Insurance news

• Brokers remain offline 11 days after SSP outage

  06-09-2016 18:30
  
  Brokers still unsure when they will be able to work and reports suggest SSP has suffered a further glitch.
  
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• FOS complaints data reveals firms with highest upheld rates

  06-09-2016 17:14
  
  Brokers and insurers feature in top five
  
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• Mark Weil and Phil Barton hail Jelf’s “unique position”

  06-09-2016 16:28
  
  Organic growth and reorganisation takes Jelf turnover to £120m.
  
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• Zenkyoren seeks further aggregate cover

  06-09-2016 16:14
  Zenkyoren is looking to add to its multi-year aggregate
  insurance through a new $250mn Nakama Re cat bond, sister
  publication Trading Risk has
  reported.
  The Japanese mutual has previously used the rolling three-year
  aggregate feature on a couple of cat bond layers issued in 2014 and
  2015, which were worth $400mn in total, although it remains a rare
  feature on the ILS market.
  The Nakama Re 2016-1 issuance is split into two tranches, one of
  which is lower-risk than the...
  
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• Vario wins Middle East backing

  06-09-2016 16:14
  Vario Partners has won backing from a large Middle Eastern
  reinsurer as it prepares to launch its first fund and issue its
  first whole-account insurance securities, the company told sister
  publication Trading Risk.
  The Vario Global Capital fund has been in development since last
  year, when the structuring firm established an alliance with Guy
  Carpenter. The company has also appointed two new staff - former JP
  Morgan banker Mike Kontaratos as head of investment and
  ex-Lloyd's analyst Markus Gesma
  
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• The Insider 30's growth slows in August

  06-09-2016 16:14
  For the second consecutive month The Insider 30 posted a
  positive average share price movement, although the 0.9 percent
  growth it achieved in August failed to surpass the 1.4 percent
  increase in July.
  The slowdown was predominantly due to second quarter earnings
  disclosures at the beginning of the month, which mostly caused
  negative reactions from investors.
  Nevertheless, less than a third of the aggregate experienced
  share price drops on a monthly basis, with the vast majority of
  carriers witn
  
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• The case for short-duration high yield

  06-09-2016 16:14
  Insurance chief investment officers (CIOs) will be familiar with
  the trend that has seen more money allocated to high-yield assets
  over the past few years.
  The strategy has also evolved for many of these investors,
  moving from simply allocating a small pot to invest in so-called
  "fallen angels" - former investment grade assets that
  have become high yield, but which have sound fundamentals and could
  regain their previous designation - to allowing asset managers to
  invest in high yield more...
  
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• Second tranche of SIMR delayed as deadline looms

  06-09-2016 16:14
  The UK's Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has admitted
  that parts of the Senior Insurance Managers Regime (SIMR) are not
  yet in place even though it has now passed its own summer deadline.
  The SIMR officially replaced the Approved Persons Regime on 1
  January to come in line with the new Solvency II directive, and
  parts of the new regulations went live on 7 March as part of a
  phased rollout.
  As part of the SIMR, carriers are expected to outline...
  
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• S&P: Reinsurers barely earn cost of capital; no change expected

  06-09-2016 16:14
  The margin of reinsurer returns over the industry's cost of
  capital is steadily eroding and only benign catastrophe losses and
  abundant reserve releases have enabled the reinsurance sector in
  the aggregate to earn its cost of capital in 2015 and in the
  year-to-date.
  This was the stark message from ratings agency Standard &
  Poor's (S&P) in a report released earlier this month
  entitled "Reinsurers approach a tipping point as profitability
  threatens to sustainably fall below the cost of cap
  
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• Lloyd's conducts A&H class review

  06-09-2016 16:14
  Lloyd's Performance Management Directorate (PMD) has carried
  out a class review of accident and health (A&H) business amid
  concerns about underwriting standards in some sections of the
  class, sister title Inside FAC has
  revealed.
  The PMD's interim director Theresa Froehlich previously
  unveiled plans in late May for a portfolio review of all syndicates
  across select lines of business, including aviation and
  terrorism.
  However, Inside FAC understands that
  A&H was not part of this earlier r
  
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• Ledger targets broader insurer ILS use

  06-09-2016 16:14
  Ledger Investing, the start-up led by former AIG head of capital
  markets Samir Shah, is aiming to disrupt the insurance industry not
  by targeting new client-facing or distribution innovations but by
  starting with back-end operations.
  "Capital management has such a significant impact on how an
  insurance company works," Shah said, adding that he believed
  that by targeting change at this end of the business more reform
  would be achieved in the industry.
  As sister publication Trading Risk
  reported l
  
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• Italy urged to introduce nat cat consortium

  06-09-2016 16:14
  Leading figures in the Italian (re)insurance market have urged the
  government to reconsider its approach to introducing a natural
  catastrophe consortium following last month's tragic
  earthquake.
  The magnitude 6.2 earthquake on 24 August killed at least 290
  people in the mostly rural Umbria region, about 65 miles northeast
  of Rome. It devastated a number of towns and municipalities.
  Although insured losses are expected to be relatively small in
  this instance, the low level of catastrophe insuranc
  
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• Integro loses liability leader to Willis

  06-09-2016 16:14
  International broker Willis Towers Watson has hired Chuck Shay from
  its rival Integro, The Insurance Insider
  can reveal.
  Shay most recently held the role of managing principal and
  leader of the management risk practice at the intermediary, where
  he has served for more than a decade.
  He will join as Western Region Finex leader for Willis, working
  from the broker's San Francisco office, which has just lost its
  senior vice president Kevin Ishizu. Ishizu is believed to have been
  let...
  
