Insurance news

• Sompo set to acquire Endurance at 45% premium

  04-10-2016 21:19
  Big three Japanese insurer Sompo is poised to announce a deal to
  acquire New York-listed (re)insurer Endurance for well in excess of
  $6bn.
  The story was first reported by Japanese paper the Nikkei, but
  has been independently confirmed by this publication.
  Sources told this publication that the deal represents roughly a
  45 percent premium to the undisturbed share price of $64.96, which
  would be equivalent to nearly $6.4bn.
  The deal would value Endurance, led by John Charman, at around
  1.4x...
  
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• Sompo to acquire Endurance at 45% premium

  04-10-2016 21:19
  Big three Japanese insurer Sompo is poised to announce a deal to
  acquire New York-listed (re)insurer Endurance for well in excess of
  $6bn.
  The story was first reported by Japanese paper the Nikkei, but
  has been independently confirmed by this publication.
  Sources told this publication that the deal represents roughly a
  45 percent premium to the undisturbed share price of $64.96, which
  would be equivalent to nearly $6.4bn.
  The deal would value Endurance, led by John Charman, at around
  1.4x...
  
  Read more

• Matthew hits Haiti as Florida placed on watch

  04-10-2016 21:19
  Category 4-strength Hurricane Matthew made landfall in Haiti today
  at 11am GMT, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), with
  the forecast path moving somewhat to the west towards Florida.
  However, based on current projections from Tropical Storm Risk,
  Florida will escape hurricane force winds.
  The wind fields for the site with a 45-hour lead time show a
  tropical depression hitting Miami, with tropical storm strength
  winds skirting Florida, although there still remains a degree of
  uncer
  
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• Wirtz to lead Newline German office

  04-10-2016 18:00
  OdysseyRe's specialty insurance subsidiary Newline Group is
  to open an office in Germany, overseen by Manuel Wirtz, it
  announced today.
  Newline said it planned to have the office operational within 90
  days, subject to regulatory approval.
  The office will become the carrier's first within the
  European Union.
  Wirtz joins the initiative as general manager from Dual Germany,
  where he served as managing director.
  He spent nine years with Dual in the country, having joined as
  an underwriter in 2007. H
  
  Read more

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• Mena reinsurance execs expect rate hardening

  04-10-2016 18:00
  A majority of reinsurance executives in the Middle East and North
  Africa (Mena) region expect rates in the market to rise within the
  next 12 months, according to the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC).
  In the QFC's annual Mena Reinsurance Barometer report,
  released today, it said 52 percent of executives polled believed a
  series of major insured losses and subsequent retrenchment of
  market participants in the region should cause a rate
  hardening.
  It is the first time a majority of executives...
  
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• Aon Securities names new London head

  04-10-2016 18:00
  Aon Securities has named an executive from the company's
  insurance management division, Darren Bailey, to lead the
  London-based capital markets business, sister publication
  Trading Risk revealed last week.
  Bailey was previously a director within the European ILS
  management business of Aon Insurance Managers.
  He rejoined Aon in late 2014 after several years as a senior
  underwriter at AIG Global Risk Solutions in London, having
  previously spent eight years at the big three broker in London and
  Dub
  
  Read more

• Markel-Allied breakdown points to deal blockers

  04-10-2016 16:13
  Although precise details of curtailed M&A talks between
  Markel and Allied World are being closely guarded, the discussions
  again highlight the logic of further consolidation in a fragmented
  industry with a challenging operating outlook.
  And after a hiatus of major transactions through the first three
  quarters of 2016, banking sources have suggested a resumption of
  interest in major M&A deals that could break the deadlock.
  However, the mismatch between future earnings potential and
  valuat
  
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• Insider View: RFIB-Tysers and the broker roll-up play

  04-10-2016 16:13
  You can see on paper why private equity houses look at the
  London market broking space and see a sector crying out for a
  roll-up strategy.
  There are 250 registered Lloyd's brokers, many of them small
  and almost all of them sub-scale in a world of increasingly
  sophisticated modelling and intrusive regulation.
  Buying a number of these brokers and crunching them together
  into something that is more cost-efficient, with a broader offering
  to clients and the greater competitive leverage that...
  
