Insurance news

• Euler Hermes profit declines amid restructuring

  08-11-2016 22:35
  Trade credit insurer Euler Hermes's third-quarter profit
  slipped about 2.2 percent as restructuring costs related to
  European job cuts bit into earnings at the Allianz unit.
  Euler Hermes posted operating income of EUR72.4mn for the three
  months ending in September, compared with EUR74.0mn in the year-ago
  period. Turnover also slipped, by 2.9 percent to EUR628.5mn from
  EUR647.2mn, as the sale of its Bürgel unit in February reduced
  this year's revenue.
  For the nine months ending in September,
  
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• D&O rates fall by 2.9% in Q3: Aon

  08-11-2016 22:35
  The market for directors and officers (D&O) insurance has been
  a fight to the bottom as carriers again drop rates to retain
  business in the third quarter.
  Amid a long run of price declines continued in the primary
  market, more than 99 percent of accounts renewed with the same
  carrier on the promise of lower rates, research by Aon has
  showed.
  In its quarterly D&O pricing index, the broker said that
  just 0.7 percent of policies renewed with a different...
  
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• AmWins hires CFO and elevates Purviance to board

  08-11-2016 21:05
  Amwins Group has hired a dedicated CFO and elevated incumbent
  and COO Scott Purviance to its board.
  The wholesale broking giant said Purviance would relinquish the
  CFO position, with Darin Stafford joining from Remington Outdoor to
  take the role.
  Purviance will remain in the COO role and was lauded by Amwins
  CEO Steve DeCarlo as part of a management team that has rapidly
  grown the firm over the last 15 years.
  "His wealth of knowledge and experience across every facet...
  
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• Allied World names European claims head

  08-11-2016 19:38
  Allied World has appointed Chubb's Stephen Crabb to lead its
  European claims operation, the carrier said today.
  As a senior vice president based in London, Crabb will report to
  Colm Singleton, Allied World's head of Bermuda and global
  markets claims.
  At Chubb Crabb was regional head of claims for Europe, Asia and
  Africa and led the insurer's political risk and credit claims
  division.
  The executive has also held roles at Beazley, as well as at law
  firms Norton Rose, Barlow...
  
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• Madison Dearborn extends Towergate offer

  08-11-2016 16:56
  Private equity firm Madison Dearborn has offered to purchase all
  remaining shares in UK broker Towergate not owned by itself,
  Sentry, HPS Investment Partners (formerly Highbridge), KKR or Bain.
  HPS Investment Partners, KKR, Bain and Madison Dearborn now own
  95.3 percent of Towergate shares, with the remainder owned by
  individual investors.
  The move follows Madison Dearborn's completion of its tender
  offer for shares in the group earlier this week, which made it the
  intermediary's second largest
  
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• Free webinar: An honest look at Chartered status - sign up now

  08-11-2016 16:01
  
  Broker panellists will answer and debate essential questions based on own experiences
  
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• UK insurers likely to be impacted if Trump triumphs as stock market faces a ‘battering’

  08-11-2016 15:55
  
  The UK stock market is likely to take a “battering” tomorrow if US presidential hopeful Donald Trump wins the election and UK insurers will not be immune to the fallout.
  
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• USAA closes $400mn ResRe cat bond

  08-11-2016 15:40
  USAA's $400mn Residential Re 2016-II cat bond attracted
  strong investor interest as sources predicted a lacklustre deal
  volume in the fourth quarter.
  Pricing on the transaction settled at the low end of the revised
  forecast range, sister title Trading
  Risk understands.
  Pricing on all three tranches of the US multi-peril indemnity
  deal came in below the initial target ranges, in a sign of investor
  demand amid lower insurance-linked securities (ILS) issuance
  volumes this year.
  The final insurance
  
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• Underwriter accuses Tokio Marine of race discrimination

  08-11-2016 15:40
  A former senior underwriter in Tokio Marine Global's New York
  office is suing his former employer after claiming he was dismissed
  because of his Indian roots.
  Rajiv Jain accused the Japanese-owned firm of simultaneously
  overlooking him for a promotion and dismissing him because he was
  born in India and "speaks English with a distinct Hindi
  accent".
  It is the third such case Jain has brought against a former
  employer. In 2005, Endurance settled a discrimination case with its
  former underwriter,..
  
