Insurance news

• Lofty multiple beckons as Argenta receives final bids

  16-01-2017 20:27
  Lloyd's managing and members' agent Argenta could fetch
  fully 2x book value when its sale process concludes in the coming
  weeks, The Insurance Insider can
  reveal.
  Final-round bids are due this week in the Goldman Sachs-run
  process, with bidders said to include Matt Fairfield's
  (re)insurance start-up Exin and state-owned life insurance giant
  China Taiping.
  Chinese private equity house Xio, an interested party in other
  recent Lloyd's deals, has also been involved in the latter
  stages of the sale p
  
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• Lloyd's chairman choice continues to face delays

  16-01-2017 20:27
  The search for the next Lloyd's chairman, which was due to
  conclude in mid-December, has been delayed further and it could be
  March before a decision is made on John Nelson's successor,
  The Insurance Insider has learned.
  The recruitment process is being kept extremely close by the
  Corporation, with a leak feared, but sources told this publication
  that a final determination is still some way off despite
  speculation last week that an announcement was imminent.
  It is understood that XL...
  
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• Biba calls for UK to retain single market access

  16-01-2017 20:27
  Trade representative body the British Insurance Brokers'
  Association (Biba) has urged the UK government to negotiate
  continued access to the EU single market post-Brexit on either a
  total or sectoral basis.
  Speaking during the launch of the Biba manifesto for 2017 at the
  Houses of Parliament today, chief executive Steve White also called
  for at least a five-year transition period after the country leaves
  the EU and a solution for EU workers working in the UK insurance
  industry.
  He said:...
  
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• Biba wants shorter whiplash deadlines

  16-01-2017 17:30
  
  Biba calls for tighter whiplash deadlines to combat fraud
  
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• Biba reveals sharp jump in telematics policies

  16-01-2017 17:30
  
  Trade body’s annual research charts increase in live telematics policies
  
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• Biba launches 2017 manifesto – Enabling the Insurance Market

  16-01-2017 17:30
  
  Trade body covers IPT, Brexit, regulation costs and more in this year’s document.
  
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• Biba calls for cheaper regulation

  16-01-2017 17:30
  
  Biba points to the rising cost of regulation for smaller brokers in its 2017 Manifesto
  
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• Flood Re names Bord interim CEO

  16-01-2017 17:08
  Flood Re has appointed former Capita executive Andy Bord as interim
  CEO, it announced today.
  Bord, who was previously CEO of Capita Insurance Services, will
  join Flood Re on 23 January for a full handover from outgoing CEO
  Brendan McCafferty, who will step down on 10 February.
  McCafferty will go on to become CEO of Axa's intermediated
  and direct insurance business in the UK, after less than three
  years at the helm of the UK government-backed reinsurance
  scheme.
  The outgoing...
  
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• Euler Hermes names XoL co-heads

  16-01-2017 17:08
  Trade credit insurer Euler Hermes has appointed Alexia
  Parmentier and Tim Hoggarth as co-heads of its excess of loss (XoL)
  division for Northern Europe, the Allianz-owned business said in a
  statement today.
  The two executives will report to Fabrice Desnos, CEO of Euler
  Hermes Northern Europe.
  A spokesman for Euler Hermes confirmed that Parmentier and
  Hoggarth will replace Mark Moran, who has left the business.
  The XoL division concentrates on protecting larger clients
  against exceptional losses.
  
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• Flood Re appoints Andy Bord as interim CEO

  16-01-2017 16:10
  
  Flood Re has appointed Andy Bord, former managing director of BGL Group, as interim CEO.
  
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• Bruce Stevenson grows GWP to £29m

  16-01-2017 15:37
  
  Broker says it has a number of "exciting initiatives" underway to maintain growth.
  
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• Casualty figures undermine whiplash plans - lawyers

  16-01-2017 15:32
  
  The Ministry of Justice is accused of ignoring 500,000 car crash victims in its whiplach crackdown
  
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• Swiss Re Corporate Solutions names Germany head

  16-01-2017 14:36
  Swiss Re Corporate Solutions has hired a Chubb executive as its
  country manager for Germany, as the reinsurer expands in the
  primary market.
  Swiss Re said that Bijan Daftari will be based in Munich. His
  role will include developing Swiss Re's share of the German
  commercial insurance market.
  Daftari has been German country manager at Chubb since 2011,
  having worked at the insurer since 1992. Daftari will report to
  Tony Buckle, CEO for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Swiss...
  