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• Greenberg faces finite reinsurance inquisition

  04-10-2016 16:13
  In a momentous hearing at New York's Supreme Court, Maurice
  "Hank" Greenberg has taken the stand to give evidence in
  a decade-old suit accusing the 91-year-old executive of fraud.
  After years of legal wrangling, the case, brought by the New
  York attorney general's office, has finally made it to court,
  potentially threatening Greenberg's position at CV Starr.
  The allegations relate to a pair of infamous finite reinsurance
  transactions dating back to the 1990s that were negotiated by
  Greenberg and
  
  Read more

• Focus on M&A after Markel-Allied talks end

  04-10-2016 16:13
  Markel and Allied World have ended advanced talks over a
  transaction that could have reignited major M&A activity in the
  specialty P&C sector, The Insurance
  Insider can reveal.
  Instead, the failed negotiations will raise questions over
  whether the 2014-15 deal rush that dried up this year can resume,
  given valuation levels, social issues and a diminished outlook for
  (re)insurers.
  According to banking sources, the two parties had held
  discussions for a number of weeks before Markel pulled
  
  Read more

• A postcard from Namic

  04-10-2016 16:13
  The North American mutual market is a paradoxical place - ripe
  for disruption and afflicted by a creeping cost base, but still
  reluctant to change.
  Last week, the market converged upon Vancouver, Canada for the
  annual National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (Namic)
  conference.
  As many as 1,200 carriers attended, ranging from insurers with a
  premium base of less than $1mn to mutual giants such as State Farm,
  which earned $59bn of P&C premiums last year.
  Despite rising costs and...
  
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• Stone Ridge reaches $5bn

  04-10-2016 16:13
  Top 10 ILS manager and reinsurer sidecar investor Stone Ridge Asset
  Management reported that its net asset base had reached $4.95bn by
  the end of July, up 4 percent from the end of the prior quarter.
  During the three-month reporting period, Stone Ridge invested
  $56mn with an Axis Ventures Re cell and put $23mn into
  PartnerRe's 2016 Demeter Re, trimming its $27mn allocation from
  2015.
  Stone Ridge also renewed its participation in the mid-year
  portfolio offered by Bermudian manager Aeolus,...
  
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• Soft market cuts E&S property margins to the bone

  04-10-2016 16:13
  Underwriters worn down by almost three-and-a-half years of
  significant rate softening in the excess and surplus lines
  (E&S) property space are beginning to talk about walking away
  from business, as margins approach unsustainable levels.
  The sombre mood at the National Association of Professional
  Surplus Lines Offices (Napslo) annual convention in Atlanta
  last week extended from US specialty insurers to Lloyd's
  underwriters, who conveyed the challenging conditions they face to
  their stat
  
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• Sirius adds to ranks for organic and M&A growth

  04-10-2016 16:13
  Sirius Group has added key personnel to its corporate and
  underwriting ranks as it looks to pursue growth both organically
  and through M&A.
  The China Minsheng Investment (CMI)-owned reinsurer tapped
  Robert McFadden to head its casualty group in New York as a senior
  vice president.
  McFadden was previously director of casualty treaty at XL
  Catlin, where he was also a senior vice president.
  Earlier he held positions at Munich Re, XL and Prudential Re
  over his nearly three decades in...
  
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• Shrinking ILS market will spring back

  04-10-2016 16:13
  The cat bond market is likely to recover from the shrinking that
  occurred in the first half of 2016, according to panellists at the
  Trading Risk Monte Carlo roundtable.
  Guy Carpenter vice chairman David Priebe said the 144a product
  would react "like an accordion, expanding or shrinking based
  on market demand and pricing".
  "We know that a host of companies are seriously considering
  coming back or re-issuing later in 2016 and into 2017," Priebe
  added.
  Scott Grove, reinsurance buyer at...
  
