Insurance news

• Ascot in midst of sale process

  23-08-2016 21:26
  Ascot's management and part-owner AIG are running a sale
  process for the Lloyd's (re)insurer, The Insurance
  Insider understands.
  CEO Andrew Brooks and the rest of management has retained Macquarie
  to advise, while AIG is being represented by Evercore.
  Sources said the sale process which has been restricted to
  financial bidders is now in its second round. Ascot is believed to
  have total net tangible assets - including funds at Lloyd's
  which would need to be replaced - of approaching £400mn.
  
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• Zurich Group job cull to hit 350 UK-based executives

  23-08-2016 18:43
  
  Some 20% of 1,900 executive roles at Zurich are likely to be affected
  
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• Solicitors still seeking PI cover after Enterprise collapse

  23-08-2016 18:22
  
  Regulator working with law firms to find alternative to failed Enterprise
  
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• Weather claims drive down Ecclesiatical UK's H1 profits

  23-08-2016 18:17
  
  Decline in performance is result of property claims returning to normal levels 
  
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• Ecclesiastical sees a return to more muted results for H1 2016

  23-08-2016 17:59
  
  Ecclesiastical has reported a dip in profits for the first half of the year after a "return to a more normal claims experience compared to an exceptionally benign H1 2015".
  
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• Ecclesiastical posts falling profits for first half of 2016

  23-08-2016 17:51 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  COR deteriorated to 87.5% in its UK and Ireland GI business.
  
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• XL Innovate takes stake in Lemonade

  23-08-2016 16:59
  Insurance venture capital fund XL Innovate announced today it
  has made a "significant investment" in soon-to-launch
  peer-to-peer insurance company Lemonade.
  In addition, the fund's managing director Tom Hutton will
  join the start-up's board.
  XL Catlin, the primary investor in XL Innovate, leads
  Lemonade's reinsurance programme. Other reinsurance backers
  include Berkshire Hathaway's National Indemnity, Everest Re,
  Hiscox, Munich Re and Transatlantic Re.
  Hutton said Lemonade was a stand-out compan
  
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• Zurich targets execs in first wave of job cuts

  23-08-2016 15:27
  Around 20 percent of the 1,900 executive roles at Zurich are
  facing the axe as part of CEO Mario Greco's wider cost-cutting
  plans, according to reports.Sources told Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag that management
  would be first in line for cuts, before staff layoffs at the lower
  levels of the organisation.The latest round of job cuts is part of a planned cull of 8,000
  posts from the organisation by 2018.Of the 1,900 executives whose jobs are at...
  
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• United grows E&S book with American Coastal merger

  23-08-2016 15:27
  The recently announced tie-up between homeowners' carrier
  United Insurance Holdings and commercial specialist American
  Coastal will increase the listed Floridian's presence in the
  excess and surplus lines (E&S) space.
  By bringing together complementary personal lines and commercial
  books, the merger of United and American Coastal is set to create
  the third-largest insurer in Florida's residential property
  market.
  Under the terms of the agreement, shareholders in American
  Coastal's parent com
  
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• Uniqa puts Italian business up for auction

  23-08-2016 15:27
  Austria-based carrier Uniqa has begun the process of auctioning
  off its Italian business, The Insurance
  Insider understands.Potential bidders include private equity firms Apollo and
  Cinven, as well as German carrier Talanx.Uniqa primarily writes business in the health and life markets
  and consists of two separate companies: Uniqa Insurance, which
  provides health and life coverage; and Uniqa Security, which offers
  retirement, saving and investment products.Gross written premiums at the carrier de
  
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• Swiss Re and ILS funds lead UPC/ACIC Florida panels

  23-08-2016 15:27
  Swiss Re, Everest Re and several insurance-linked securities
  (ILS) funds are among the major reinsurance providers for United
  Insurance Holdings carrier UPC Insurance and American Coastal
  Insurance (ACIC).
  ILS managers Nephila and Aeolus are the leading
  providers of reinsurance to both carriers and are potentially
  exposed to any consolidation of the programmes in 2017, when the
  two are due to merge.
  Each took almost a fifth of the $185.5mn premiums that UPC ceded
  in 2015, according to Schedule F
  
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• One at Lloyd's scales back to syndicate-only plan

