Insurance news

• US P&C carriers struggling to generate underwriting profits: report

  24-10-2016 19:36
  The majority of large US P&C insurers have failed to make money
  on underwriting over the past five accident years, with just 40 of
  the top 100 companies reporting such profits during the period,
  according to Guy Carpenter.
  In a report released yesterday, the reinsurance broker said that
  in a "challenging operating environment" the biggest
  areas for profitable underwriting were general liability lines,
  special property and products liability coverage.
  By contrast, most carriers reported under
  
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• Marsh in talks to acquire Bluefin: reports

  24-10-2016 19:36
  Marsh is understood to be in discussions with Axa about buying the
  French insurer's UK broker network Bluefin.
  According to Sky News, Axa is in advanced talks to offload the
  unit in a deal worth around £300mn ($367mn). The terms are yet
  to be finalised.
  If the transaction goes through, ownership of Bluefin's
  network of 40 offices and 1,400 employees would transfer from Axa
  to the US broking giant.
  Other brokers, including Aon, are also understood to have
  considered offers...
  
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• Industry highlights importance of cyber cover following Friday's attacks

  24-10-2016 18:33
  
  Brokers and insurers have highlighted the growing necessity for cyber cover following Friday’s high profile cyber-attack.
  
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• Treasury names ex-ABI GI boss as financial services director general

  24-10-2016 17:52
  
  Role became available after Charles Roxburgh was named as second permanent secretary to the Treasury
  
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• Growth lies outside of traditional business: Munich Re

  24-10-2016 17:45
  Developing technologies, rather than traditional market
  mechanisms, will be the future drivers of growth in the
  (re)insurance industry, according to Munich Re.
  Speaking at its Baden-Baden press conference today, Munich Re
  board member Ludger Arnoldussen said (re)insurers must partner with
  nascent technology start-ups to take advantage of phenomena such as
  big data if they want to continue to grow.
  Arnoldussen explained that while traditional business was still
  a "value generator" for Munich Re,
  
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• FSCS will protect policyholders of Liechtenstein insurer Gable

  24-10-2016 17:40
  
  The Financial Services Compensation Scheme said it will protect consumers affected by the Gable administration, should the firm become insolvent.
  
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• Broking success: Simon Lancaster, SJL Insurance

  24-10-2016 17:39
  
  Branching out: From property owners to PI, SJL Insurance’s principal Simon Lancaster is focused on growing the broker and wholesaler organically with the help of his team
  
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• Five firms affected by FCA's system outage last month

  24-10-2016 16:11
  
  The Financial Conduct Authority has confirmedthat five firms were unable to submit reports following a system outage last month.
  
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• FBI cyber chief joins broker

  24-10-2016 16:07
  
  James Trainor most recently led the cyber division at FBI’s headquarters
  
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• Expected post-sanction Iranian gold rush fizzles out

  24-10-2016 15:54
  
  The decision to lift the most stringent sanctions on Iran may have been greeted by celebration, but many insurers are finding the remaining restrictions still make doing business there an unattractive proposition.
  
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• Three classes to go live on PPL in November

  24-10-2016 15:26
  The board of the Placing Platform Limited (PPL) has announced that
  directors' and officers' (D&O), financial institutions
  and professional indemnity business will go live on the London
  market electronic trading platform from 7 November.
  The Insurance Insider first revealed
  in
  June this year that D&O and financial institutions were the
  next lines to be put on the platform.
  And in August, this publication reported that marine was likely to
  become the next class for the PPL, following the r
  
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• Aon hires FBI cyber expert Trainor

  24-10-2016 15:26
  Aon Risk Solutions has hired James Trainor, leader of the cyber
  division at the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), as senior
  vice president of its cyber solutions group.
  In his new role, Trainor will help shape Aon's overall cyber
  strategy, working across technology, system integration, risk
  transfer and advisory.
  "As the FBI's foremost expert in cyber security, Jim
  brings unparalleled experience and knowledge that will be
  invaluable to clients as they evaluate and address their cyber
  exp
  
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• Lloyd’s broker makes board appointments after acquisition deal

  24-10-2016 13:50
  
  Kinetic was bought by Torlea Group in the beginning of October
  
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• Neon expands property team in Bermuda

  24-10-2016 13:20
  Dwayne Hunt has agreed to join Neon's Bermuda office as
  senior vice president, property insurance, the carrier announced
  today.
  Hunt will begin his new role on 1 December. He joins from Chubb
  Bermuda, where he was senior vice president and property manager,
  with responsibility for the firm's mature excess global
  property book of business.
  Prior to Chubb, Hunt held underwriting roles at Arch Insurance
  and XL Insurance in Bermuda, with a focus on the North American
  property market.
  Chris Fisher,..
  
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• Everest Insurance hires head of professional liability

  24-10-2016 13:20
  Don Allard has joined Everest Re's primary subsidiary
  Everest Insurance as head of professional liability, the carrier
  announced on Friday (21 October).
  Allard joins from QBE, where he served as senior vice president
  and head of specialty programmes. In this role he was responsible
  for a portfolio that included professional liability products for
  realtors, accountants, insurance agents and public entities.
  He has also previously worked as chief underwriting officer for
  the select professional di
  
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• China Oceanwide to acquire Genworth Financial

  24-10-2016 13:20
  Asia Pacific Re backer China Oceanwide has agreed to acquire all of
  the outstanding shares of US life insurance specialist Genworth for
  a total transaction value of approximately $2.7bn, or $5.43 per
  share, in cash.
  The offer is 4.2 percent higher than Genworth's closing
  price of $5.21 on 21 October. China Oceanwide plans to let
  Virginia-based Genworth operate as a standalone company after the
  takeover, with its senior management remaining in place.
  The acquisition will be completed through Asia
  
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• Zurich prepares $1bn European legacy sell-off

  24-10-2016 11:21
  Zurich is looking to bring a string of European legacy books to
  market worth upwards of $1bn in liabilities, The
  Insurance Insider has learned.
  The Swiss-headquartered insurance giant plans to dispose of four
  books in total, including a £200mn ($246mn) book of UK
  construction warranty and builders' liability business for
  which Armour is thought to be the frontrunner.
  The UK book is in the most advanced stages of disposal, with the
  others queued up behind it, and the divesture efforts...
  
