Insurance news

• German carrier Sovag holds strategic review

  24-01-2017 23:57
  Hamburg-headquartered (re)insurer Sovag is conducting a
  strategic review of its operations and also looks set to secure an
  imminent capital injection from its financial backers to support
  its future plans.
  Sovag decided to hold the review as it targets improved
  operating performance after falling to losses.
  The carrier is also looking to address ratings agency pressure
  after AM Best downgraded the Russian-backed carrier's financial
  strength rating to B+ (Good) in December and placed it under
  rev
  
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• Fairfax said to assemble Allied World financing pieces

  24-01-2017 23:57
  Fairfax Financial is reported to be close to obtaining at least
  $1.8bn of financing needed to close its acquisition of Allied World
  for $4.85bn in a combination of cash and stock.
  The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System may publicly
  commit $1bn to the deal this week, according to a Bloomberg report
  today. Late last week, Reuters said Fairfax was negotiating to sell
  most of its stake in a joint-venture insurance company in India
  that could raise as much as $1bn....
  
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• Munich Re US taps Mozeika to lead InsurTech initiatives

  24-01-2017 22:09
  Munich Re US named Robert Mozeika as its innovation executive to
  both connect clients with useful developments produced in the
  InsurTech space and prospect for potential investment
  opportunities.
  Steve Levy, reinsurance division president, said: "This is
  an integral role for the reinsurance division and is a natural
  evolution for Bob who has established a leadership position in the
  InsurTech space."
  "Our goal is to identify opportunities and collaborate with
  clients to bring to market new insura
  
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• Castelo takes up position as head of Mapfre US

  24-01-2017 22:09
  Alfredo Castelo has taken his seat as president and CEO of
  Mapfre's US and North American operations, the global insurer
  announced today.
  Castelo succeeds Jaime Tamayo who was tapped to head up the
  Spanish carrier's operations across North America, Europe, and
  the Asia-Pacific region.
  The newly appointed US boss has worked his way up since joining
  the firm as a deputy manager in 2004.
  He has served as chairman and CEO of its global risks division
  and its credit insurance...
  
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• Reinsurers 'more circumspect' about pricing: JLT Re CEO

  24-01-2017 19:39
  Reinsurers resisted attempts by cedants to secure further rate
  reductions during the 1 January renewals season, JLT Re CEO Mike
  Reynolds said today in a lecture at Lloyd's Old Library.
  The global reinsurance market was still "awash with
  capacity", Reynolds noted, although he added that pricing had
  started to level out.
  "Reinsurers are finally starting to get more circumspect
  about pricing," Reynolds said.
  Reynolds was speaking after JLT Re earlier on Tuesday released
  its January renewals report.
  
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• DWF secures 215 jobs through Triton purchase

  24-01-2017 18:19
  
  Manchester-based Legal firm DWF has acquired Triton from its administrators, saving 215 jobs from the multi-disciplinary practice.
  
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• Zurich loses court case due to 'ambiguous' policy wording

  24-01-2017 17:11
  
  Zurich has lost a court case against Maccaferri Limited on the grounds that its notification clause wording was too ‘ambiguous’.
  
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• Travelers beats consensus estimates by 16%

  24-01-2017 17:06
  Travelers comfortably beat analysts' fourth earnings per share
  estimates as higher investment income and proceeds from a one-off
  reinsurance dispute settlement boosted the bottom line.
  However, there was negative news on the firm's auto book,
  where unfavourable prior-year development forced Travelers to
  strengthen overall reserves in its personal insurance segment by
  $45mn.
  The trend on rate movements was modestly positive, but such
  increases continued to lag behind loss-cost inflation, eroding
  
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• Kaufman Financial acquires Essential Insurance Services

  24-01-2017 17:06
  Michigan-based specialty insurance company Kaufman Financial
  Group has acquired premium audit provider Essential Insurance
  Services for an undisclosed price.
  Colorado-headquartered Essential Insurance will become part of
  Kaufman's national premium audit, inspection and risk
  management services business, US-Reports.
  Essential Insurance's employees will relocate to
  US-Reports' executive office in Fort Collins, Colorado
  following the transaction.
  The acquisition is the 14th made by Kaufman Financia
  
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• Berkshire loss on AIG deal a remote possibility: analyst

  24-01-2017 17:06
  AIG would need to take almost $10bn of reserve charges for
  Berkshire Hathaway to make an overall loss on the mammoth $34bn
  legacy deal concluded by the two parties last week, according to
  Credit Suisse.
  However, analyst Ryan Tunis did observe in a 23 January note
  that the legacy deal was the first Berkshire Hathaway has agreed
  that is big enough to risk the Omaha company making an underwriting
  loss in its P&C operations.
  Tunis estimated that some $10bn of...
  