  23-08-2016 15:27
  Athito CEO Stef Raftopoulos and Ark executive chairman David
  Foreman have decided not to pursue a dual managing agency-syndicate
  start-up, focusing instead on the launch of the syndicate,
  The Insurance Insider can reveal.
  Broking sources told this publication that costs had escalated
  owing to the stringency of the Corporation's approach to
  vetting the managing agency application, and that One at
  Lloyd's had opted to concentrate its resources on the syndicate
  start-up process.
  No Lloyd's start-up
  
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• Mortgage is just another line of business: Iordanou

  23-08-2016 15:27
  The $3.4bn acquisition of AIG's mortgage insurance arm United
  Guaranty Corporation (UGC) does not represent a fundamental change
  in Arch Capital, CEO Dinos Iordanou told The Insurance
  Insider in an exclusive interview.
  Stressing the continuity with the Bermudian firm's P&C
  roots and with its existing share in the mortgage insurance market,
  Iordanou said: "To me, mortgage insurance (MI) is just another
  product line."
  The Arch CEO continued that, "basically it behaves in the
  same fashion as an
  
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• Jay Fishman dies aged 63

  23-08-2016 15:27
  Jay Fishman, the chairman and former CEO of Travelers, lost his
  battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the progressive
  neurological disease known as ALS, on Friday (19 August). He was
  63.Fishman first announced that he was suffering from a
  neuromuscular condition in November 2014, revealing that it would
  force him to reduce activities not directly related to Travelers.In August 2015 he announced he would step down as CEO of
  Travelers and did so on 1 December, handing the reins...
  
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• Insider 30 into the red

  23-08-2016 15:27
  Shares in The Insurance
  Insider's Insider 30 group of market-leading
  (re)insurers experienced a price drop of 0.7 percent on average
  last week, as less than a third posted positive movements.
  European carriers suffered the biggest contractions, at down by
  3.1 percent on average, while Lloyd's (re)insurers closed 1.9
  percent below the prior week.
  Generali recorded the largest share price fall among its peers,
  shrinking by 7.8 percent to EUR11.14 amid rumours of the Italian
  carrier's potential exi
  
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• Barbican loses cyber head

  23-08-2016 15:27
  Geoff White, business group leader for cyber liability at Barbican,
  is to leave the company, The Insurance
  Insider understands.
  White joined Barbican in 2013 and is a well-respected
  underwriter in the London cyber market.
  He previously worked at Zurich, where he was in charge of the
  full technology professional indemnity book and developed the
  firm's cyber insurance offering.
  White's exact leaving date and destination firm is not yet
  known.
  His departure is the latest in a merry-go-round of cybe
  
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• ABI outlines concerns around PRA 'model drift' plans

  23-08-2016 15:27
  The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA)'s proposals to
  monitor "model drift" question the raison d'être
  of internal models, according to the Association of British
  Insurers (ABI).
  Under Solvency II, insurers' solvency capital requirements
  (SCRs) are calculated using approved internal models. However, the
  PRA believes there is a risk that these could models evolve over
  time and "drift" away from their origins.
  The regulator's consultation on the proposals closed last
  week (17 August).
  Mea
  
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• AXA plots more mid-market wins with training scheme

  23-08-2016 15:00
  
  Scheme will help AXA underwriters take advantage of period when brokers are deciding on insurer
  
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• AXA plots mid-market business wins with training scheme

  23-08-2016 15:00
  
  Scheme will help AXA underwriters take advantage of period when brokers are deciding on insurer
  
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• Zurich to cut senior roles

  23-08-2016 14:52 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  Insurer will cut 380 executive roles as part of restructure.
  
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• IFB updates detection tool as scope of investigations expand

  23-08-2016 14:47
  
  The updated IFB detection system will identify organised frauds such as ghost broking
  
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• IFB updates detection tool as scope expands

  23-08-2016 14:47
  
  The updated IFB detection system will identify organised frauds such as ghost broking
  
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• Insurers criticised over rate hikes for non-fault claims

  23-08-2016 13:44
  
  But insurers say rate hikes were justified
  
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• PwC: Normal cat year would wipe out offshore energy profit

  23-08-2016 13:04
  An "average" natural catastrophe year would erode all
  profits for energy offshore property risks in the Gulf of Mexico,
  according to PwC research.
  In its 2016 review of London market pricing conditions, released
  today, PwC said average risk-adjusted rate reductions for Gulf of
  Mexico offshore risks exceeded 25 percent last year.
  In this class of business, the market includes an average 30
  percent catastrophe loss ratio within business plans, it added.
  "In light of ongoing and double-digit rate r
  
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• Arch president outlines broker strategy

  23-08-2016 12:53
  
  Arch’s new president explains he is not going direct
  
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• Zurich to shed 20% of executive-level jobs

  23-08-2016 12:33
  
  Zurich will cut 20% of 1900 executive jobs across the group as part of a wider restructure.
  
