Insurance news

• RenRe CIO and treasurer Fonner leaves

  13-12-2016 23:46
  Renaissance Re promoted two executives to replace Todd Fonner as
  chief investment officer and treasurer after he decided to exit the
  company on 31 March to pursue other interests, said the Bermudian.
  Sean Brosnan, CEO of RenRe Europe, will succeed Fonner as CIO
  and senior vice president. He is also managing director for
  investments for the European unit.
  Aditya Dutt, president of RenaissanceRe Ventures and a senior
  vice president at RenRe, will take on the added role of treasurer,
  the...
  
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• IG reinsurance set for reductions across programme

  13-12-2016 23:46
  The reinsurance renewal for the International Group (IG) of
  protection and indemnity clubs will include rate reductions across
  all layers of the programme and on its excess war cover.
  According to an update today from IG reinsurance subcommittee
  chairman Paul Jennings, the timetable for the renewal has been
  pushed forward by around a month as the group took advantage of
  favourable marine treaty conditions and its longstanding
  reinsurance panel relationship.
  The programme, which incepts on 20 Feb
  
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• Guy Carp taps ex-NorthAm chief to build strategic unit

  13-12-2016 23:46
  A former president of Marsh's US and Canada segment, Rob
  Bentley, has returned to the group's reinsurance broking arm
  Guy Carpenter to lead its newly formed global strategic advisory
  organisation.
  The new division will encompass the reinsurance
  intermediary's advisory, structured risk, M&A, Lloyd's
  capital and business intelligence units, Guy Carpenter said today
  in a statement.
  London-based Vicky Carter who is currently the broker's vice
  chair of international operations is set to become vi
  
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• United tackles attritional losses with new quota share

  13-12-2016 22:08
  United Insurance Holdings (UIH) placed a new quota share
  reinsurance cover that incepted at 1 December as it looks to
  address catastrophe and attritional losses that have hit its
  earnings in recent quarters.
  The Florida-based carrier also renewed its aggregate excess of
  loss (XoL) programme effective 1 January 2017.
  The insurer said the covers are designed to work with its core 1
  June-placed catastrophe XoL tower to provide "broad risk
  transfer protection and to lessen financial volatility".
  The
  
  Read more

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• Reinsurers to swallow further reductions at 1.1

  13-12-2016 22:08
  As the 1 January renewal process enters its last fortnight a
  picture is emerging of greater downwards pressure on pricing for
  property than for casualty, and of the US market bottoming out
  sooner than the international segment.
  Pricing is continuing to fall despite reinsurers' muscular
  rhetoric during the autumn conference season, although a
  "softening of the softening" has been in clear evidence,
  suggesting that a truly flat renewal is now on the horizon.
  A survey of reinsurers and brokers also
  
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• XL Catlin beefs up American M&A insurance team

  13-12-2016 20:12
  XL Catlin has added Joseph Laws and Michael McGowan to its North
  American M&A Insurance team as directors to help flesh out
  Brian Benjamin's team.
  Benjamin was brought on from AIG in June as head of the
  company's new global M&A insurance division, reporting to
  Dan Kumpf, CEO of global professional lines.
  McGowan joined Catlin from Chubb, where as a vice president he
  helped build the company's transactional risk business. He is a
  former M&A lawyer with Vinson & Elkins....
  
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• Otto spurs $1.1mn CCRIF payout to Nicaragua

  13-12-2016 20:12
  Hurricane Otto, which battered parts of Central America last
  month, has triggered a $1.1mn payout to Nicaragua from the
  Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF).
  The storm, which killed at least 17 people, was expected to
  generate economic losses of almost $50mn, according to a report
  from reinsurance broker Aon Benfield. Otto capped the Atlantic
  hurricane season, which typically closes at the end of
  November.
  Dozens of houses were damaged while many lost power as the
  hurricane fell
  
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• Negative forces weigh on Commercial P&C lines: AM Best

