Insurance news

• XL Catlin moves Barbuti to lead global casualty unit

  18-11-2016 18:53
  XL Catlin has named James Barbuti as head of its multinational
  casualty insurance segment.
  Barbuti joined legacy Catlin in 2012. He later served as senior
  vice president and zonal manager for XL Catlin's risk
  management business in the Eastern US.
  Prior to his time at Catlin, Barbuti worked at legacy Ace, where
  he managed the New York operations for Ace Risk Management.
  In his new role, Barbuti will report to report to Ken Riegler,
  president of global risk management.
  "Under...
  
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• Velocity chases TWIA depopulation risk

  18-11-2016 18:53
  Nephila-backed managing general agency Velocity Risk
  Underwriters has expanded from Florida and Connecticut into Texas,
  as the state's insurer of last resort gets its first
  depopulation initiative underway.
  Velocity said it has begun writing coastal wind-only insurance
  policies for homeowners that may have previously been insured by
  the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA).
  This came as the state-backed insurer of last resort said it had
  reached a milestone of approving 18,000 policies f
  
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• AIG claims it will hit $25bn capital return target

  18-11-2016 18:53
  AIG is on course to meet its target of returning at least $25bn of
  capital to shareholders by the end of 2017, according to senior
  management speaking at an investor day in New York today.
  In a presentation, CFO Sid Sankaran said that as of 17 November
  the insurer had completed around $11.6bn of capital
  repatriation.
  The total included an additional $1.8bn of share and warrant
  repurchases since the end of the third quarter.
  That leaves $3.6bn under AIG's existing...
  
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• Dash cam app could help tackle motor fraud

  18-11-2016 17:10
  
  Dash cam app Jolt, which records videos in the event of a crash via a driver’s smartphone, will launch next month.
  
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• Broker Expo Live: get ready for growth

  18-11-2016 16:25
  
  Sign up now for free access to the online event on 6 December.
  
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• White Mountains adds $400mn to buyback programme

  18-11-2016 16:21
  White Mountains has expanded its share repurchase plan, with the
  board granting authorisation for management to buy back an
  additional 500,000 shares.
  The carrier said about 375,000 shares can also be bought back
  under an earlier repurchase authorisation.
  Shares in the Bermuda-based company closed at $838.64 in New
  York trading yesterday, which would make the value of the
  additional buyback almost $420mn.
  The company said it would use available cash for the
  purchases.
  The Insurance Insider under
  
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• West of England Club upgraded to A-

  18-11-2016 16:21
  Standard & Poor's (S&P) has raised its financial
  strength and long-term counterparty credit ratings for the West of
  England Club from BBB+ to A-, it announced today.
  The Luxembourg-based protection and indemnity (P&I)
  club's upgrade reflected its track record of consistently
  improved earnings generation and retention, which had boosted its
  risk-based capital to "comfortably above" an AAA rating,
  S&P said.
  The agency has also revised its liquidity assessment on West of
  England to
  
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• FM Global names Ingram as CFO

  18-11-2016 16:21
  Kevin Ingram is to succeed Jeffrey Burchill as chief financial
  officer at FM Global, the carrier announced last week (10
  November).
  Ingram, who will also become senior vice president of finance,
  joined FM Global in 1990, and has held a number of senior roles at
  the commercial property specialist.
  Most recently he was senior vice president of corporate
  services, overseeing the company's business risk consulting,
  business risk management, analytics and business process
  improvement functions.
  Prior
  
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• AIG nets $300mn from sale of Seoul property complex

  18-11-2016 16:21
  AIG has reported a gain of about $300mn from the sale of a major
  property in the financial district of Seoul, South Korea.
  The company announced yesterday that it had sold the
  International Financial Centre Seoul to asset manager Brookfield,
  but did not disclose the sum raised by the transaction.
  However, the carrier revealed the gain today as part of its
  investor day presentation.
  AIG has been paring down through asset sales since 2014, and
  informed its investors today that...
  
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• £650,000 'crash for cash' gang sentenced

  18-11-2016 16:11
  
  A sprawling crash for cash gang has been sentenced for its involvement in a £650,000 scam involving 23 insurers.
  