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• RFIB eyeing Tysers acquisition

  04-10-2016 16:13
  RFIB, the London market broker backed by private equity house
  Calera Capital, has made an approach to acquire venerable Lime
  Street peer Tysers, The Insurance Insider
  can reveal.
  Sources said that RFIB is interested in a deal that could see
  the larger broker acquired for roughly £100mn ($128.5mn).
  However, sources have said that Tysers - although open to a
  transaction with the right buyer - is resistant to a tie-up with
  RFIB owing to cultural issues.
  A sale to RFIB...
  
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• Jubilee FPSO loss reveals overcapacity issue

  04-10-2016 16:13
  The contrasting reactions to the damage to the Kwame
  Nkrumah floating production storage and offloading (FPSO)
  vessel in June this year and the Gryphon North Sea FPSO
  loss of 2011 show the extent to which overcapacity is dictating the
  market's moves.
  JLT said despite a much healthier premium base and a robust oil
  and gas market, the North Sea loss had an extremely high profile
  and at least partially impacted the sector rating environment at
  the time.
  In contrast, the...
  
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• Insider View: Capacity abundant... talent short?

  04-10-2016 16:13
  For all the talk at Napslo meetings of underwriting pain in the
  depths of the soft market, the gossip at the bar was dominated by
  tales of company-swapping in the E&S property sector.
  Triggered by Rockhill's wholesale property play, there was a
  round of frenetic hiring activity as Everest restocked from several
  of its rivals, with some individuals seemingly signed up between
  appointments in Atlanta.
  But the moves had some senior market practitioners wondering
  whether recent events were evide
  
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• Industry awaits potential Hurricane Matthew losses

  04-10-2016 16:13
  Insurers are anxiously watching the path of Hurricane Matthew as
  the storm tracks towards the mainland US, prompting comparisons
  with the $6bn loss from Hurricane Irene in 2011.
  Matthew is currently on course to carve its way through the
  Caribbean as a Category 4 hurricane, with storm warnings issued in
  Haiti, the Central Bahamas and Cuba.
  However, it is also now expected to make landfall on the US east
  coast afterwards as a Category 2 storm near the Carolinas.
  This...
  
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• HCC exits builders' risk

  04-10-2016 16:13
  Tokio Marine HCC has exited the US builders' risk market in
  a demonstration of the extremely soft pricing conditions being
  experienced in the business line, The Insurance
  Insider can reveal.
  According to sources, the US specialty insurer has parted
  company with senior vice president Frank Tricamo and his team only
  three years after entering the property construction risk
  segment.
  Tricamo joined from Tower Group, where he was senior vice
  president and national property practice leader.
  The depart
  
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• E&S property merry-go-round spins at Napslo convention

  04-10-2016 16:13
  A string of property moves between several excess and surplus
  lines (E&S) carriers added intrigue to the otherwise gloomy
  tone of meetings for underwriters at the National Association of
  Professional Surplus Lines Offices (Napslo) annual convention in
  Atlanta last week.
  As revealed by The Insurance Insider
  at the event, the bulk of Everest National's E&S property
  team has decamped to Rockhill Insurance Group.
  The exodus follows the earlier departure of Tracy Upton, who
  joined Rockhill to
  
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• Cobalt still eyeing 1.1 start as Lloyd's under scrutiny

  04-10-2016 16:13
  Shariah-compliant managing general agency Cobalt will go before
  the Franchise Board in mid-October with a view to securing approval
  for its Lloyd's start-up, The Insurance
  Insider can reveal.
  Cobalt's plan will be presented to the Franchise Board on 18
  October, as the Corporation looks to ride out a wave of criticism
  from the market over its decision to approve Peter Scales'
  £150mn ($193mn) start-up Blenheim.
  The takaful start-up had been targeting the September Franchise
  Board meeting and
  
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• Claims should be made Tom priority: Jardine

  04-10-2016 16:13
  Claims management is not high enough on the agenda of priorities
  for the London market's Target Operating Model (Tom), XL Catlin
  chief experience officer Paul Jardine has claimed.
  The Tom is a programme of modernisation work spearheaded by the
  London Market Group. One of its first priorities has been the
  creation of electronic placement facility Placing Platform Limited
  (PPL).
  Speaking at the London Market Claims Council last week
  (28 September), Jardine said he had "no problem" with the
  impleme
  