  13-12-2016 20:12
  Further deterioration will characterize results next year for US
  commercial P&C lines, ratings agency AM Best said today, citing
  factors such as rising competition and declining levels of
  favourable developments in loss reserves.
  Coupled with an expected return to a normal volume of
  catastrophe losses and low investment yields, AM Best said the
  signs all indicate a tough year ahead for commercial P&C
  carriers.
  The industry's relative abundance of capital may work
  against carriers by ampl
  
  Read more

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• Marsh buys Brazilian broker AD Corretora

  13-12-2016 20:12
  Global broker Marsh said it has agreed to buy privately held
  Brazilian broker AD Corretora de Seguros in a transaction which
  adds operations in the wealthy state of São Paulo to the
  interests it already has in São Paulo city.
  Founded in 1980, AD Corretora specialises in mid-market
  business, with particular expertise in the sugar refining,
  agri-business and infrastructure sectors. AD Corretora is
  headquartered in Bauru, in central São Paulo state and has
  offices in Ribeir&ati
  
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• Florida workers comp rate hike case put on fast track

  13-12-2016 20:12
  Florida's 14.5 percent workers compensation rate hike will
  remain in effect until at least mid-winter, as an appeals court set
  to hear arguments to block it has set a 2 February filing deadline
  in the case.
  After Leon County Circuit Judge Karen Gievers ruled that the
  rate increase was establish through an improperly closed process
  and barred it from taking effect, the state Office of Insurance
  Regulation appealed. That automatically stayed the ruling by
  Gievers, letting the new rates take...
  
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• ICO welcomes Post's #ColdCallCrackdown campaign

  13-12-2016 18:07
  
  The Information Commissioner's Office has welcomed Post's #ColdCallCrackdown campaign, stating that with Post's help more action against nuisance calls will be taken.
  
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• CFO to leave Das UK

  13-12-2016 15:31 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  Thomas Jannakos is returning to Germany.
  
  Read more

• XL launches mammoth aggregate cat bonds

  13-12-2016 15:21
  XL Bermuda has turned to the cat bond market to line up as much as
  $1bn of retro cover in what is one of the largest transactions at
  launch in the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market's
  history, sister publication Trading Risk
  reported last week.
  Florida Citizens Property Insurance issued the market's
  largest ever cat bond in 2014 at $1.5bn, but the carrier only
  originally targeted $400mn from the transaction.
  XL is looking to raise cover from two Galilei Re issuances at...
  
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• Weaker sterling helps Lloyd's capacity hit £30bn

  13-12-2016 15:21
  Lloyd's stamp capacity has surged more than 10 percent for
  the 2017 financial year to reach £30.5bn ($38.5bn).
  The Insurance Insider's annual
  stamp capacity survey found that overall capacity has grown by 10.1
  percent - or £2.7bn - on the previous year, the biggest
  increase since 2010.
  This year's surge in stamp capacity was aided in part by a
  weakening of the sterling against the dollar.
  Indeed, over the 12 months since our last
  survey, the pound has weakened by...
  
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• The Insider 50 grows

  13-12-2016 15:21
  The Insurance Insider's updated
  group of major non-life (re)insurers, The Insider 50, rose
  by 3.8 percent last week to close at 1,034.9 on Friday 9
  December.
  The growth was mainly fuelled by the global insurers composite,
  which expanded by 4.9 percent to 1,055.3 - the week's best
  stock market performance among the various cohorts.
  After coming bottom of the barrel in the prior week,
  Generali made a strong recovery to the top of the
  list as its share price increased...
  
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• Speedy turnaround sought on London ILS proposals

  13-12-2016 15:21
  Insurance-linked securities (ILS) executives said they would
  like shorter approval timeframes to be introduced into the
  proposals for a London market ILS regime.
  The UK Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) saidit expected to be able to turn around registrations for
  multi-arrangement insurance special purpose vehicles (MISPV) within
  6 to 8 weeks , provided they are for relatively straightforward
  proposals and applicants have engaged with regulators to give them
  information ahead of time.
  But it
  
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• Private insurers to take lead on Kaikoura claims