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• Travelers settles $126mn asbestos dispute

  08-11-2016 15:40
  US carrier Travelers has agreed a $126.1mn pre-tax settlement
  with one of several defendants in a long running reinsurance
  dispute over historical asbestos liabilities.
  In a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing today the
  company said it expected to receive the payment in the fourth
  quarter, and would recognise a $126.1mn pre-tax and $82mn after-tax
  gain in its next earnings disclosure.
  The reinsurance recoverable balance related to this case would
  therefore be reduced from approximate
  
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• Talbot aims to fill coverage gap with NBCR consortium

  08-11-2016 15:40
  Talbot Underwriting has launched a Lloyd's consortium for
  nuclear, biological, chemical and radiological (NBCR) risks up to
  $50mn as it looks to provide larger lines than those currently
  available.The Validus-owned carrier leads the consortium and is authorised
  to bind business on behalf of fellow capacity providers Ariel,
  Axis, Barbican, Brit and Liberty Specialty Markets.The initiative, which provides cover for property damage,
  business interruption and liability, is the only Lloyd's-led
  conso
  
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• Sahara programme initiative latest in fronting pipeline

  08-11-2016 15:40
  Jamie Sahara's new venture is the latest in a number of
  fronting initiatives looking to launch as an alternative to
  established carriers such as State National.
  Sister title Inside E&S revealed
  at the end of last week that the venture is seeking approval to
  begin underwriting programme business on an excess and surplus
  lines (E&S) basis from the start of 2017.
  Last month, the backers of Sahara-headed managing general agency
  (MGA) Vale Insurance Partners teamed up with private investors
  i
  
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• Reinsurance brokers struggle to placate growth concerns

  08-11-2016 15:40
  Reinsurance brokers offered few concrete answers to questions on
  how they planned to spur growth, after revealing Q3 organic growth
  figures that disappointed some analysts.
  Drumming up new customers helped to boost results at Aon. New
  business generation in core treaty reinsurance at Aon Benfield
  helped to deliver organic revenue growth of 1 percent in the third
  quarter, compared with a 4 percent decline in the same period of
  2015.
  The expansion, which was in line with the second quarter,...
  
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• 'No change' at Aeolus after Elliott deal: Appel

  08-11-2016 15:40
  It will be "business as usual" at Aeolus Capital
  Management following the sale agreement with hedge fund manager
  Elliott Management Corporation, the Bermudian ILS manager's
  founder Peter Appel told sister publication Trading
  Risk.
  "They have no intention of changing what has worked for
  us," Appel said.
  Elliott plans to hold onto its investment in Aeolus "for a
  long time", he added.
  The two parties announced a sale agreement in principle last
  week and expect to close the transaction by year-end..
  
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• JLT boosts spend on US specialty expansion

  08-11-2016 15:40
  JLT's investment in its US specialty business will cost
  £6mn ($7.5mn) more this year as a result of additional funds
  needed and the negative impact of foreign exchange movements, the
  broker announced.
  In an interim management statement released on 8 November, the
  UK-headquartered broker said the build-out of the US specialty
  business was going according to plan, and that there had been a
  strong performance in the division during Q3 2016.
  Meanwhile, strong performance in JLT Re's US and Asi
  
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• Insider View: Aviation rates

  08-11-2016 15:40
  The aviation market could finally, mercifully be drawing towards
  the end of its soft cycle.
  That appears to be the common sentiment among underwriters in
  the market who see light at the end of the tunnel after years of
  falling rates and overcapacity.
  But does this growing sense of optimism for rate rises next year
  square up with the harsh realities of the market?
  One broking source quipped they had lost a bet with a colleague
  that the market would...
  