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• UK Vehicle rebrands to Cazana and appoints advisory panel

  24-01-2017 14:50
  
  UK Vehicle has fully rebranded into Cazana, a database platform used by insurers, underwriters and loss adjusters to detect fraud at early stages.
  
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• WR Berkley marine review points to specialty pain

  24-01-2017 14:25
  WR Berkley's decision to suspend the underwriting of its London
  marine market book places the spotlight firmly on the challenges of
  writing profitably in a range of core EC3 specialty classes.
  There have been massive compound rate reductions in property
  direct and facultative, energy and aviation over the last two to
  three years, with annual reductions in the 10-20 percent range.
  All of these classes are now highly challenged, with rates below
  technical levels, and experienced underwriters belie
  
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• Vitality Re cat bond prices at new low

  24-01-2017 14:25
  Pricing on Aetna's latest Vitality Re health insurance bond
  settled at the bottom end of the target range, with the premium on
  the deal's class B notes reaching a new low, sister publication
  Trading Risk understands.
  The deal is the first insurance-linked securities transaction to
  be marketed this year, after XL closed its second Galilei Re cat
  bond in early January having marketed and priced the deal last
  year.
  The Vitality Re VII issuance will once again raise $200mn for...
  
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• Sciemus space head departs

  24-01-2017 14:25
  Head of space risks Neil Stevens has left Sciemus,
  The Insurance Insider can reveal.
  Sources said Stevens has not yet taken a new role after spending
  nearly one-and-a-half years with the London-based data analytics
  and underwriting management firm.
  The space risk management specialist joined the carrier in
  October 2015, according to LinkedIn.
  Stevens was previously director of the space underwriting
  division at Pembroke Managing Agency in London from August
  2013.
  At Pembroke he was manager of th
  
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• May's Brexit blueprint leaves insurers in the dark

  24-01-2017 14:25
  Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit manifesto has killed any
  lingering hopes of a soft goodbye to the EU in which the UK would
  remain in the single market.But as she pursues her promised "bold and ambitious free
  trade agreement" the insurance industry is little the wiser
  about the eventual post-Brexit landscape.Passporting rights in their current form look set to go. That is
  not to say market access won't be part of May's ultimate
  deal, or that passporting won...
  
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• Markel Catco returns hit by Matthew and NZ quake

  24-01-2017 14:25
  Claims from Hurricane Matthew and the Kaikoura, New Zealand
  earthquake each shaved 1 percentage point off Markel Catco's
  returns for 2016, the company said.
  The manager's London-listed Reinsurance Opportunities Fund
  reported annual returns for ordinary shareholders of 8.12 percent
  in 2016, down from an 11.58 percent gain in 2015.
  The Reinsurance Opportunities Fund had been targeting a return
  of 9 to 12 percent for 2016, net of catastrophe activity and
  fees.
  Altogether four events affected Markel
  
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• Leading ILS funds surpass $50bn AuM

  24-01-2017 14:25
  The top 10 insurance-linked securities (ILS) fund managers
  posted their fastest rate of growth in the past two years in the
  run-up to the 1 January renewals, exceeding $50bn in assets under
  management (AuM) for 2017.
  Overall AuM among the group reached
  $52.3bn, up 9 percent from the $48bn disclosed in mid-2016,
  according to data collated by sister publication
  Trading Risk.
  This was ahead of the 7.7 percent expansion posted in the first
  half of 2016, as well as the...
  
