Insurance news

• IGI hires to expand in international D&O market

  17-01-2017 23:33
  International General Insurance (IGI) is to enter the international
  commercial directors' & officers' insurance market, the
  company has said.
  The company said it has appointed Simon Mepham as a senior
  D&O underwriter.
  Mepham has more than 25 years of London market experience and
  previously worked for JLT, Newline and most recently WR
  Berkley.
  IGI said: "At IGI, Simon will focus on establishing and
  developing a book of international commercial D&O Liability
  Insurance and associated li
  
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• 2017 IG reinsurance allows insurers to cover Iran oil shipments

  17-01-2017 23:33
  The 2017 International Group (IG) of P&I clubs reinsurance
  programme has excluded US-domiciled reinsurer participation in a
  move that will allow shipping insurers to get around US sanctions
  to cover oil shipments by Iran, Reuters reported.
  The new arrangements are meant to patch together near-normal
  cover for Iranian cargoes above the roughly $830mn per ship
  provided last year under "fall back" plans, Reuters said.
  That coverage was inadequate for some shippers, who shunned Iranian
  cargoes a
  
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• Biba welcomes PM’s speech on Brexit

  17-01-2017 18:31
  
  Trade body pleased with strategy articulated by Theresa May and her preferred direction of travel.
  
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• Markel enters Brazil primary market

  17-01-2017 18:27
  Markel International has been granted a licence by Brazilian
  regulator the Superintendence of Private Insurance to write primary
  insurance business in the country.
  The company has written reinsurance business in Brazil and other
  countries in Latin America since 2010.
  Markel said the regulator had given clearance to write several
  classes of business across the country and that it expects to
  launch its first products early this year.
  Leonardo Paixao, the former president of IRB Brasil Re, was
  appo
  
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• Insurance industry welcomes May's 'Brexit clarity'

  17-01-2017 18:27
  Insurance industry representatives today broadly welcomed greater
  clarity on Brexit from Prime Minister Theresa May as she promised a
  "phased transition period" and confirmed the UK won't
  remain part of the single market after it leaves the EU.
  In a widely flagged speech in London, May said she would not
  seek "partial membership of the European Union, associate
  membership of the European Union, or anything that leaves us
  half-in, half-out".
  She continued: "We do not seek to adopt a model...
  
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• LV swaps 'outdated' manual process for digital subrogation portal

  17-01-2017 17:03
  
  LV has swapped its ‘outdated’ manual process for subrogated claims for a new digital portal.
  
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• Reshuffle as Gallagher broking placement head departs

  17-01-2017 16:56
  
  Premium content: In his new appointment Mark Armitage is targeting regional broking growth
  
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• Smallman joins National Windscreens board

  17-01-2017 16:07
  
  National Windscreens has appointed John Smallman to its board of directors.
  
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• USI sale price represents 12x multiple

  17-01-2017 15:42
  The $4bn price tag Onex has pinned on its up-for-sale US
  insurance broker USI represents a near 12x multiple of the
  intermediary's Ebitda.
  The Canadian private equity house reported that USI had
  generated Ebitda of $347mn in the 12 months leading up to the end
  of Q3 last year.
  USI's net debt stood at
  $2.18bn at 30 September 2016, indicating debt leverage of 8.1x,
  while total nine-month revenues of $1.05bn showed strong
  growth.
  The debt leverage multiple is significantly higher...
  
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• The Insider 50 continues to decrease

  17-01-2017 15:42
  The first half of January proved to be challenging for listed
  P&C companies, as the Insider 50 ended another week in
  the red.
  The cohort dropped by 0.8 percent in the second week of
  the month to close at 1,033.4 on Friday (13 January), as only 12
  out the 50 companies in the composite recorded share price
  increases.
  The Insider 50 was outperformed by the broader market,
  with the S&P 500 declining by just 0.1 percent in the week and...
  
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• QBE turns to Resilience Re for $187mn cat bond

  17-01-2017 15:42
  The recent $187mn Resilience Re club cat bond deal was made on
  behalf of QBE, sister publication Trading
  Risk revealed.
  The deal was the largest issuance completed to date via Willis
  Capital Markets & Advisory's Resilience Re platform.
  The transaction contributed to the $343.16mn of cat bond lite
  volumes in 2017, which has already surpassed last year's total
  of $212.8mn after a flurry of January deals.
  The Resilience Re programme is designed to take collateralised
  reinsurance written for a s
  
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• Marine reinsurers add volume despite loss activity

  17-01-2017 15:42
  Rates in the marine reinsurance market continued to retreat at 1
  January despite a significant increase in loss activity in
  2016.
  A canvass of broking and underwriting sources suggested that
  most marine and upstream energy business renewing at 1.1 carried
  rate reductions in the 5 to 10 percent range on excess-of-loss
  business.
  Most placed the reduction towards the lower end of the
  range.
  There had been some hope in the market that reinsurers would be
  galvanised by losses, with discipline...
  