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• Gator Re cat bond claims near trigger

  06-09-2016 16:14
  The Gator Re cat bond faces claims that have eroded 85 percent
  of the deal's deductible, sources told sister publication
  Trading Risk.
  The bond's sponsor American Strategic Insurance reported an
  11 percent increase in storm losses covered by the transaction
  during July, following somewhat slower loss creep over May and
  June.
  Investors were notified late last week that losses had reached
  $148.6mn by the end of July, up from $133.5mn for the first half of
  2016 and $121.7mn for the...
  
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• Florida dodges major Hermine loss

  06-09-2016 16:14
  After more than a decade of benign hurricane activity, the arrival
  of Hurricane Hermine on Florida's shores turned out to be more
  of a damp squib than the hoped-for market-changing event.
  The Category 1 hurricane, which made landfall near St. Marks,
  Florida, in the early hours of 2 September, is unlikely to generate
  major insured losses for Floridian carriers - and their reinsurers
  - since its path avoided the most densely populated areas of the
  Sunshine State.
  It was the...
  
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• EU single market fundamental: Nelson

  06-09-2016 16:14
  Lloyd's will hold onto its European business one way or the
  other, Lloyd's chairman John Nelson has said in a speech that
  again appealed to the government to fight hard to maintain EU
  passporting rights.
  "There are great debates going on about the merits of
  passporting rights, and the regulatory, financial and political
  consequences of these rights," he told the annual Lloyd's
  City Dinner on 5 September.
  "At Lloyd's we are very much of the view that retaining
  access to...
  
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• Endeavour reveals H1 profit

  06-09-2016 16:14
  Independent employee-owned Lloyd's broker Endeavour Insurance
  Services has recorded a change in its fortunes, swinging from a
  pre-tax £1.1mn loss at the end of 2015 to a £1mn profit
  in the first half of 2016.
  The improvement was primarily caused by the contrast with
  one-off restructuring costs from the previous year as well as an
  efficiency drive.
  Expenses fell 22.5 percent from the first half of last year to
  £3.1mn, while revenue was up 16 percent to £4.1mn.
  Endeavour's
  
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• Biba UK SME flood scheme falls behind schedule

  06-09-2016 16:14
  The British Insurance Brokers' Association (Biba) is now
  looking at a September start for its flood insurance initiative for
  UK businesses and property owners.
  The trade body had originally targeted an early summer launch
  for the scheme, but corporate affairs manager Andy Thornley told
  The Insurance Insider that a September or
  early October start date was now the most likely outcome.
  "We're nearly at the launch phase of [the scheme]. With
  anything of this scale, there's obviously a lot of...
  
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• Berkley launches transactional business with Chubb Hire

  06-09-2016 16:14
  WR Berkley subsidiary Berkley Professional Liability is set to
  launch a transactional division with the hire of Randy Hein from
  rival Chubb, The Insurance Insider can
  reveal.
  It is thought that the new segment will offer a range of
  insurance products to protect against transactional risks.
  These are expected to include representations and warranty
  cover, tax opinion insurance and contingent liability
  protection.
  Hein has been with Chubb for a decade, most recently serving as
  senior vice presiden
  
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• Analysts plug hurricane trade as season peak approaches

  06-09-2016 16:14
  As Hermine headed towards the Florida coast late last week,
  sell-side analysts were making a case for the seasonal hurricane
  trade on reinsurance stocks.
  In a research note issued on Friday (1 September), Barclays
  analyst Jay Gelb said he recommended investors take up a
  "short-term buying opportunity" this month as the typical
  peak of the Atlantic hurricane season approached.
  Based on the firm's analysis of a benchmark of
  cat-exposed P&C reinsurance stocks, the shares have
  outperformed the S
  
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• EPUL scoops up property underwriting pair

  06-09-2016 14:37
  London-based commercial property managing general agent European
  Property Underwriting Ltd (EPUL) has added James Tapping and Faye
  Milner to its property team.
  Tapping will write all property-related risks, while Milner will
  be responsible for business development.
  Tapping joins the company from Aviva, where he previously served
  as an executive trading underwriter in the property investors
  unit.
  Prior to joining EPUL, Milner was a film underwriter at Allianz
  Global Corporate & Specialty, hav
  
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• Sartawi to lead Aon Benfield Middle East

  06-09-2016 13:25
  Aon Benfield has promoted Amr Sartawi to CEO for the Middle East
  region.
  Sartawi was previously the broker's head of treaty
  reinsurance business for the Middle East. He has worked at Aon
  Benfield since 2012.
  Prior to this, he spent more than four years at Trust Re,
  latterly as regional manager and underwriter for the Arab region
  and treaty underwriter for Cyprus and Iran.
  Ahmed Rajab, his predecessor as CEO, has left the reinsurance
  broker. His next move is unknown....
  