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• Ironshore targets growth with Liberty

  24-01-2017 14:25
  Ironshore expects to benefit from cross-selling opportunities,
  deeper distribution relationships and the ability to retain more
  business under prospective owner Liberty Mutual.
  In an interview with The Insurance
  Insider, Ironshore CEO Kevin Kelley described the
  agreed acquisition of the Bermudian from Fosun for around $3bn as
  transformative for his firm.
  "Some transactions are motivated for scale, or because of
  the economics of the offer to shareholders, while others actually
  transform an organi
  
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• Insider View: Aon's $4.5bn divestiture

  24-01-2017 14:25
  Putting a value on an enterprise can be a subjective business,
  and it's the specialty of investment banks like Morgan Stanley
  and private equity firms like Clayton Dubilier & Rice.
  As such, presumably Aon is getting a reasonable price for its
  benefits outsourcing unit, reportedly the focus of a $4.5bn
  transaction in the works with Clayton Dubilier.
  But at an estimated 9x Ebitda, the deal hasn't excited
  investors. Aon shares fell almost 2 percent after a Reuters story
  last week...
  
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• Generali's Intesa stock purchase sends shares up 9%

  24-01-2017 14:25
  Shares in Generali rose 9 percent to EUR15.48 ($16.62) as of
  11:15 UK time today, after a stock market manoeuvre by the
  Trieste-based company on Monday (23 January) gave weight to the
  latest round of bid speculation.
  Generali disclosed late yesterday that it had bought a 3.01
  percent stake, or 505 million shares, in Italian bank Intesa
  Sanpaolo through a securities lending transaction. The holding was
  worth EUR1.2bn ($1.29bn) based on Monday's closing price.
  The share price surge followed the...
  
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• Fema eyes state disaster recovery deductibles

  24-01-2017 14:25
  Leaders of the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) may
  impose annual deductibles on US state governments seeking to
  rebuild public infrastructure following a disaster, in a plan that
  Swiss Re and other observers said would spur states to buy more
  catastrophe insurance.
  The agency's goal is both to reduce the financial burden on
  federal coffers and to provide states with an incentive to protect
  roads, bridges, transit systems and government buildings from
  events such as floods, earthqua
  
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• Ethniki bidders include Fosun and Allianz

  24-01-2017 14:25
  The Greek government has taken four bidders for state-owned
  insurer Ethniki through to the second round of the sale process,
  The Insurance Insider can reveal.
  Sources told this publication that the bidders include Chinese
  conglomerate Fosun, Fairfax Financial, Matt Fairfield's
  start-up Exin and Allianz which is believed to be working in
  conjunction with private equity house Apollo.
  It was suggested that indicative bids, submitted in the week
  before Christmas, valued Greece's largest insurer at r
  
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• Cyber talent war continues as Hiscox loses Breese

  24-01-2017 14:25
  Senior cyber underwriter Marcus Breese has left Hiscox as the
  talent war in the cyber market rages on, The Insurance
  Insider understands.
  Breese's next destination is still unknown, although it is
  understood he left the firm late last year. He has been a long-term
  fixture in the market and has been underwriting professional
  liability and cyber insurance for some 19 years.
  A Hiscox spokeswoman confirmed the departure and said:
  "Marcus was a pleasure to work with and will be missed....
  
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• Chubb promotes Dmitriev to Eurasia and Africa director

  24-01-2017 14:25
  Nikolay Dmitriev, Chubb's regional managing director for
  Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Turkey,
  has been promoted to the new role of regional director of P&C
  for Eurasia and Africa.
  Dmitriev will retain his current duties as country president for
  Russia and the CIS.
  In his new role, Dmitriev will continue to report to Giles Ward,
  Chubb's regional president for Eurasia and Africa.
  He will lead the development of Chubb's P&C business
  across the region, working clo
  
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• CCR Re recruits directors

  24-01-2017 14:25
  The French state-owned reinsurer CCR Re has added three new
  directors to its board.
  Parent company CCR said Patrick Cerceau, Charles Levi and Antoine
  Mantel join the board of the reinsurance subsidiary, which was set
  up in September 2016 to write open market reinsurance.
  Patrick Cerceau was general manager of Europe at Mapfre Re from
  September 2008 to August 2016, following stints at AXA Re and
  Converium.
  Charles Levi worked as life and non-life director for actuarial
  affairs at Polish...
  