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• Chubb hires Europe property and technical lines head

  16-01-2017 14:36
  Chubb has appointed Alf Müller as its new director of property
  and technical lines for Continental Europe.
  The hire is effective immediately and Müller will be based
  in Paris.
  Müller joins the company from Allied World Europe, where he
  most recently served as global head of onshore construction.
  Prior to that, Müller was energy and property manager for
  Europe at AIG, having begun his career in the industry as an
  underwriter in Munich Re's engineering department in 1998.
  Jeff
  
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• Tailored policies and cyber set to influence market in 2017

  16-01-2017 13:15
  
  Tailored insurance for new professions, cyber policies for SMEs, and the FCA’s consultation on the Financial Services Compensation Scheme are three key trends expected to influence the insurance market over 2017.
  
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• Brokers, is your own professional indemnity cover in order?

  16-01-2017 13:00
  
  Arthur J Gallagher’s Ben Waterton reminds brokers that their own PI must be up to scratch.
  
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• Half of insurers to make digitally-driven acquisition in next three years

  16-01-2017 12:52
  
  Almost half of insurers expect to make an acquisition over the next three years in order to acquire digital technologies.
  
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• Willis Towers Watson: tech needs to drive M&A

  16-01-2017 12:44
  Digitalisation will fuel acquisitions in the insurance industry,
  according to a survey by Willis Towers Watson.
  The broker and consultant quizzed 200 senior insurance
  executives in conjunction with Mergermarket. Almost half said they
  were looking to make acquisitions in the next three years.
  Nearly three quarters of those polled said the insurance world
  had failed to show leadership in adapting to the latest
  technologies. Willis Towers Watson said that the level of
  innovation in the insurance in
  
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• Skuld completes SMA/Gerling deal

  16-01-2017 12:44
  Norway-headquartered protection and indemnity (P&I) club Skuld
  has completed its share purchase agreement for Skuld Marine
  Agency/Gerling Norway (SMA).
  SMA has operated as an agent for Skuld since November 2016 for
  renewals attaching from 1 January 2017.
  The P&I club added that 100 percent of SMA's clients
  renewing on 1 January had renewed on Skuld paper.
  Skuld announced its intention to acquire SMA in May 2016. The
  purchase gives Skuld renewal rights to SMA/Gerling Norway's
  $40mn hull a
  
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• Munich Re takes part in £7.5mn InsurTech funding

  16-01-2017 12:44
  Munich Re is among the participants in a £7.5mn ($9.5mn)
  Series A funding round for InsurTech start-up Bought By Many,
  through its venture capital arm HSB Ventures.
  The round was led by European venture capital firm Octopus
  Ventures, alongside Munich Re and existing Bought By Many
  investors.
  Bought By Many enables individuals with specific insurance
  requirements to search for offers from existing providers through
  use of collective buying power, including in areas such as pet
  insurance for
  
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• Lloyd's China premiums up to $290mn: Nelson

  16-01-2017 12:44
  Lloyd's chairman John Nelson believes that gross written
  premiums on the Lloyd's China platform passed 2bn yuan
  ($289.8mn) in 2016.
  That would represent growth of more than 152 percent from 2015,
  when 792mn yuan was written on the platform. Some 31 Lloyd's
  managing agents are now physically present in Shanghai and in
  Beijing.
  In an interview with China Daily, Nelson described
  China as "perhaps the most important growth market in the long
  term for Lloyd's".
  "We've got the core of...
  
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• Gable and Enterprise failures lead to extra FSCS levy

  16-01-2017 12:44
  The UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) has announced
  a supplementary levy for general insurers of £63mn ($83mn) to
  compensate the policyholders of failed insurers Enterprise and
  Gable Insurance.
  Invoices will be sent to firms at the end of January. Additional
  levies were also handed down to life and pension intermediaries and
  mortgage advisers after unforeseen compensation costs hit those
  sectors last year.
  The £63mn figure is in addition to the £91mn already
  earm
  
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• Bought by Many raises £7.5m to grow mobile platform

  16-01-2017 12:36
  
  The broker also signed a long-term insurance agreement with the Munich Re Digital Partners business unit.
  
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• Insurtech firm Bought by Many receives £7.5m investment

  16-01-2017 12:28
  
  Insurtech broker Bought by Many has received £7.5m in investment funding.
  
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• Enterprise and Gable will cost insurers £63m this year

  16-01-2017 12:00
  
  Insurers will have to pay £63m in supplementary levies to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme this year, to cover the failures of Enterprise and Gable.
  