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• AM Best: Global reinsurance RoE falls to 7.7%

  06-09-2016 13:25
  The reinsurance sector's average return on equity (RoE) fell
  to 7.7 percent in the first half of 2016, 2 percentage points below
  the five-year average, according to AM Best.
  In a special report, the rating agency said global reinsurers
  were still battling compressed profit margins, with the pressure on
  reinsurance pricing and terms and conditions fuelled by
  more-than-ample capacity in the market and low catastrophe loss
  activity.
  In the first half, the global reinsurance combined ratio was
  95.5
  
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• Cunningham Lindsey looks to counter surges in lower value building claims

  06-09-2016 13:23
  
  Cunningham Lindsey has launched Invisio, an independent validation service for lower value domestic and commercial buildings claims.
  
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• Insurtech booms as investment triples in the UK

  06-09-2016 13:09
  
  Investment in insurtech so far this year is already triple that of the whole of last year, making it one of the UK's fastest growing sectors.
  
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• Justice minister to speak on whiplash reform at ABI motor conference

  06-09-2016 12:59
  
  Newly appointed justice minister Oliver Heald will give the keynote presentation at the Association of British Insurers’ Motor Conference.
  
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• Expertise from A-Z: Sailing towards a brighter future

  06-09-2016 11:35
  
  Marine cargo is a niche area but one where the right brokers can truly succeed. But how has the sector developed and what changes are in store in future?
  
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• GRP-owned MGA hires from big-name insurers

  06-09-2016 11:18
  
  GRP’s European Property Underwriting announces hires and promotions
  
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• Leaked document reveals Acturis had power outage

  06-09-2016 10:51
  
  Software house said it was disappointed by the outage, restored service within two hours and has increased the number of back-up generators.
  
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• Document details Acturis' power outage and response

  06-09-2016 10:51
  
  Software house said it was disappointed by the outage, restored service within two hours and has increased the number of back-up generators.
  
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• Sompo chief brushes off Brexit concerns

  06-09-2016 10:44
  The UK's Brexit vote has not dampened the appetite of
  Japanese big three carrier Sompo to invest in London, according to
  chief executive Kengo Sakurada.
  Speaking to the Financial Times, Sakurada said access
  to international licences and underwriting expertise would ensure
  business would not flee London in the aftermath of the vote to
  leave the European Union.
  "I'll continue to put more resources and capital into
  Lloyd's because it gives us access to other developed
  markets," he said.
  "By 2025...
  
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• Axa Belgium mulls 650 job losses

  06-09-2016 10:44
  Axa Belgium has revealed that it is considering cutting up to 650
  jobs over the next two years as part of a strategic overhaul of the
  business.
  In a statement released yesterday, the carrier said the
  management had met at an extraordinary works council to present its
  strategic plan for 2020.
  Alongside the 650 potential redundancies, the plan will see Axa
  Belgium refocus its activities on life insurance and pensions, and
  stop offering individual investment contracts from 1 January
  2017....
  
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• Renewal rules add to burden on brokers

  06-09-2016 10:30
  
  Change will be introduced as the market adjusts to Insurance Act and IPT increase
  
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• End to uncertainty over client money

  06-09-2016 10:30
  
  Regulator cancels its review of client money rules, but brokers warned not to be complacent
  
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• Complaints “broadly levelling off” says ombudsman

  06-09-2016 09:50
  
  New figures reveal 3% increase in workload for first six months of 2016.
  
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• PPI complaint numbers still 'significant challenge', ombudsman warns

  06-09-2016 09:24
  
  The Financial Ombudsman Service said the number of payment protection insurance complaints it receives is still a “significant challenge”.
  
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• Nelson calls for post-Brexit deregulation

  06-09-2016 09:23
  Lloyd's chairman John Nelson has called on the UK government to
  look carefully at the extent of regulatory oversight as it looks
  for ways to maintain competitiveness in the wake of the impending
  Brexit.
  Speaking at the annual Lloyd's City Dinner last night (5
  September) to an audience that included Mayor of London Sadiq Khan,
  Nelson said that Brexit presented "opportunities" by
  forcing a re-examination of the appropriate levels of regulatory
  intrusion.
  "There is an opportunity for us to look...
  
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• Lloyd’s chairman gives stark Brexit warning

  06-09-2016 09:16
  
  John Nelson issues Brexit warning in latest speech
  
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• Insurers selling cyber cover are themselves open to risks from hackers

  06-09-2016 08:00
  
  Big players risk damage to brand if they don’t properly protect themselves
  
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• General insurance complaints rise in first half

  06-09-2016 07:31
  
  Financial Ombudsman Service releases new complaints stats
  
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• Gibraltar tax loophole to close next month

  06-09-2016 07:30
  
  Government changes to take effect from October
  
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• One Commercial picks new claims partner

  06-09-2016 07:24
  
  Primary Group’s commercial MGA enters new agreement
  
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