
  
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• Inperio and Ark launch terror cover for brokers outside London

  11-08-2016 12:58
  
  Inperio and Ark outline terrorism product as alternative to Pool Re
  
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• Commercial Express defends pub fire payout

  11-08-2016 12:52
  
  Owners got nothing from Commercial Express payout 
  
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• Ageas CEO Andy Watson expects motor premium rises to slow in H2

  11-08-2016 12:03
  
  Ageas UK CEO Andy Watson has told Post that he expects motor premium rises to slow significantly in the second half of 2016.
  
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• Zurich UK sees hike in profits despite strong stance on new business

  11-08-2016 11:46
  
  Zurich UK has seen business operating profit and combined operating ratio significantly improve in the first half of 2016, despite an 8.1% drop in gross written premiums.
  
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• Zurich reports 17% growth in Q2 profits

  11-08-2016 11:33
  Mario Greco's turnaround plan at Zurich and the remediation
  efforts of previous management showed signs of bearing fruit today
  as the global insurer revealed a 17 percent increase in second
  quarter group operating profits to $1.1bn.
  Investors reacted positively to the ahead-of-consensus result,
  with Zurich's share price up 4 percent as of 9:10 BST at
  CHF252.8 ($259.1).
  Net investment income climbed by 4.7 percent to $533mn in Q2,
  with total gross written premiums up 9.7 percent at $9.4bn.
  The ge
  
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• Allied World names Malaysia country manager

  11-08-2016 11:33
  Allied World has hired AIG's Ramesh Sivanathan to head up
  its Malaysian operation.
  In a statement yesterday, Allied World said Sivanathan would
  join the company as vice president and country manager, based in
  Kuala Lumpur.
  He most recently served as Asia reinsurance manager for
  financial lines at American International Group Singapore, prior to
  which he was director of business development at Chubb subsidiary
  Federal Insurance Company in the firm's Labuan branch.
  Michael Garrison, head of insura
  
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• Travel insurance premiums fall by 9% with biggest drop for European policies

  11-08-2016 11:19
  
  Travel insurance premiums have fallen by 9% in the last year, according to the first Consumer Intelligence travel insurance price index.
  
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• Insurers say basing insurance pricing on ethnicity would be 'ethically wrong'

  11-08-2016 11:15
  
  Insurers have spoken out against the recent report from a PI legal firm that suggests motorists living in areas with a high proportion of ethnic minorities pay higher premiums for motor insurance.
  
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• Zurich UK results “reflect discipline”

  11-08-2016 11:14 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  COR improves to 89.5% as GWP falls 8.1% to £765.5m as business resolves to not “take on new business at any cost”.
  
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• Tech & Innovation Awards: vote for the Tech Champion of the Year

  11-08-2016 11:00
  
  You decide who wins at the Tech and Innovation Awards 2016
  
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• Tech & Innovation Awards: vote for Tech Champion of the Year

  11-08-2016 11:00
  
  You decide who wins at the Tech and Innovation Awards 2016
  
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• Zurich profit hit by restructuring charges

  11-08-2016 10:55 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  General insurance business operating profit increased by 3% to $2.2m on a steady combined operating ratio of 98.4%.
  
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• Zurich UK GI profit more than doubles

  11-08-2016 10:54
  
  Results ‘give us real confidence’, says new chief executive
  
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• Hastings on the up as GWP hits £360.6m

  11-08-2016 10:40
  
  Profits, GWP, and in force policies all grow for Hastings Group.
  
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• Judge calls for State Farm to repay $85mn to homeowners

  11-08-2016 10:23
  An administrative law judge in California has recommended that
  US carrier State Farm repay homeowners' policyholders of at
  least $85mn after it was found to have overcharged its customers.It has also advised the carrier to reduce its rates in the
  segment by 7 percent after State Farm's request for a rate
  increase was found to lack sufficient supporting evidence.In a ruling released this week, Judge John Larsen recommended
  California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones deny the insurer's
  applicatio
  
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• Hastings: UK/Gibraltar link will survive Brexit

  11-08-2016 10:03
  
  Insurance reassures market about post-Brexit trading
  
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• Turnaround costs eat into Zurich first half profit

  11-08-2016 09:18
  
  General insurance result shows improvement
  
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• Tech & Innovation Awards: Cast your vote for the Tech Champion of the Year

  11-08-2016 08:54
  
  You decide who win at the Tech and Innovation Awards 2016
  
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• Hastings continues good run with profit and GWP growth

  11-08-2016 08:48
  
  Group on track to meet or beat all targets, says chief executive
  
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• ABI 'disappointed' with FCA renewal transparency rules

  11-08-2016 08:37
  
  FCA’s new rules are positive news, but might lead to “contradictory messaging”
  
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• Zurich appoints Howell Asia-Pacific CEO

  11-08-2016 08:23
  
  Mario Greco, global CEO of Zurich, recruits former Generali colleague for Asia-Pacific role.
  
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• Europe: Measuring the cost of liquidity under Solvency II: fund or deposit?

  11-08-2016 08:00
  
  Liquidity funds have been receiving increased attention from insurance companies. Indeed, some banks in developed markets are reducing their appetite for short-dated funding from non-bank financial institutions.
  
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• Blog: Impressing communities with a Week of Giving

  11-08-2016 08:00
  
  The Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation is gearing up for the Week of Giving, which will provide insurance people with the opportunity to give back to the community.
  
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• Zurich has steady first half as Greco restructures

  11-08-2016 07:47
  
  Global general insurance profits and gross written premiums at global giant Zurich were stable in the first half of 2016 compared with the same period last year.
  
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