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• Scales syndicate gets green light for 1 January

  24-10-2016 11:21
  Peter Scales' start-up Blenheim Syndicate 5886 has been granted
  permission by Lloyd's to underwrite for the 2017 year of
  account.
  This allows Syndicate 5886 to quote on business incepting on or
  after 1 January, 2017. It's understood the bulk of the
  syndicate's £150mn ($195mn) capacity will be used to write
  property treaty and property direct and facultative (D&F)
  business.
  Blenheim managing director John Lynch said: "We are very
  grateful to Asta for the expertise and resources that the
  
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• RLI and Travelers highlight casualty deterioration

  24-10-2016 11:21
  There was evidence from carriers in the early third quarter result
  releases that the deteriorating underwriting results seen at AIG
  and Zurich in recent quarters might be spreading across the US
  P&C sector, particularly in casualty lines.
  RLI and Travelers are typically seen as bellwethers for the
  specialty market and broader industry.
  So when RLI opened up the reporting season for carriers with an
  earnings miss that included its first prior-year reserve
  deterioration in more than a decade,
  
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• Reinsurance buyers begin shift to earnings protection

  24-10-2016 11:21
  There are signs of a shift in strategy among larger primary
  carriers to purchase reinsurance to protect against earnings
  volatility in addition to safeguarding their balance sheets.
  The trend over the last decade had been for such buyers to
  utilise reinsurance as a capital management tool to eliminate peak
  risks and optimise balance sheets as they typically retained more
  net.
  Indeed, in the last few years the move to higher retentions has
  combined with centralisation and consolidation of reinsur
  
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• Matthew reinforces reinsurer resolve for 1.1

  24-10-2016 11:21
  After threatening a potential knockout punch to Florida's east
  coast, Hurricane Matthew in the end delivered little more than a
  glancing blow.
  But although a sub-$10bn insured loss is unlikely to turn the
  property reinsurance market on its own, the psychological impact
  should be sufficient to at least further slow the softening, or
  even stabilise rates in the US at 1 January.
  Another mid-sized loss in a year of uncorrelated mid-sized
  losses means that underwriting results are set to suffer...
  
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• Horntrich leaves Zurich

  24-10-2016 11:21
  Zurich global corporate Emea CUO Matthias Horntrich has left the
  carrier as CEO Mario Greco's senior executive cuts programme
  gains steam, The Insurance Insider can
  reveal.
  Sources added the company's former global corporate CEO
  Thomas Hurlimann, who is currently working on special projects for
  Greco, is likely to exit in the coming months.
  Horntrich joined Zurich as Emea CUO in 2014, having previously
  served as CUO for international property business at XL Catlin in
  London for two years from 20
  
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• Beach and Turker Re enter strategic relationship

  24-10-2016 11:21
  Beach Group and Turker Re have agreed to form a strategic
  partnership in Turkey and the Middle East.
  The two firms worked closely together earlier this year as they
  won a request for proposal (RFP) to be sole reinsurance broker for
  the Turkish Catastrophe Insurance Pool (TCIP).
  And now reinsurance broker Beach and Istanbul-based Turker Re
  have teamed up in the region in a bid to offer an alternative to
  the global brokers.
  In a statement, the companies highlighted Turker...
  
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• BaFin stance leaves US (re)insurers frustrated

  24-10-2016 11:21
  US (re)insurers have found themselves in limbo ahead of the major 1
  January renewal for German cedants' business, following a rule
  change by German regulator BaFin.
  In January 2016 the new German Insurance Supervision Act came
  into force, which details the rules for reinsurers from countries
  outside the European Economic Area (EEA) without Solvency II
  equivalence.
  But in August BaFin issued an update which clarified that
  so-called third countries would be prohibited not just from writing
  reinsur
  
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• Aston Scott to swap from Open GI to Acturis

  24-10-2016 11:12
  
  Broker will migrate between software providers over the coming year.
  
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• Axa to merge life and general insurance businesses in Singapore

  24-10-2016 10:09
  
  Axa will merge its life, health and general insurance businesses in Singapore from 1 January 2017.
  
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• Axa in talks with Marsh over Bluefin sale

  24-10-2016 10:06
  
  Deal is rumoured to be worth £300m.
  
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• AXA, Marsh in Bluefin talks

  24-10-2016 09:25
  
  Bluefin purchase would boost Marsh’s market position
  
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• #Insagepeople: 24 - 30 October 2016

  24-10-2016 09:19
  
  Keep up to date with all the latest people moves.
  
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• Cyber insurance vital after Friday's web attack

  24-10-2016 08:42
  
  Friday’s attack on the internet highlights need for cyber insurance
  
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• Why the government was aiming its arrows in the wrong direction on whiplash

  24-10-2016 08:00
  
  News broke recently that the Ministry of Justice has no appetite to go ahead with proposed whiplash reforms at the moment.
  
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• IUMI to open Asia office in Hong Kong

  24-10-2016 06:16
  
  The International Union of Marine Insurance is set to open an Asia office in Hong Kong.
  
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• China Oceanwide to buy Genworth

  24-10-2016 05:35
  
  Chinese investment firm China Oceanwide Holdings has bought struggling US mortgage and life insurer Genworth Financial for $2.7bn (£2.2bn) in cash.
  
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