Insurance news

• Mitsui buys New Ocean stake, commits $100mn

  21-10-2016 21:03
  Mitsui & Co has acquired a 15 percent stake in New Ocean
  Capital Management and committed an initial $100mn of investment
  funds to the asset-management platform majority owned by XL
  Group.
  About a fifth of the funding, $21mn, has already been invested,
  Mitsui said in a statement. The Tokyo-based company said it would
  strive to supply additional capital to New Ocean by 2020.
  After purchasing the stake from existing investors, a Mitsui
  representative will join the board of New Ocean,...
  
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• Liberty in talks with Ironshore as Hartford walks

  21-10-2016 21:03
  Liberty Mutual has emerged as the frontrunner to take out Ironshore
  with a full sale by owner Fosun now looking the likeliest outcome,
  The Insurance Insider can reveal.
  Sources said that Liberty Mutual is one of the companies that
  has been in late stage talks with $2.1bn+ equity Ironshore, having
  twice bid for the company before, including at the point the
  business sold to Fosun last year.
  Ironshore is believed to have come close with The Hartford
  earlier this month,...
  
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• Somerset Re raises capitalisation to $375mn

  21-10-2016 18:50
  Somerset Re increased its common share capitalisation to $375mn
  following investments by several strategic investors, including
  German reinsurer Hannover Re, the Bermuda-based company said.
  The life and annuity reinsurer also listed financial services
  investment fund Atlas Merchant Capital, which is based in New York
  and London, as one of the investors. In addition, the company said
  it received investments from a number of high net worth
  individuals.
  Somerset plans to collaborate with Hannover t
  
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• CCRIF pays out $29mn in Matthew losses

  21-10-2016 16:40
  The Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) has now
  completed payments totalling $29mn to member governments affected
  by Hurricane Matthew.
  The payouts were made within 14 days of the event to the
  governments of Haiti, Barbados, Saint Lucia and St Vincent &
  the Grenadines under one or both of the tropical cyclone and excess
  rainfall policies.
  Hurricane Matthew swept through the Caribbean earlier this
  month, cutting through Haiti and Barbados before weakening after
  making landfa
  
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• Capacity Group to launch SIR real estate program on Hamilton paper

  21-10-2016 16:40
  US broker Capacity Group is set to launch an exclusive program
  for real estate owners and managers with policies underwritten by
  Hamilton Specialty on a non-admitted basis, The
  Insurance Insider can reveal.
  The initiative - Prominent Properties - has been put together by
  the group's Capacity Excess division and uses a self-insured
  retention (SIR) mechanism instead of the traditional first dollar
  approach in the US market in a bid to attract and reward better
  quality risks.
  The program is targeti
  
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• Arcus hires property underwriter

  21-10-2016 16:40
  Arcus has appointed former Aon Benfield property broker and client
  manager Katie Higgon as an underwriter.
  She will report to Syndicate 1856 active underwriter Nicky
  Payne.
  Higgon joined Aon Benfield's graduate programme in 2011 and
  worked primarily on the North American property team.
  The hire marks the Barbican-managed company's first
  expansion in staff numbers since its launch at the beginning of the
  year.
  The business, backed by Credit Suisse, has £90mn of stamp
  capacity and focuses pr
  
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• RSA UK claims chief to step down in 2017

  21-10-2016 14:02
  
  Successor will oversee completion of RSA’s claims transformation programme
  
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• Zurich's Karl Helgesen to replace RSA's Bill Paton as claims director

  21-10-2016 12:48
  
  RSA’s Bill Paton is to step down as claims director for the UK, Western Europe & Middle East at the end of April 2017. He will be succeeded in the role by Zurich's Karl Helgesen, pictured.
  
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• RSA’s Bill Paton to step down as claims director

  21-10-2016 12:48
  
  RSA’s Bill Paton is to step down as claims director for the UK, Western Europe & Middle East at the end of April 2017. He will be succeeded in the role by Karl Helgesen.
  