  13-12-2016 15:21
  The New Zealand Earthquake Commission (EQC) has agreed to revamp
  the way it handles claims by delegating responsibility for
  resolving claims from the Kaikoura earthquake to private insurers.Insurance Council chief executive Tim Grafton said the new
  process should reduce double handling and help to speed up
  settlements.
  The insurers will pass property claims that are under NZ$100,000
  ($71,581) to the EQC for reimbursement within five days.
  The new approach will not cover any remaining open claims
  
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• Nine Merchants Re aims to be 'Bermudian-style' reinsurer

  13-12-2016 15:21
  Hong Kong-based reinsurance start-up Nine Merchants Re will
  initially target the largest markets in the Asia Pacific region
  ahead of attempts to diversify into the US and Europe, founding CEO
  Steve Warwick told The Insurance
  Insider.
  "We like to think of ourselves as a Bermudian-style company
  that is based in Hong Kong," he said, in reference to
  Bermuda's early focus on the US and Europe and its subsequent
  efforts to expand further afield.The company has submitted its application for...
  
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• Navigators lures Ironshore agriculture reinsurance team

  13-12-2016 15:21
  Navigators has taken an agriculture treaty team from Ironshore
  International as it looks to build out its nascent reinsurance
  platform, The Insurance Insider can
  reveal.
  According to sources, the US specialty carrier has secured the
  services of Hanne Wagner, who leads the team from London.
  It has also added her assistant underwriter colleague Charlie
  Dupont in London, and senior underwriters Dieter Reist and
  Dominique Mercante in Zurich.
  The quartet are thought to be at various stages of gardeni
  
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• Nash named GC international CEO

  13-12-2016 15:21
  Guy Carpenter has promoted James Nash to president of its
  international division, as part of a move to a two-pronged
  organisational structure for the broker.
  Nash was formerly CEO of Asia Pacific for the reinsurance
  broker. Under his new remit, Nash will oversee all operations in
  the Europe, Middle East and Africa (Emea), Latin America and
  Caribbean, and Asia Pacific regions. He will relocate to London for
  the role.
  Meanwhile, Timothy Gardner and Donald Callahan will remain as
  CEOs of...
  
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• KBW: Shareholder payout possible after RSA legacy disposal

  13-12-2016 15:21
  The disposal of £600mn ($754mn) of RSA's UK legacy
  exposures could increase the likelihood of special dividends from
  the insurer, according to Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analyst Greig
  Paterson.
  In an 8 December note, Paterson referenced a story broken by The
  Insurance Insider last week (6 December) which revealedRSA was in the final stages of disposing its £600mn legacy
  book .
  The book contains disease, asbestos and abuse claims from
  RSA's old employers' liability (EL) and public li
  
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• Jubilee loss pegged at $1.2bn-$1.4bn by reinsurers

  13-12-2016 15:21
  The damaged Jubilee fields floating production, storage and
  offloading (FPSO) vessel Kwame Nkrumah is currently expected to
  cost (re)insurers as much as $1.4bn, The Insurance
  Insider understands.
  Senior market sources have said that major reinsurers - the
  ‎only market participants with a full view of the loss - are
  forecasting a tally of $1.2bn-$1.4bn if the proposed engineering
  project is successful.
  Market sources said that around $300mn-$350mn is expected to hit
  a property cover purchased
  
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• Insider View: Novae profits warning

  13-12-2016 15:21
  Investors are a ruthless lot when they want to be.
  It didn't take long for markets to twist the knife after
  Novae announced last Thursday morning (8 December) that its profits
  would be dented by an uptick in larger-sized losses, with the stock
  dropping 20 percent just 15 minutes after trading opened for the
  day.
  It is not hard to pinpoint the source of investors' recent
  overzealous reactions.
  Uncertainty is the watchword of 2016. From the UK's vote to
  leave...
  