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• J Smith Lanier had potential $325mn price tag: KBW

  17-01-2017 15:42
  Marsh's middle market agency business could have paid around
  $325mn for J Smith Lanier & Co, according to Keefe Bruyette
  & Woods analyst Quentin McMillan.
  In a note following the deal announcement, McMillan said the
  estimated purchase price was based on the assumption Marsh &
  McLennan Agency had paid 10 percent Ebitda and a 25 percent Ebitda
  margin.
  But the analyst said that Marsh still had a considerable amount
  of disposable capital that could be used for further
  acquisitions.
  Follo
  
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• Integro expands UK FI team

  17-01-2017 15:42
  International broker Integro has added Simon Abraham and Darren
  Gregory to its UK financial institutions group.
  The pair have joined the company from Howden Insurance Brokers
  and specialise in serving UK and offshore financial
  institutions.
  The hires follow Integro's acquisition of specialist hedge
  fund risk manager Insurance Revolution in September last year for
  an undisclosed sum.
  Insurance Revolution is the parent company of specialty
  financial institutions carrier Maloy Risk Services and Llo
  
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• Insider View: Noreco energy claim

  17-01-2017 15:42
  The news that a thinly reserved construction claim from 2009 -
  Noreco - could now cost energy insurers hundreds of millions of
  dollars will push the upstream market just that little closer to
  breaking point.
  Insurers have endured an excruciating period over the last two
  years as the collapse in the oil price has combined with a
  counterintuitive surge in demand to force rates down drastically,
  even as volumes plunged.
  Premium volumes have more than halved and line sizes have...
  
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• Generali legacy sale points to efficiency drive

  17-01-2017 15:42
  Generali's push to remove EUR300-EUR400mn ($318mn-$424mn) of
  old US casualty liabilities from its balance sheet is indicative of
  a wider trend of carriers examining their back books in order to
  achieve higher operational efficiency.
  Earlier this morning, this publication revealedGenerali was approaching run-off consolidators to find a
  solution for a portfolio of legacy business that sits within its UK
  branch.
  Sources told this publication the portfolio predominantly holds
  US asbestos, pollution
  
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• Energy market prepares for $470mn Noreco fight

  17-01-2017 15:42
  The upstream energy market has appealed to overturn a judgment
  that would force it to pay a claim worth $470mn that sources
  indicated was reserved until the fourth quarter in the low tens of
  millions.
  The appeal relates to the Danish Maritime and Commercial High
  Court's judgment on 15 December 2016 that the 24 energy
  insurers on Norwegian oil company Noreco's all-risk policy
  should pay $470mn for damage caused to the Siri oil platform in
  2009, and subsequent interest payments....
  
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• Brokers' Insurance Act workarounds worry underwriters

  17-01-2017 15:42
  Underwriters and their representatives have warned that brokers
  are routinely watering down the UK Insurance Act to relieve clients
  from some of the new law's more onerous requirements.
  The Lloyd's Market Association (LMA)'s legal chief
  predicted that such policy ad-libbing could lead to higher costs,
  more litigation and lower standards, while his peer at the
  International Underwriting Association (IUA) called brokers'
  pick-and-mix stance a major concern for its members.
  At issue is the act's "d
  
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• Brokers: 2017 cat bond totals could hit $8bn

  17-01-2017 15:42
  The significant number of maturing bonds and ongoing favourable
  environment for sponsors could push cat bond issuance for 2017 to
  $8bn, insurance-linked securities (ILS) brokers said.
  This level of activity would exceed the $6.8bn issued in 2016 by
  more than $1bn.
  However, the average 2017 forecast from ILS brokers came in at
  $7bn, which leaves a question mark over whether the market will
  achieve net growth by year-end as some $7.8bn of transactions are
  due to mature over the course...
  