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• Greenlight Re downgraded by AM Best

  08-11-2016 15:40
  After a string of worsening underwriting results AM Best has
  punished hedge fund reinsurer Greenlight Re by downgrading its
  financial strength rating from A to A- and its credit ranking from
  a to a-.
  The ratings agency also downgraded the company's affiliate
  Greenlight Reinsurance Ireland to A- and the credit ratings of
  Cayman Islands-based parent Greenlight Capital Re from bbb to
  bbb-.
  AM Best said the actions reflected Greenlight
  Re's "less favourable underwriting results in recent
  years", inc
  
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• Forthcoming UK tax changes to hit loss reporting

  08-11-2016 15:40
  A raft of changes to UK corporate tax law next year are likely
  to cause substantial disruption to how insurers structure their
  financial reporting.
  Recommended changes to the base erosion and profit sharing
  arrangements (BEPS) by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation
  and Development (OECD) and UK reforms on carried forward losses
  will begin to impact insurers' financial results and Solvency
  II positions from 2017.
  Under the new UK regime carried forward losses will no longer be
  wholly tax-de
  
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• Expenses on track as AIG continues to shrink

  08-11-2016 15:40
  AIG is ahead of its planned 6 percent general operating expense
  reduction target for 2016, the insurer's CFO Sid Sankaran told
  investors last week.
  The insurer announced a further $210mn of restructuring charges
  in its third quarter results, which are expected to lower
  annualised expenses by about $400mn.
  The move came after AIG said it had already cut expenses by
  around $1bn, or 12 percent, in the year-to-date.
  And in commercial insurance, the expense ratio
  improved by 1.9 percentage points...
  
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• Everest fights Rockhill's attempt to spike poaching suit

  08-11-2016 15:40
  Everest National has fought back against a bid by Rockhill to have
  a poaching case, which alleges piracy and a conspiracy to steal
  trade secrets, dismissed by a US court.
  In late September, State Auto unit Rockhill hired Tracy Upton
  from Everest as it looked to build an excess and surplus lines
  business.
  The Insurance Insider subsequently
  revealed that as many as 14 Everest property underwriting
  executives were following the
  industry veteran to Rockhill .
  Almost immediately after Upton departed,
  
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• Binder business ready for wholesale consolidation

  08-11-2016 15:40
  The mass of binding authority business placed into the excess
  and surplus lines (E&S) market is being targeted by wholesale
  brokers for consolidation, according to senior industry
  sources.
  As InsurTech firms and other potential disruptors target the US
  P&C market, players within the E&S sector are working on
  devising platforms that would act as the perfect
  "mousetrap" for the billions of dollars of binder
  business flowing into the space from retailers.
  "Everyone realises there's a lo
  
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• Alliant faces price fixing allegations

  08-11-2016 15:40
  Alliant has again found itself in the US courts in relation to its
  aggressive expansion strategy, with the California-based
  intermediary accused of risking price fixing allegations and
  breaching antitrust laws.
  The allegations came in a dispute between Alliant, one of its
  clients and a former owner of Moloney + O'Neill, which was
  acquired by the acquisitive broker in 2014.
  The former director of the northeastern broking house, Chris
  Cox, was set to receive his final earnout payment of almost $1m
  
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• AIG recovery setback leaves analysts on the fence

  08-11-2016 15:40
  The jury is still out on AIG after a third quarter that included
  a setback in the underwriting performance of its core commercial
  insurance business, but progress on expense reductions, divestments
  and capital repatriation.
  The insurer missed Wall Street earnings forecasts, prompting a
  sell-off last Thursday (3 November) as its shares closed down 4
  percent.
  But analysts following the stock largely held their position,
  albeit while emphasising the importance of the company achieving
  its loss rati
  
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• Adoption the 2017 challenge: Tom director

  08-11-2016 15:40
  Next year the London market will be challenged to adopt many of
  the new technologies, platforms and working practices designed and
  built centrally by the London Market Group Target Operating Model
  (Tom) team.Speaking last week at the London Market Claims Council,
  Lloyd's Tom programme director Adrian Thornycroft explained
  that 2017 would be a widespread year of adoption for many of the
  initiative's workstreams.He said that this would move the challenge from the centre to
  market participants them
  
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• Direct Line GWP grows 4.5%