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• Bill Paton to step down as RSA claims director

  21-10-2016 12:30
  
  Current Zurich chief claims officer Karl Helgesen will take up the position.
  
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• Howden to combine UK operations

  21-10-2016 12:24
  Hyperion's retail broking arm Howden is to bring together its
  UK operations under a single management structure.
  Howden's UK professional indemnity (PI) and general
  insurance divisions will be combined, and run under Howden UK.
  In addition, all of Hyperion's recent UK acquisitions,
  including the UK retail portion of RK Harrison, Powell Bateson,
  Perkins Slade, PI specialist Windsor and care sector specialist
  CHIS will also come under the new division.
  From 1 November, Simon Lakey, managing direct
  
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• Rise in pet insurance fraud pushes case for data sharing

  21-10-2016 11:51
  
  A 400% rise in pet insurance fraud means that insurers need to share data over claims, a software company has warned.
  
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• Four-fold rise in pet insurance fraud requires forward-looking approach to data sharing

  21-10-2016 11:51
  
  A 400% rise in pet insurance fraud requires an integrated approach with insurers using software and data sharing, the Insurance Fraud Taskforce has said.
  
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• Blog: Bordereau is dead

  21-10-2016 11:34
  
  In this tech-driven day and age, one of the most striking relics of days gone by is the bordereau system. Although they may be computerised, bordereau reports tend to be about as high-tech as an Excel spreadsheet.
  
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• Matthew to generate US insured loss of $1bn-$5bn: RMS

  21-10-2016 10:33
  Catastrophe risk modelling firm RMS has estimated US insured losses
  from Hurricane Matthew will fall between $1.5bn and $5bn, it
  announced today.
  In the Caribbean, RMS projected insured losses would fall
  between $1bn and $3bn with the largest proportion of the losses
  emanating from the Bahamas.
  The announcement follows The Insurance
  Insider's story yesterday, whichrevealed details of a confidential RMS client advisory,
  detailing the loss expectations.
  The figures make Matthew the costliest Atlan
  
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• Ghost broking costs victims £11.5m since 2012

  21-10-2016 09:47 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  Police say that since IFED was set up it has investigated 86 cases as it announces crackdown on ghost broking activity.
  
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• Insurtech Futures Blog: The evolution of insurance software

  21-10-2016 09:46
  
  Richard Gordon, managing director of insurance technology company, Red Crake, charts the history of software developments and the current opportunity for innovative brokers.
  
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• Brokers offered online terrorism cover amid growing UK threat

  21-10-2016 09:19
  
  UK and Irish brokers can now easily access terrorist cover online, with good commissions, from Lloyd’s broker
  
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• Linkedin unrated insurer cheap premium 'rant' sparks broker debate

  21-10-2016 08:58
  
  Gable falling into administration renews broker concerns about pressures to go for cheap premiums 
  
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• Police warn motorists amid ghost broker plague sweeping country

  21-10-2016 08:54
  
  Vehicles to be flagged down in ghost broking crackdown 
  
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• Spotlight on health insurance: Scamming the workplace

  21-10-2016 08:00
  
  Fraudsters are always on the move and with whiplash still seemingly on the government's agenda there are fears repetitive strain injury claims could well be the next whiplash saga.
  
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• PartnerRe to pay $286mn for life reinsurer Aurigen

  21-10-2016 07:04
  PartnerRe has agreed a deal to buy North American life reinsurer
  Aurigen Capital for $286mn (CN$375mn) in cash.
  The Insurance Insider revealed at the
  beginning of the year that private equity owners Soros Fund
  Management, Bregal Capital, Pine Brook Capital and EdgeStone
  Capital Partners had appointed Evercore to run a sales process of
  the company.
  Aurigen has grown since its 2007 launch to be a top-five life
  reinsurer in Canada based on recurring new reinsurance business and
  has also been...
  