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• Asian reinsurers gain ground as China proves challenging

  17-01-2017 15:42
  The 1 January reinsurance renewals saw Asian cedants place more
  business with regional reinsurers as their Western counterparts
  took a more disciplined approach.
  However, market participants warned that China had proven to be
  a challenging market with a dearth of attractive business,
  prompting concerns over less than prudent underwriting standards in
  some quarters.
  Established Western players denounced the Asian renewals as
  "appalling", "tough" and "very
  weak".
  Sources said that the regional pla
  
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• Argo and Swiss Re take on Brownstone programmes

  17-01-2017 15:42
  Argo and Swiss Re have replaced Aspen as underwriters of Brownstone
  programme business in New York and Massachusetts.
  Aspen had previously provided its admitted paper to Brownstone
  Insurance Agency in New York and Brownstone Insurance in
  Massachusetts, with the programmes placed as a single deal.
  But after the Bermudian decided to come off the business last
  year, the deal was split into a larger circa $150mn New York
  residential real estate programme and a smaller programme that
  sources have sug
  
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• Argenta valuation to defy gravity as sale nears

  17-01-2017 15:42
  Argenta looks set to confound expectations of narrowing sale
  multiples for Lloyd's businesses if it can get a deal with one
  of its final-round bidders over the line.
  Final offers were due at the end of last 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.
  Market sources have suggested the business could sell with a
  headline valuation of around 2x book, as bidders ostensibly look...
  
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• Theresa May to seek phased approach to exiting Single Market

  17-01-2017 14:54
  
  PM says negotiations will be for Free Trade Agreement.
  
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• May vows to exit EU single market - insurance reaction

  17-01-2017 14:51
  
  Premium content: Insurance professionals welcome Prime Minister Theresa May’s plan for a phased withdrawal from the EU
  
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• Industry reacts to Prime Minister's Brexit speech

  17-01-2017 13:55
  
  As it happens, the industry reacts
  
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• XL Catlin appoints ceded reinsurance chief

  17-01-2017 13:36
  XL Catlin has promoted Anne Middleton to manage its reinsurance
  placements globally, the company announced today.
  London-based Middleton will report to Mark Van Zanden, who is chief
  executive of the property and casualty underwriting capital
  management team.
  She previously served as head of finance for XL Catlin's
  global energy, property and construction insurance lines.
  Prior to joining XL Catlin in 2012, Middleton spent five years
  with PwC as a senior consultant actuary....
  
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• Pioneer hires business development head

  17-01-2017 13:36
  Pioneer Underwriters has appointed Denise Cea Katz as vice
  president of business development.
  Katz will report to Gene Hinman, CEO of Pioneer's US
  underwriting platform Pioneer Special Risk, and will be based in
  New York.
  She joins the company from Markel, where she most recently
  served as director of global business development.
  Prior to that she was a reinsurance broker at Aon Benfield,
  having begun her career in the industry at Gen Re.
  Pioneer recently announced the launch of two...
  
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• Markel signs up Beazley to livestock consortium

  17-01-2017 13:36
  Markel International has added Beazley as the fifth carrier on
  its livestock consortium, it announced today.
  Markel set up the consortium in July 2016 alongside Tokio Marine
  Kiln, Pembroke and Aegis London. The group offers cover of up to
  £30mn ($36mn) per location for livestock risk.
  In a statement, Markel said that writing had exceeded the
  forecast in the consortium's original business plan.
  Robert Wells, a senior underwriter in global livestock at
  Markel, said: "We had a successful laun
  
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• Lloyd's to make Europe subsidiary announcement by Easter: Nelson

  17-01-2017 13:36
  Lloyd's chairman John Nelson has said the Corporation will
  make an announcement on its new European subsidiary by the middle
  of April at the latest.
  Speaking in an interview with Reuters at the World Economic Forum
  in Davos today, Nelson said Lloyd's will be ready to make an
  announcement on its move to Europe in the first quarter or by
  Easter at the latest.
  He said Lloyd's would move some senior staff to the newly
  created EU entity once it...
  
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• Kuchinski takes top Zurich property job

  17-01-2017 13:36
  Rob Kuchinski is set to take on the role of global head of property
  in a newly created tripartite structure within Zurich's
  commercial business, The Insurance Insider has learned.
  This publication revealed in late December thatKuchinski was set to leave Allied World for Zurich after only
  four months at the company, although his role at that point was
  unclear.Kuchinski will come in to run a newly created global property
  unit. In addition to property lines, the unit will...
  
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• Insured losses reached $54bn in 2016: Aon Benfield

  17-01-2017 13:36
  Global insured losses climbed to $54bn in 2016 as the industry
  suffered its sixth worst loss year of all time, according to Aon
  Benfield.
  In its Annual Global Climate and Catastrophe Report for 2016 the
  broker said last year was just the ninth time insured losses had
  surpassed $50bn and was the highest level in four years.
  The costliest single catastrophe losses stemmed from the April
  earthquake in Japan, which caused insured losses of $5.5bn.
  The April earthquake in Ecuador,...
  