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• Gang sentenced in long-running large-scale fraud on 23 insurers

  18-11-2016 15:50
  
  Fraud involved claims for collisions that occurred as far back as 2009
  
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• Gang jailed in huge fraud on 23 insurers

  18-11-2016 15:50
  
  Fraud involved claims for collisions that occurred as far back as 2009
  
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• This week in Post: Cracking on with Christmas shopping

  18-11-2016 14:52
  
  Walking around London and seeing the shops and streets beginning to fill up with signs of Christmas, I wondered what industry-related gifts insurance companies might be asking for this year.
  
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• Hiscox appoints Bowen as Europe CUO

  18-11-2016 14:22
  Global insurer Hiscox has promoted Justin Bowen to chief
  underwriting officer (CUO) for its European operations.
  Bowen replaces Stuart Middleton, who, as reported by
  The Insurance Insider in August, exited
  the business to joinMatt Fairfield's Exin as CUO for wholesale and retail.Bowen has worked at Hiscox since 2000, holding a number of
  different roles within its UK business.He first joined the company to lead its London professional
  indemnity team, but went on to head up the underwriting...
  
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• Bupa buys dental provider for £835m

  18-11-2016 13:07
  
  Health insurer Bupa has bought a private dental provider for £835m.
  
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• MAP staffer named 'underwriter of the year'

  18-11-2016 12:50
  
  Richard Trubshaw, a property underwriter at Managing Agency Partners, has been named London’s leading underwriter based on broker nominations, according to a new report.
  
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• PCS revises down Canada wildfire loss to C$3.98bn

  18-11-2016 12:25
  PCS has reduced its estimate of insured losses from the Fort
  McMurray wildfires to C$3.98bn ($2.96bn), as insurers get a better
  handle on claims from the event.
  The announcement confirms market expectations that claims would
  be at the lower end of initial forecasts. PCS had previously put
  the figure at C$4.67bn in September this year.
  Ted Gregory, PCS director of operations, noted that personal
  lines losses had decreased significantly, adding that the firm
  would not be resurveying insurers again
  
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• IAG expects A$200mn losses from NZ quake, storms

  18-11-2016 12:25
  IAG said it would take net losses of A$200mn ($148mn) from the
  New Zealand earthquake and recent Australian and trans-Tasman
  storms, leaving its aggregate reinsurance contracts on the hook to
  pick up any excess claims.
  The insurer said it was still too early to determine the quantum
  of its gross losses from the two events.
  But the insurer had already eroded A$140mn of the deductible
  from its main calendar-year aggregate reinsurance cover by the end
  of October, leaving only A$160mn...
  
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• Domestic book drives 84% profit hike at Tokio Marine

  18-11-2016 12:25
  Tokio Marine's half-year profits increased by 83.7 percent
  to 213bn yen ($1.95bn), driven by the performance of its domestic
  non-life arm.
  Profits in the business soared by 126.2 percent to 159.3bn yen,
  as the unit turned a 43bn yen underwriting loss in the prior-year
  period into a 64.9bn yen underwriting profit.
  Tokio Marine's overseas non-life businesses saw profits
  increase by 22 percent to 76.5bn yen, driven by the North American
  business, the $7.5bn acquisition of HCC and an improved result
  
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• Quizzical questions: 18 November 2016

  18-11-2016 12:06
  
  Test your knowledge of the week's news with our topical news quiz.
  
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• Rentguard launches Home Plus

  18-11-2016 11:58
  
  New policy targets mid to high net worth property owners.
  
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• 'Lavish' woman jailed for taking insurance company for a ride

  18-11-2016 11:36
  
  A woman has been jailed after falsely claiming £10,000 for stolen horse saddles. The money was used to "fund her lavish lifestyle".
  
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• Hiscox appoints Justin Bowen as Europe chief underwriting officer

  18-11-2016 11:09
  
  Hiscox has appointed Justin Bowen as chief underwriting officer for its European operations.
  