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• Brown & Brown could benefit under Trump: analysts

  24-01-2017 14:25
  US intermediary Brown & Brown could be one of the biggest
  beneficiaries of President Donald Trump's proposed US corporate
  tax reforms, according to equity analysts.
  In a note published yesterday (23 January), JP Morgan analyst
  Sarah DeWitt said that due to the firm's focus on small to
  mid-sized US accounts, Brown & Brown could see a 20 to 30
  percent boost to earnings per share as a result of potential
  corporate tax reforms under President Trump.
  Brown & Brown narrowly...
  
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• Aon Securities predicts pick-up in cat bond market for 2017

  24-01-2017 14:25
  Business should expand in the cat bond market this year, Aon
  Securities has said, with a record amount of bonds scheduled to
  come off-risk in the first half.
  The forecast $8bn of issuance in 2017 would be a 38 percent
  increase from the $5.8bn of deals made in 2016 - not including some
  private insurance-linked securities (ILS) transactions - when
  annual volumes struggled to recover after a slow second
  quarter.
  Aon Securities had the most bullish forecast for the year...
  
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• Aon $4.5bn benefits unit sale would aid growth focus

  24-01-2017 14:25
  Aon's expected sale of its benefits outsourcing business for
  about $4.5bn will enable the big three broker to focus more on
  faster-growing, higher-margin businesses, analysts said.
  But selling the segment of its HR Solutions group to private
  equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice could strip $500mn of
  Ebitda from Aon's operating results, and reduce its annual
  earnings by as much as 8 percent.
  Investor reaction to news of the sale has been mildly negative,
  with Aon shares dropping the day...
  
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• UK postcodes with highest burglary rates revealed

  24-01-2017 13:26
  
  Ilford in east London has highest burglary rate in UK, says Moneysupermarket, after analysing insurance quotes. Where’s lowest? Northern IrelandHouseholds in parts of Ilford, east London, suffer the worst rates of burglary in the UK, according to insurance forms, although the number of break-ins continues to fall nationally.Analysis of 1.8m home insurance quotes by Moneysupermarket.com over the past five years names the IG4 postcode, covering an area between Redbridge and Gants Hill in eas
  
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• Generali shares surge after Intesa stock purchase

  24-01-2017 12:16
  Shares in Generali continued to surge on Tuesday after a stock
  market manoeuvre by the Trieste-based company on Monday appeared to
  lend credence to the latest round of bid speculation.
  Generali disclosed late on Monday that it had bought a 3.01
  percent stake, or 505 million shares, in Italian bank Intesa
  Sanpaolo through a securities lending transaction. The holding was
  worth EUR1.2bn ($1.29bn) based on Monday's closing price.
  Generali shares were up 7.8 percent at EUR 15.37 at around
  10.25am...
  
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• Triggering Article 50 will require an Act of Parliament

  24-01-2017 11:12
  
  The Supreme Court has ruled by eight to three that the government cannot trigger Article 50 without an Act of Parliament.
  
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• Government loses appeal on triggering Brexit

  24-01-2017 11:03
  
  The Supreme Court has ruled that Parliament must vote on whether government can start Brexit process
  
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• AA predicts rising home insurance premiums in 2017

  24-01-2017 10:59
  
  Research shows that the cost of standalone buildings and contents policies fell over the past year.
  
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• Broker Apprentice 2016: Meet the winner Craig Younger

  24-01-2017 10:55
  
  Mastering the Broker Apprentice: After six exciting episodes, this year’s Broker Apprentice has been crowned. Insurance Age catches up with chief judge LV Broker’s managing director Mike Crane and winner Craig Younger to find out how he triumphed
  
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• Car insurance premiums at four-year high, says AA

  24-01-2017 10:16
  
  The index showed that the average shop around premium jumped by 5.8% over the last quarter.
  
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• XL Catlin hires Tuplin as cyber head

  24-01-2017 09:46
  James Tuplin, formerly cyber portfolio manager at QBE Europe, is to
  join XL Catlin to lead its cyber team, The Insurance
  Insider understands.
  Last week this publication revealed Tuplin
  had left QBE Europe, although at the time his next destination
  was still unknown.
  It is understood Tuplin will become head of cyber and
  technology, media and telecoms for XL Catlin, and will land at the
  firm in early March.
  The senior hire comes at a time when XL Catlin has...
  