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• UK to leave single market, Prime Minister confirms

  17-01-2017 13:13
  
  Theresa May has confirmed that the UK will be leaving the single market, but will negotiate for a free trade agreement for financial services.
  
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• Global catastrophe losses rise to highest levels in four years

  17-01-2017 13:04
  
  With insured losses totalling $54bn (£44bn), global natural disasters in 2016 combined to cause the highest economic losses in four years, according to a new report from Aon Benfield.
  
  Read more

• Turner named Pen Underwriting CEO

  17-01-2017 11:36
  UK-headquartered managing general agency Pen Underwriting has
  appointed Jonathan Turner as its new chief executive to take over
  from current managing director Mark Armitage.
  In a statement released this morning Pen Underwriting said
  Armitage will leave the firm to take on the role of managing
  director for broking and placement for the UK retail operations at
  Arthur J Gallagher (AJG), the parent company for Pen.
  Turner's appointment remains subject to regulatory
  approval.
  Turner joined Pen as exe
  
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• Generali in discussions over EUR400mn legacy book

  17-01-2017 11:36
  Generali is approaching legacy consolidators to find a solution
  for a EUR300mn-EUR400mn ($319mn-$426mn) portfolio of legacy
  liabilities written through its UK branch, The
  Insurance Insider has learned.
  Sources told this publication the portfolio predominantly holds US
  asbestos, pollution and health hazard (APH) exposures for business
  written up to 2001.
  It is understood that the liabilities stem back to when Generali
  was a significant following market for major US casualty writers in
  London, par
  
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• Berkshire Hathaway Specialty gains Malaysian licence

  17-01-2017 11:36
  The specialty insurance division of Berkshire Hathaway has
  secured a licence to sell non-life reinsurance in Malaysia.
  Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) has set up a new
  office in Kuala Lumpur, hiring a former AIG executive to run its
  Malaysian reinsurance operation.
  Gaithrie Nandrajog worked at AIG in Malaysia from 2008 until
  last October, according to his Linkedin profile. At BHSI he becomes
  branch manager.
  He will be assisted by Koo Kang Wuu, who joins BHSI from Trust
  Re. Kang...
  
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• Jonathan Turner appointed CEO of Pen Underwriting

  17-01-2017 11:35
  
  Jonathan Turner has been appointed as the new CEO of Pen Underwriting, taking over from Mark Armitage.
  
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• Half of industry expects economy to deteriorate this year

  17-01-2017 11:26
  Nearly half of those working in the insurance sector expect the economy to deteriorate this year.
  
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• Biba calls for cheaper regulation for brokers

  17-01-2017 10:02
  
  Trade body raises concerns about the burden of regulation on smaller brokers in its 2017 manifesto.
  
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• LV= new tool could 'revolutionise' communication in claims

  17-01-2017 09:58
  
  Insurers can speed up claims settlement with new tool 
  
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• PartnerRe establishes retro sidecar

  17-01-2017 09:52
  Partner Re launched a retro sidecar using its own capital at the 1
  January renewals, sister publication Trading Risk
  reported.
  Sources told the publication PartnerRe plans to build a track
  record for the sidecar, Mercalli Re, before looking to raise
  third-party capital.
  PartnerRe has written small sums of retro limit in recent years
  but is not known as a major provider of such cover.
  The reinsurer already runs other third-party capital vehicles,
  including the $134mn L-Re (previously known as Lor
  
  Read more

• Novae appoints Patel CFO

  17-01-2017 09:52
  London market carrier Novae has named Reeken Patel as its new
  group chief financial officer and executive director, subject to
  regulatory approval.
  Patel previously served in the role on an interim basis
  following the
  departure of Charlie Fry, which was announced in September.
  Fry officially left Novae on 31 October after joining the
  company in 2013.
  Patel formerly held the position of chief risk officer at the
  company, since moving to the firm in July 2014.
  He is a qualified...
  
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• Jonathan Turner new CEO of Pen Underwriting as Mark Armitage moves to Gallagher

  17-01-2017 09:27
  
  Armitage joins Gallagher as managing director, broking and placement.
  
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• Biba's Steve White on unravelling unrated insurers

  17-01-2017 08:00
  
  I spent a large part of the last quarter of 2016 visiting the British Insurance Brokers' Association regions and talking to the advisory boards and committees as we usually do as part of our manifesto preparations.
  
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