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• Aviation insurers fear IT failure: report

  04-10-2016 16:13
  Aviation industry executives have named failure of critical IT
  systems as the risk which most concerns them, according to a report
  from Willis Towers Watson.
  The broker's 2016 Transportation Risk Index report, which
  surveyed 350 executives in the sector and was released on 3
  October, listed competition scrutiny stemming from M&A and
  dependence on third-party suppliers as the second and third most
  troubling threats.
  An inability to keep up with the pace of change and
  technological advancement
  
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• Aon names new London head

  04-10-2016 16:13
  Aon Securities has named an executive from the company's
  insurance management division, Darren Bailey, to lead the
  London-based capital markets business, sister publication
  Trading Risk revealed last week.
  Bailey was previously a director within the European ILS
  management business of Aon Insurance Managers.
  He rejoined Aon in late 2014 after several years as a senior
  underwriter at AIG Global Risk Solutions in London, having
  previously spent eight years at the big three broker in London and
  Dub
  
  Read more

• Former Allianz MD resurfaces at consultancy firm

  04-10-2016 15:03
  
  Oxbow Partners advise senior insurance management and insurtech start-ups
  
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• Praedicat announces liability catastrophe model

  04-10-2016 14:55
  California-based InsurTech analytics company Praedicat has
  launched Oortfolio a liability catastrophe modelling platform based
  on the probability of future mass litigation.
  The platform mines the texts of peer-reviewed science
  publications for theories suggesting certain commercial products
  are causing harm.
  It then uses this data to build a probabilistic microsimulation
  model of future mass litigation, and uses the model and data to
  estimate the exposure of certain business activities or compan
  
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• Tech helps motor brokers stay dominant in Continental Europe

  04-10-2016 14:55
  
  Direct motor players have struggled to break into Continental Europe compared with UK - report
  
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• XL Catlin completes Australian acquisition

  04-10-2016 13:33
  XL Catlin has completed its acquisition of Australian
  underwriting agency and Lloyd's approved coverholder Brooklyn
  Underwriting.
  In a statement today, the carrier confirmed the acquisition had
  been completed by an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of XL Group
  Ltd.
  Craig Langham, XL Catlin's regional chief executive for
  insurance in Asia Pacific, said the firm would still operate under
  the Brooklyn brand.
  "We expect them to continue their market success and
  further strengthen their position in th
  
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• Qatar Re granted Singapore branch approval

  04-10-2016 13:33
  Qatar Re has received formal approval from the Monetary
  Authority of Singapore to operate a branch office in the
  city-state.
  In a statement released today, the company said Micky Lee, head
  of its representative office in Singapore, will become principal
  officer of the branch.
  He will lead a team of three senior underwriters writing
  non-life treaty business with a focus on property per risk,
  property catastrophe, casualty and specialty lines - including
  marine, aviation, energy, engineering and c
  
  Read more

• Markel International hires yacht underwriter

  04-10-2016 13:33
  Markel International has appointed Mike Wimbridge as senior
  yacht underwriter in its marine, energy and property division.
  Wimbridge was most recently a yacht underwriter at Brit Global
  Specialty. He will join Markel's existing hull and war team led
  by Jason Page, and will be supported by underwriter Roz Insley.
  Paul Jenks, managing director of the marine, energy and property
  division, said the appointment will support the expansion and
  development of Markel's existing yacht business.
  In July th
  
  Read more

• Caribbean awaits Hurricane Matthew

  04-10-2016 13:33
  Category 4 Hurricane Matthew remains on course to hit the
  Caribbean, with Jamaica, Haiti and Cuba all on alert for high
  levels of rainfall and coastal swell.
  The storm is already being called the most powerful Atlantic
  hurricane in almost a decade, drawing comparisons with 2011's
  Hurricane Irene.
  Irene travelled across the Carolinas before heading north
  through the eastern seaboard, and caused some $6bn in insured
  losses.
  Matthew is on course to hit the western tip of Haiti later
  today,...
  