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• AAIS to release new rules filings for drone insurance cover

  23-08-2016 12:19
  
  American Association of Insurance Services has released new filings of Unmanned Aircraft Liability Coverage forms and rules this week, in response to consumer demand for coverage for drones.
  
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• Zurich to cull 20% of execs: reports

  23-08-2016 11:54
  Zurich will cut around 20 percent of 1,900 executive roles as
  part of CEO Mario Greco's wider cost-cutting plans, according
  to reports.
  Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag said the latest round of
  job cuts was part of the 8,000 jobs planned to be culled from the
  organisation by 2018.
  Sources told the Swiss newspaper that management would be first
  in line for cuts, before staff layoffs at the lower levels of the
  organisation.
  Of the 1,900 executives whose jobs are...
  
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• JLT makes LA-based entertainment hire

  23-08-2016 11:54
  Broker JLT Specialty USA has added Shirley Griffith Bourke as
  senior vice president in its entertainment and hospitality team.
  The company said Griffith Bourke would manage a number of film
  and television clients for risks associated with film production,
  and will help to build the team in Los Angeles.
  She joins the intermediary from rival AJ Gallagher, where she
  served as managing director of the entertainment insurance division
  for over eight years from 2008.
  Prior to that she spent over...
  
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• Broking success: Joining the dots

  23-08-2016 11:41 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  Bolton-based Stanmore Insurance Brokers is alive to the opportunities and to growing its Dot2Dot nursery scheme, explains director Jackie Hyde
  
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• Study finds increased demand for terrorism travel cover

  23-08-2016 11:36
  
  Almost three quarters of British tourists would likely purchase additional travel insurance against terrorism if the price was under £5 a fortnight, according to International Travel and Healthcare.
  
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• Aviva partners with Silicon Valley start-up accelerator

  23-08-2016 11:26
  
  Aviva chief digital officer outlines insurtech strategy
  
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• One month to go until Brighton Broker Expo

  23-08-2016 11:01 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  Join us at this year's free Broker Expo south in the seaside resort on 20 September.
  
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• Beazley increases cover for environmental risk

  23-08-2016 10:54
  
  Beazley has doubled its environmental risk capacity to £50m with the new Beazley Elements consortium at Lloyd’s.
  
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• InsurTech Futures: Aviva partners with tech accelerator

  23-08-2016 10:46 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  Insurer to work with Silicon Valley-based Plug and Play in order to foster insurance innovation.
  
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• PPOs are ‘iceberg’ for UK motor insurers

  23-08-2016 09:21
  
  Analyst urges better disclosure of PPO liabilities
  
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• Driverless cars will bring ‘significant disruption’ to insurance

  23-08-2016 08:45
  
  Driverless cars will pose challenges to industry, study finds
  
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• Blog: 8 ways insurers are focusing on customer service

  23-08-2016 08:07
  
  A lot is said about customer focus, delighting customers, and being a customer-driven business, to name three buzz phrases. Without the right approach, real effort, and supporting evidence, there's always a danger these are empty words.
  
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• Are there too many roadblocks for rehabilitation to really work?

  23-08-2016 08:00
  
  Getting injured people back on their feet through rehabilitation can be a win for claimants as well as insurer defendants but, when working within the naturally adversarial legal system, roadblocks can quickly spring up.
  
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• Ecclesiastical creates new role as broker business develops

  23-08-2016 07:30
  
  Specialist insurer appoints broker distribution head
  
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• FM Global breaks ground on £45m loss prevention facility in Singapore

  23-08-2016 03:42
  
  International commercial insurer FM Global has broken ground on a S$80m (£45m) education facility in Singapore.
  
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