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• Start-up broker secures backing from Munich Re

  16-01-2017 11:40
  
  The social media broker has signed a deal with reinsurer Munich Re to roll out new products
  
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• US M&A expensive: Bäte

  16-01-2017 10:57
  Allianz CEO Oliver Bäte has said only a large M&A deal in
  the US would be worthwhile for his firm, but that American
  businesses had become expensive.
  In an interview with Süddeutsche Zeitung,
  Bäte said he expected Donald Trump's presidency to be
  positive for insurers' US businesses because of planned
  corporate tax cuts, the strong dollar and a planned loosening of
  supervisory rules.
  He said: "It makes no sense for us to buy smaller
  businesses. And then you have to...
  
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• Turkish cargo plane crashes in Kyrgyzstan

  16-01-2017 10:57
  An estimated 37 people lost their lives after a Turkish cargo jet
  crashed in a village in Kyrgyzstan earlier this morning, according
  to reports.
  The Boeing 747 TC-MCL aircraft, operated by ACT Airlines, was
  scheduled to make a stopover at Manas Airport en route to Istanbul
  from Hong Kong, but crashed in a village near the airport after an
  attempt to land in dense fog, according to BBC News.
  Flight TK6491 came down shortly after 07:30 local time in the...
  
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• Scor appoints regional managing directors

  16-01-2017 10:57
  Scor has named two new managing directors for its Americas and Asia
  Pacific hubs, amid a number of senior leadership changes.
  The French carrier has appointed Paul Christoff as managing
  director of its Americas business. Christoff had been filling the
  role on an interim basis following Jean-Paul Conoscente's
  promotion to head of Americas for P&C last year.
  Christoff will take on the new position in addition to his
  existing responsibilities as CFO of the Americas hub. He will
  report to...
  
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• Herbert leaves Suncorp after 17 years

  16-01-2017 10:57
  Suncorp chief transformation officer Clayton Herbert is to leave
  the firm later this month, the Australian insurance giant announced
  today.
  Herbert has worked at Suncorp since 1999 and held a number of
  senior positions across finance and risk, including deputy CFO and
  group chief risk officer (CRO).
  "Clayton has played a critical role in leading the
  successful implementation of Suncorp's new operating model that
  has transformed Suncorp and positioned the organisation to better
  meet more of our c
  
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• Berkshire Hathaway launches P&C fac unit

  16-01-2017 10:57
  Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group has set up a new P&C
  facultative unit led by a former Swiss Re executive, sister
  publication Inside FAC has reported.
  John Gorman, who was head of Americas property facultative at
  Swiss Re until September 2016, joined Berkshire on 1 January.
  Several executives from Berkshire subsidiary Gen Re will also
  join the fac venture. Jason Engle has moved over from Gen Re's
  casualty fac team in New York, along with Kevin Bellavance in
  Boston and Marielle...
  
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• FSCS broker levy increases to £13m for 2017/18

  16-01-2017 10:53
  
  Insurers to pay £63m supplementary levy following the failures of Gable and Enterprise.
  
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• Martin Rowan joins Legal Protection Group

  16-01-2017 10:48
  
  Rowan will become managing director of the newly formed legal expenses managing general agent.
  
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• #Insagepeople: 16 - 22 January 2017

  16-01-2017 10:39
  
  Keep up to date with the latest people moves.
  
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• Allianz reveals acquisition targets

  16-01-2017 09:59
  
  Group chief executive Oliver Bäte has spoken about the types of acquisitions the insurer is interested in
  
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• Insurers hit with costs for Gable and Enterprise collapses

  16-01-2017 09:24
  
  The FSCS has also outlined how much it will levy the financial services in 2017/18 period
  
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• LV's Martin Milliner on how getting whiplash right could restore faith in insurance

  16-01-2017 08:00
  
  Working with government, regulators and trade bodies to build public trust in insurance is a common aim of our profession and more important than ever when considering today's unnecessary claims culture.
  
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• Private medical insurance sales surge for first time in seven years

  16-01-2017 01:01
  
  Ongoing NHS crisis and economic recovery may have triggered rise, but impeding Brexit means future is uncertainThe number of people in Britain taking out private medical insurance has risen significantly for the first time since 2008, amid fears about the ongoing crisis gripping the NHS.After falling steeply between 2008 and 2011 and then staying flat, demand for private medical insurance cover in Britain rose by 2.1% in 2015 with just over 4 million people insured.Related: Should you have priva
  
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• Private health insurance sales surge amid NHS crisis

  16-01-2017 01:01
  
  Ongoing crisis in public healthcare and economic recovery may have triggered first rise in seven years, but impeding Brexit means future is uncertainThe number of people in Britain taking out private medical insurance has risen significantly for the first time since 2008, amid fears about the ongoing crisis gripping the NHS.After falling steeply between 2008 and 2011 and then staying flat, demand for private medical insurance cover in Britain rose by 2.1% in 2015 with just over 4 million people
  
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