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• Generali shares volatile on Italian bank concerns

  13-12-2016 15:21
  Shares in Generali climbed 14.22 percent last week to close at
  EUR14.12 following volatile trading in Italian financial
  stocks.
  However, the stock closed down 1.94 percent on Friday (9
  December) compared to the previous day's closing price, as the
  shares continued to swing in the aftermath of the Italian
  referendum result on 4 December.
  The stock dropped 3.4 percent when trading
  opened in Milan last week.
  The shares subsequently recovered, resuming the run of positive
  performance that began in e
  
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• Dual shelves £180mn capacity consolidation project

  13-12-2016 15:21
  Hyperion's managing general agency (MGA) arm Dual has
  suspended its efforts to create a cornerstone panel of capacity
  providers for its non-financial lines book, The
  Insurance Insider understands.
  In the summer Dual CEO Talbir Bains met with senior executives
  at more than 10 major London market players as it tried to line up
  support across a wide range of binders.
  Dual's non-financial lines book represents 31 percent of its
  £600mn ($754mn) book - equivalent to £180mn.
  However, as the
  
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• Commercial P&C pricing flattening: Willis

  13-12-2016 15:21
  Prices were mostly flat across commercial P&C lines during
  the third quarter, with commercial auto coverage providing the most
  significant increases, according to Willis Towers Watson.
  The company's Commercial Lines Insurance
  Pricing Survey (Clips) showed a slight gain in overall prices,
  producing the fourth consecutive quarter with an increase of less
  than 1 percent.
  But in five segments, prices fell.
  "Workers' compensation, commercial property and surety
  bonds indicated modest price decrea
  
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• Arrowhead closes San Fran office as Barwick leaves

  13-12-2016 15:21
  Arrowhead General Insurance Agency has shut down its San Francisco
  office and parted company with Caroline Barwick, little more than a
  year after she joined to launch a new all-risk commercial property
  cat facility, The Insurance Insider can
  reveal.
  According to sources, the Brown & Brown-owned facility will
  continue to operate out of Arrowhead's Atlanta office and will
  be run by Niels Seebeck.
  Seebeck will report directly to Arrowhead's president for
  special risk Lew DeFuria, who also overs
  
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• Ariel SPS leads capacity growth for 2017

  13-12-2016 15:21
  Ariel's special purpose syndicate (SPS) 6117 led the market
  in terms of capacity growth for 2017, with its stamp almost
  tripling year-on-year to £145.3mn.
  In 2016, the SPS had a stamp of £51.9mn.
  However, the surge in capacity is understood
  to be the result of a capital realignment rather than renewed
  growth ambitions.
  It is understood that Names now solely participate in Ariel via
  the SPS, rather than by spreading their support between the SPS and
  Syndicate 1910.
  Notably, Ariel...
  
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• Lloyd's to cut subscription costs by 10%

  13-12-2016 13:42
  
  Lloyd's of London will reduce its market subscriptions by 10% for 2017 as part of efforts to keep the market competitive.
  
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• Lloyd's to cut fees by 10% in 2017

  13-12-2016 13:29
  Lloyd's will reduce its market subscriptions by 10 percent
  for 2017 as part of efforts to remain competitive.
  In a letter sent to managing agents today, chairman John Nelson
  and CEO Inga Beale also said Lloyd's was continuing to review
  costs to keep the Corporation efficient amid ongoing market
  challenges.
  The chairman and CEO said barring any major catastrophe claims
  in the next two weeks the market would have shown a strong
  performance, despite the tough operating environment.
  "However, the...
  
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• Video: Risk management with LV

  13-12-2016 11:57
  
  Our webinar examining risk management and broking is now available on demand. Don’t miss it.
  
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• December 2016 issue

  13-12-2016 11:56
  
  Aviva gets tough on brokers putting commission before customers
  
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• Hank Greenberg trial back on track after appeal thrown out

  13-12-2016 11:36
  
  Former AIG CEO Maurice ‘Hank’ Greenberg will stand trial after an attempt to escape civil fraud charges was thrown out by the US Supreme Court.
  
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• Two insurers join Markerstudy pet insurance aggregator

  13-12-2016 11:35
  
  Two major insurers have joined Markerstudy's newly-launched pet insurance aggregator.
  