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• WR Berkley launches cyber business

  18-11-2016 10:10
  WR Berkley has formed a new cyber insurance business under the
  leadership of Tracey Vispoli, an underwriting executive who
  previously ran a $1.6bn unit for Chubb.
  Berkley Cyber Risk Solutions will sell insurance and risk
  management products to clients worldwide, its parent company said
  yesterday.
  Rob Berkley Jr, president and CEO of WR Berkley, described cyber
  as an "important capability" to add to the group, adding
  that Vispoli was a "pioneer" in the space.
  According to her Linkedin profile, Vi
  
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• Broker Apprentice 2016: Views on the primary school game task – video blog 3

  18-11-2016 10:10 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  The year six pupils have chosen their winner but what did the apprentices learn from the task?
  
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• LV='s Crane reveals why insurer topped service survey for brokers

  18-11-2016 09:38
  
  Broking chief Mike Crane says LV= will not be complacent despite topping broker service survey in personal lines
  
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• Aviva boss Wilson turns up heat on staff with Twitter test

  18-11-2016 09:13
  
  Wilson bemoans state of UK marketing and reveals how his Twitter test filters the best product ideas
  
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• How Zurich boss Greco will save $1.5bn amid fresh cuts

  18-11-2016 08:47
  
  Greco says deeper cuts are needed to trim ‘excessive cost base’
  
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• Women in Insurance: In Jenny’s footsteps

  18-11-2016 08:00
  
  With diversity so high on the insurance industry’s agenda and the world of science recently celebrating the annual Ada Lovelace Day, highlighting the contribution of women in science, Post set out to find when the first female underwriter made her mark on the sector
  
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• Blog: The dangerous impacts of the salary sacrifice reform

  18-11-2016 08:00
  
  The proposed reforms to salary sacrifice schemes could lead to more employees using their own cars for business - and an insurance headache.
  
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• The Hanover taps ex-Aetna exec Keim to lead strategy

  18-11-2016 01:38
  The Hanover Insurance Group named Mark L. Keim as executive vice
  president for corporate development and strategy.
  The appointment takes effect 21 November, the Worcester,
  Massachusetts-based company said late today.
  A former Aetna executive, Keim joined The Hanover from
  HealthReveal, a "big data" analytics company that he
  cofounded and where he was chief financial officer. At Aetna, he
  was head of global strategy and development from 2008 to 2014, and
  led the health insurer's venture investing
  
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• Ryan pledges allegiance to retail agent

  18-11-2016 01:38
  RSG chairman and chief executive Pat Ryan has reiterated his
  commitment to retail agents as he revealed details of his
  firm's "bet" to cut transactional cost for the
  E&S market.
  In an interview with The Insurance
  Insider, the Aon founder said RSG's placing
  platform "The Connector" was due to be launched toward
  the end of spring next year.
  "It's an online portal that will use a single app to
  offer multiple lines of E&S insurance from multiple carriers
  for the...
  
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• New Zealand quake losses may total $3.5bn

  18-11-2016 01:38
  Insured losses from the 14 November earthquake that struck New
  Zealand's South Island could reach NZD5.3bn ($3.5bn), AIR
  Worldwide said in an estimate issued late today.
  AM Best said the losses "are likely to be material for some
  domestic insurance companies" in an earlier announcement.
  The magnitude 7.8 temblor centered halfway between Wellington,
  on North Island, and Christchurch on South Island near Kaikoura
  triggered more than 80,000 landslides and raised the nearby seabed
  as much as 2 meter
  
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• Chubb sets $1bn share repurchase plan

  18-11-2016 01:38
  Chubb surprised investors and analysts alike by laying out plans
  to repurchase $1bn of its own shares by the end of 2017, less than
  a year after combining with Ace Group.
  As it unveiled a $0.69 per share quarterly dividend, Chubb told
  investors that its directors had also authorised the new buyback
  program.
  It said the shares would be bought both on the open market as
  well as in privately negotiated transactions.
  Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analyst Meyer Shields said...
  
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• Axis shifts US P&C focus to E&S market

  18-11-2016 01:38
  Axis Capital is closing down a number of units in its US P&C
  retail insurance business as it reallocates personnel, capacity and
  resources to its expansive wholesale excess and surplus lines
  (E&S) platform, The Insurance Insider
  can reveal.
  The move will result in the closure of the US retail property, US
  retail risk management property, US retail primary casualty, and US
  retail excess casualty business units of its Axis Insurance
  operation.
  Approached by this publication for comment, th
  
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