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• Venbrook targets wholesale expansion after fundraise

  21-10-2016 05:10
  Venbrook Group is set to strategically grow in the wholesale space
  after closing a $42mn debt capital raise from New York Life
  subsidiary Madison Capital Funding.
  The independent Los Angeles, California-based broker used a
  portion of the proceeds from the funding to buy New Jersey-based
  wholesaler Brooks Insurance Group, the company said today (20
  October).
  And Venbrook president and CEO Jason Turner told The
  Insurance Insider that the firm sees "huge
  opportunities" for consolidation in the whol
  
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• RLI shares plunge 12% after Q3 miss

  21-10-2016 05:10
  Shares in RLI closed down 12 percent in New York as investors
  reacted nervously to a third quarter earnings miss and the
  company's first reserve deterioration in more than a
  decade.
  The shares crashed by as much as 13.8 percent, but had recovered
  to $60.87 at the time of writing.
  The sell-off came despite equity analysts suggesting adverse
  development on prior-year reserves was likely an aberration.
  Keefe Bruyette & Woods analyst Arash Soleimani said the
  surprise development would likely see
  
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• Programs and wholesale drive 4.3% organic growth at Brown & Brown

  21-10-2016 05:10
  Strong third quarter organic growth in Brown & Brown's
  programs and wholesale brokerage businesses contributed to 4.3
  percent overall underlying growth in revenues at the Florida-based
  intermediary.
  The performance helped the firm edge ahead of Wall Street
  forecasts as it reported earnings per share of $0.50 for the
  period, compared to analysts' consensus of $0.49.
  Organic growth in national progams, which includes the
  group's Arrowhead division, was 7 percent as commissions and
  fees climbed
  
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• Everest-Rockhill legal dispute over property hires intensifies

  21-10-2016 05:10
  Everest National, in pursuing a preliminary injunction against
  former executive Tracy Upton and State Auto unit Rockhill
  Insurance, accused both of piracy and conspiring to steal trade
  secrets while luring Everest employees to join Upton in setting up
  a new venture for the Ohio underwriter.
  Everest presented a more detailed argument on 14 October to
  support its request for the injunction.
  Columbus-based Rockhill late last month hired Upton away from
  Everest to create an excess and surplus lines
  
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• Capacity Group launches SIR real estate program on Hamilton-Attune paper

  21-10-2016 05:10
  US broker Capacity Group has launched an exclusive program for real
  estate owners and managers with policies underwritten by Hamilton
  Specialty and Attune Insurance on a non-admitted basis,
  The Insurance Insider can reveal.
  The initiative - Prominent Properties - has been put together by
  the group's Capacity Excess division and uses a self-insured
  retention (SIR) mechanism instead of the traditional first dollar
  approach in the US market in a bid to attract and reward better
  quality risks.
  The p
  
  Read more

• UK home insurers set to face drop in profitability, says EY

  21-10-2016 01:05
  
  After eight years of good earnings, the profitability of the UK home insurance market is set to plummet as insurers prepare to experience a barely profitable 99% net combined ratio.
  
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• Travelers shares down 6% as rising auto, weather losses hit profits

  21-10-2016 00:20
  Travelers disappointed investors with a 23 percent drop in net
  earnings for the third quarter, citing higher than expected losses
  in core auto and homeowner lines, provoking a selloff in its
  shares.
  Operating earnings per share fell 18 percent to $2.40 for the
  just-ended period, compared with $2.93 a year earlier. It was the
  fourth consecutive quarterly profit drop for the nationwide P&C
  carrier.
  Travelers said net written premiums rose 3 percent to $6.39bn,
  while revenue advanced 2 percent
  
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• National Security projects up to $4.5mn in Matthew loss claims

  21-10-2016 00:20
  Regional insurer National Security Group expects losses from
  Hurricane Matthew to be in the range of $3.5mn to $4.5mn from
  clients in Georgia and South Carolina, the Elba, Alabama-based
  company said late Wednesday.
  After catastrophe reinsurance coverage, the company said its net
  Matthew-related losses will range from $3.5mn to $4mn, its
  retention maximum. After taxes, the insurer said, the losses will
  cut its fourth-quarter income to a range of $2.31mn to $2.64mn.
  National Security has received
  
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