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• Novae hires Steadman as cargo head

  13-12-2016 11:34
  Lloyd's carrier Novae has appointed Helen Steadman as its
  new head of cargo.
  She will report to head of marine Darren Carr.
  Steadman joins the company from Mitsui Sumitomo syndicate, where
  she served as the class underwriter for cargo.
  Prior to this she was a vice president for global broker Marsh,
  having started her career in the industry as a graduate trainee at
  Willis Faber & Dumas.
  Novae divisional head of marine, aviation and political risk
  John Owen said: "Marine...
  
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• Greenberg loses Supreme Court bid to block NY trial

  13-12-2016 11:34
  Former AIG CEO Maurice "Hank" Greenberg has failed to
  block a New York State fraud case against him as the US Supreme
  Court declined to hear his argument for overturning a lower court
  ruling that ordered him to stand trial on the civil charges.
  State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman had asked the higher
  court not to intercede in the trial that began in September. In
  denying the appeal, the court let the earlier decision stand.
  Greenberg, 91, and co-defendant Howard...
  
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• InsurTech Futures: Digital Fineprint closes $400,000 investment round

  13-12-2016 11:28
  
  Investors in the InsurTech start-up include Eos Venture Partners and Twitter VP Shailesh Rao.
  
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• Video: Gary Humphreys

  13-12-2016 11:00
  
  Markerstudy's Gary Humphreys talks Brexit and Solvency II.
  
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• Editor's letter - December 2016

  13-12-2016 10:20
  
  “The government may well be able to hide behind some technicalities but deep down even it knows that IPT is a tax on consumers”
  
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• Noonan sells $15mn of Validus stock

  13-12-2016 10:04
  The chairman and CEO of Validus Ed Noonan has sold 273,000 shares
  in the Bermudian carrier worth about $15mn as of Monday's
  close.
  In a statement Noonan said the divestment was solely to meet tax
  obligations from 2015. These arose after the exercise of expiring
  options and warrants during the 2015 tax year, the statement
  added.
  The sale reduces the executive's stake by about 18.6 percent
  to nearly 1.2 million shares. Validus has about 79.36 million
  shares issued, according to...
  
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• Admiral and Legal & General join Markerstudy’s pet aggregator panel

  13-12-2016 10:00
  
  Platform offers cover for cats and dogs.
  
  Read more

• Top 10 insurer eschews big job cuts as it guns for growth

  13-12-2016 08:44
  
  Chief executive of top 10 insurer says mass job cuts are not good management
  
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• Actuaries respond to controversial injury pay-out review

  13-12-2016 07:30
  
  Personal injury pay-out review could affect insurers’ reserving
  
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• Offshore insurer expands in Ireland

  13-12-2016 07:28
  
  Offshore insurer extends partnership with Irish broker
  
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• Chancellor pushes for longer Brexit process

  13-12-2016 07:24
  
  Philip Hammond’s calls could indicate push for longer Brexit
  
  Read more

• Verint's Ziz on the surprising answer to the fintech threat

  13-12-2016 04:12
  
  As customer expectations increase in a rapidly changing business environment - there is a surprising answer to technology disruptions attacking established business models.
  
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• Verint's Ziv on the surprising answer to the fintech threat

  13-12-2016 04:12
  
  As customer expectations increase in a rapidly changing business environment - there is a surprising answer to technology disruptions attacking established business models.
  
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• C-Suite: The surprising answer to the fintech threat

  13-12-2016 04:12
  
  As customer expectations increase in a rapidly changing business environment - there is a surprising answer to technology disruptions attacking established business models.
  
  Read more

• Guy Carpenter promotes Nash to lead international group

  13-12-2016 02:29
  Guy Carpenter promoted James Nash into the newly created role of
  president, international, reporting to the reinsurance broker's
  president and CEO Peter Hearn.
  Currently in charge of Asia Pacific operations, Nash will
  relocate to London as part of the change, the company said today.
  In his new job, Nash will oversee Emea as well as Latin America and
  his old Asia stomping grounds in the new international
  division.
  The firm said it will name a successor to Nash in the...
  
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