  Read more

• Career development: Allianz broker programme recruits sixth edition scholars

  04-10-2016 13:10
  
  Allianz has started its sixth cycle of its scholarship programme for commercial and personal lines brokers.
  
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• XL Catlin acquires Brooklyn Underwriting

  04-10-2016 13:08
  
  XL Catlin has completed its acquisition of Lloyd’s approved coverholder Brooklyn Underwriting.
  
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• Career file: John Blundell joins Ecclesiatical as GI MD

  04-10-2016 13:05
  
  Ecclesiastical has appointed John Blundell as managing director of its UK general insurance business, effective 1 September.
  
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• Seventeen Group breaks £10m for first time

  04-10-2016 12:35
  
  Seventeen Group has seen a 6.4% increase in group revenues, exceeding £10m in 2015 for the first time.
  
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• NMJ Insurance buys Wye Insurance

  04-10-2016 12:27 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  The deal with the Bakewell-based broker is NMJ's fifth acquisition in six years.
  
  Read more

• Brit expands US marine team

  04-10-2016 12:13
  Brit Global Specialty USA has appointed Will Frohne and Craig
  McGinnes to its newly formed marine business, it announced
  today.
  Frohne has joined as vice president for cargo business. He was
  formerly assistant regional head of marine at Allianz.
  McGinnes has been named vice president for yacht business,
  having joined from Falvey Marine, where he was yacht manager. Prior
  to this he worked at XL Catlin as national yacht underwriting
  manager.
  He joined Brit on 2 October and is based...
  
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• Engineering insurance sector is under-evaluating cyber risks

  04-10-2016 11:42
  
  Cyber risks are underestimated by engineering underwriters despite the Internet of Things and cloud computing having a direct impact on engineering risk landscape.
  
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• Cyber risks are transport industry's biggest concern

  04-10-2016 11:30
  
  The increased security threat from cyber and data privacy breaches is the number one risk on the minds of executives in the transportation industry.
  
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• Legal Protection Group MGA launches

  04-10-2016 11:13 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  Bristol-based Legal Protection Group will provide a range of BTE and ATE products with limits up to £2m.
  
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• Applied Systems: Epic to provide choice in "starved" UK market

  04-10-2016 11:13 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  Joe Sultana, MD broker solutions, says UK brokers should be confident as system has already been tested in North America.
  
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• Applied Systems launches Epic in UK

  04-10-2016 10:56 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  Offering for UK insurance brokers follows roll-out in US and Canada.
  
  Read more

• Mapfre takes controlling stake in Indonesian carrier

  04-10-2016 10:49
  Spanish carrier Mapfre has purchased a 31 percent stake in
  Indonesian insurer Asuransi Bina Dana Arta (ABDA) for EUR92mn
  ($102.8mn), upping its position to a 51 percent majority holding in
  the company.
  The carrier purchased its original 20 percent share in the
  company in 2013.
  The completion of the deal remains subject to administrative
  approvals.
  Under Indonesian legislation Mapfre must make a public takeover
  bid for the remaining shares of the company once the acquisition
  has been formalised.
  
  Read more

• UK General partners with Thistle for cycle product

  04-10-2016 10:30 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  New product to be distributed through British Cycling.
  
  Read more

• Opinion: Ashwin Mistry on unrated insurers

  04-10-2016 10:30 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  Getting your fingers badly burnt: With the collapse of two unrated insurers in the recent past, Ashwin Mistry ponders what future such providers have
  
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• Brokers worry their reputations are on the line as SSP outage hits hard

  04-10-2016 10:30 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  Users seeking redress after having to turn away customers during data centre downtime
  
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• Broker Apprentice 2016: Jonathan Catley

  04-10-2016 10:06 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  The next apprentice tells us a bit about himself as filming starts next week for the 2016 series.
  
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• Brit targets US marine market

  04-10-2016 09:56
  
  Brit Limited has appointed Will Frohne and Craig McGinnes to its newly formed Marine business at Brit Global Specialty USA.
  
  Read more

• Telematics brands fuels growth of black box policies

  04-10-2016 09:29
  
  Policies now account for 17% of whole market
  
  Read more

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