  08-11-2016 14:07
  UK personal lines carrier Direct Line grew its top line by
  approximately 4.5 percent year-on-year in the third quarter to
  £882.9mn ($1.1bn).
  The increase was primarily driven by a 10.7 percent hike in
  motor premiums, but was offset by a partial reduction in home
  partnerships.
  The carrier said it expected its operating combined ratio to
  fall towards the lower end of its 93-95 percent range, assuming
  normal weather conditions.
  Pricing in the motor segment continued to grow as claims
  inflatio
  
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• Chubb shakes up P&C and financial lines

  08-11-2016 14:07
  Andreas Faden has been promoted by Chubb to become P&C manager
  for Germany, the company has said.
  Faden joined legacy Ace in 2011 as head of casualty, based in
  Frankfurt, having spent the previous eight years at AIG.
  In addition, Chubb announced that Anzor Bayramkulov has been
  appointed regional property manager for Germany and Austria.
  Bayramkulov joined legacy Ace in 2006 and served in the same
  position.
  Peter Brink will serve as property manager for Germany, having
  been part of...
  
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• Sompo Canopius in U-turn on motor

  08-11-2016 12:43
  
  Lloyd’s syndicate reverses decision to withdraw from motor
  
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• Networks are needed to fight off consolidation, say brokers

  08-11-2016 12:02
  
  The right network "is part of a small broker's armoury".
  
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• ERS launches supercar policy

  08-11-2016 12:00
  
  The product is designed with owners of exotic and high value vehicles in mind.
  
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• JLT Group reports 'resilient' performance in its interim results

  08-11-2016 11:42
  
  JLT Group has reported a "resilient" performance of its risk and insurance businesses, in its interim results for 2016, despite pricing pressures in multiple markets caused by global economic uncertainty.
  
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• Meet the techies: Vivek Banga

  08-11-2016 11:18
  
  Arthur J. Gallagher chief digital officer Vivek Banga tells us how brokers can take advantage of InsurTech.
  
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• Greenlight Re back to black in Q3

  08-11-2016 11:02
  Hedge fund reinsurer Greenlight Re returned to profit in the third
  quarter with net income of $30mn.
  The result marks a drastic improvement on the $219.7mn loss the
  carrier posted for the same period last year after it took a
  $191.3mn hit on investments.
  Gross written premiums fell by 4.8 percent to $128.2mn in the
  third quarter driven by a number of policies that were not
  renewed.
  Greenlight Re CEO Bart Hedges said: "While we saw a slight
  reduction in...
  
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• Video: Power hour - D&O

  08-11-2016 10:30
  
  Experts in the D&O market joined up with Allianz to discuss the key issues.
  
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• Jackson Lee Underwriting launches HGV GAP cover

  08-11-2016 10:15
  
  New product underwritten by Sompo Canopius.
  
  Read more

• Direct Line Group sees GWP rise by 4.2%

  08-11-2016 10:13
  
  Direct Line Group has seen a 4.2% rise in gross written premiums in the first nine months of the year, compared to the same period last year.
  
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• New Towergate investor aiming for bigger stake

  08-11-2016 09:44
  
  Private equity house launches new offer for Towergate shares after completing initial tender
  
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• JLT boosts US specialty investment

  08-11-2016 09:28
  UK-headquartered broker JLT intends to spend £6mn ($7.5mn)
  more on investment for its US specialty business build out this
  year than in 2015, according to its latest interim management
  statement.JLT said this morning that the additional investment reflected
  both additional funds and the negative impact of foreign exchange
  movements.The broker said its specialty division had performed well during
  the third quarter of 2016, with JLT Re notably strong in the US,
  and Asia and remaining on trac
  
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• Motor drives Direct Line Group’s nine-month GWP growth

  08-11-2016 08:48
  
  Insurer’s costs could be higher than in 2015
  
  Read more

• JLT broking unit performance ‘resilient’ in Q3

  08-11-2016 08:46
  
  Challenges remain in JLT’s employee benefits business
  
  Read more

• Over-50s: Targeting a mature market

  08-11-2016 08:00
  
  For insurers, targeting the over-50s market would appear to be a no-brainer, not least because there are so many of them.
  
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• Ageas' François-Xavier Boisseau calls time on IPT for telematics

  08-11-2016 08:00
  
  It's a sad fact that road casualty rates increase around this time of year as we endure darker evenings and deteriorating weather conditions.
  
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