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• Neon M&A consortium ups capacity to £75mn

  24-01-2017 09:46
  London market carrier Neon has increased the available capacity of
  its M&A consortium from £50mn to £75mn ($62mn to
  $94mn), it announced this morning.
  Neon will continue to lead the Lloyd's-backed consortium and
  the changes are effective from 1 January.
  The group provides cover for warranty and indemnity, reputation
  and warranties and M&A tax liability risks, with limits of up
  to £75mn per risk.
  Rob Brown, Neon's global practice leader for M&A, said:
  "Historically,
  
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• Moderate rate reductions at January renewals: JLT

  24-01-2017 09:46
  Global broker JLT Re's annual renewal retrospective has found
  that reinsurance programmes across many lines renewed closer to
  expiring levels at 1 January this year.
  In a preliminary report on the renewals, the broker calculated
  that its property cat rate-on-line index fell by 5.7 percent at 1
  January 2017 - slowing from the 8.2 percent decline posted in
  January 2016. The broker attributed the moderation of rate
  reductions to relatively stable US property catastrophe
  renewals.
  In a fuller retros
  
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• Barbican hires terrorism underwriter

  24-01-2017 09:46
  Lloyd's carrier Barbican has appointed Charlotte Pritchard
  as a terrorism underwriter in the company's malicious acts
  division.
  The move is effective immediately and Pritchard will report to
  the underwriting manager for malicious acts, Jessica Johnson.
  Pritchard joins Barbican from Sompo Canopius, where she
  previously served as assistant underwriter for political violence
  and terrorism.
  Pritchard spent ten years with Canopius Managing Agents from
  2006 after she joined the company from Brit.
  At C
  
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• Competition behind 2016 dive in home premiums

  24-01-2017 09:45
  
  The average quoted premium for a new combined home buildings and contents policy fell by 12.2% last year.
  
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• Ilford has highest burglary rate in UK, says Moneysupermarket

  24-01-2017 08:01
  
  Analysis of insurance quotes reveals parts of Cambridge and Manchester also have high rates, while Northern Ireland is lowestHouseholds in parts of Ilford, east London, suffer the worst rates of burglary in the UK, according to insurance forms, although the number of break-ins continues to fall nationally.Analysis of 1.8m home insurance quotes by Moneysupermarket.com over the past five years names the IG4 postcode, covering an area between Redbridge and Gants Hill in east London, as worst for bu
  
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• Legal Update: D&O liability, data protection and the avoiding of bogles

  24-01-2017 08:00
  
  Scots worldwide are preparing to celebrate the works of poet Robert Burns. Two lines from his famous poem Tam o'Shanter will be spoken at many events: "Gathering her brows like gathering storm, nursing her wrath to keep it warm".
  
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• Consumer Intelligence hires first chair

  24-01-2017 07:30
  
  Appointment will help Consumer Intelligence develop insurance research capabilities further
  
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• Car premiums at four-year high - AA

  24-01-2017 07:30
  
  AA survey shows sharp rise in car premiums
  
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• Former Quinn gets big solvency capital boost

  24-01-2017 07:08
  
  Injection to help former Quinn meet Solvency II requirements
  
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• Car insurance rise owing to accidental damage spike

  24-01-2017 01:19
  
  The average car insurance premium rose by £35 over the course of just three months last year, with accidental damage blamed as a major driver.
  
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• Accidental damage cited as bigger threat than whiplash to motor premiums

  24-01-2017 01:19
  
  The average car insurance premium rose by £35 over the course of just three months last year, with accidental damage blamed as a major factor.
  
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• Brown & Brown just beats with 3.5% organic growth

  24-01-2017 01:12
  Broker and early reporter Brown & Brown has narrowly beaten
  Wall Street's expectations by delivering organic growth of 3.5
  percent for the 2016 fourth quarter.
  The US intermediary, which has significant retail and programme
  operations, delivered adjusted earnings per share of $0.42, just
  one cent ahead of the average estimate of 16 analysts surveyed by
  MarketWatch. Adjusted earnings climbed 10.5 percent compared with
  the same period of 2015.
  Total revenue rose 7.1 percent to $433.6mn for the
  
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