Insurance news

• Validus acquires ADM crop insurance group for $127.5mn

  30-01-2017 23:52
  Validus has agreed to buy a crop insurance group from
  agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) for $127.5mn in
  cash, the insurer said today.
  The Crop Risk Services (CRS) unit is a primary crop insurance
  general agent with $548.9mn in gross premiums written for the 2016
  reinsurance year and 1,170 agents across 36 states, Validus said in
  a statement announcing the transaction.
  The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of this
  year, subject to regulatory approvals and...
  
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• Aspen interest rate impact may spread across P&C group

  30-01-2017 23:52
  Aspen's declaration today that a jump in interest rates
  during the fourth quarter will knock about $190mn off the value of
  its investment portfolio led at least one analyst to say that
  assessments of mark-to-market adjustments for many carriers may
  have been a little too optimistic.
  Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analyst Meyer Shields predicted a
  decline in many publicly traded property and casualty insurers
  today as investors absorb the implications of Aspen's
  announcement, included with a warning
  
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• Marsh ousts Aon to win $100mn flood insurance contract

  30-01-2017 21:32
  Marsh has wrested a US National Flood Insurance Program contract
  away from rival Aon after a months-long battle the two giants
  fought in Washington over the approximately $100mn plum deal.
  Aon unsuccessfully challenged a Federal Emergency Management
  Agency (Fema) decision last year to take the NFIP Direct Servicing
  Agent contract away from its National Flood Service unit and hand
  it to Marsh's Torrent Technologies.
  A final decision was rendered on 17 January by the US Government
  Accountability O
  
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• Hiscox pulls out of political risk

  30-01-2017 21:32
  Hiscox has placed its political risk insurance book into
  run-off, The Insurance Insider can
  reveal.
  The London-listed carrier informed brokers last week that it has
  withdrawn from the market with immediate effect.
  A spokesperson for the insurer told The Insurance
  Insider: "In response to on-going challenging
  conditions in the London market, we have made the difficult
  decision to come out of political risks".
  The spokesperson added that Hiscox is "currently a smaller
  player in this area and whils
  
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• Madison Dearborn set to inject £40mn into Towergate

  30-01-2017 18:55
  Towergate is poised to raise an additional £40mn ($42.8mn) of
  equity, with existing private equity backer Madison Dearborn
  Partners (MDP) offering to buy the newly issued shares.
  In an announcement today, Towergate holding company TIG Topco
  said that it has also secured two shareholder loans worth up to
  £42mn, although these are effectively being used as bridge
  financing.
  The statement said that Towergate would use some of the proceeds
  from the sale of 40 million new shares at £
  
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• Axis hires two to London cyber team

  30-01-2017 18:55
  Axis has hired Neil Arklie and Delvin Tillett to join its London
  cyber team following the departure of a handful of staff in the
  second half of last year.
  Arklie, who has already started at the firm, is a senior
  underwriter in the financial lines department, writing cyber, media
  and technology insurance via both Syndicate 1686 and Axis'
  company platform.
  Before joining Axis, Arklie had worked at Swiss Re since 2003 in
  various roles, most recently as senior cyber and...
  
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• QBE denies Allianz takeover talks

  30-01-2017 16:25 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  Insurer states it is not talking to anyone about a potential sale.
  
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• JLT Re's Pang becomes Philippines MD

  30-01-2017 15:42
  Reinsurance broker JLT Re has hired William Pang to the new role of
  managing director of JLT Re Philippines.
  Pang has been managing clients in Singapore, the Philippines and
  Vietnam for the past five years from JLT Re's office in
  Singapore. Before joining JLT Re he was head of client management
  at Asia Capital Re, and before that he spent 14 years as Munich
  Re's deputy head of client management.
  JLT Re Asia Pacific CEO Stuart Beatty said: "The
  Philippines...
  
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• Aspen to take underwriting loss after profits warning

  30-01-2017 15:42
  Aspen has warned investors that it will announce an underwriting
  loss of $30mn for the fourth quarter of 2016 at its insurance arm,
  as a result of portfolio restructuring and increased loss
  activity.
  At a group level, Aspen now expects a combined ratio of 107
  percent - comprising a 63 percent loss ratio and a 44 percent
  expense ratio. In the prior-year period Aspen reported a 91.8
  percent combined ratio.
  Aspen also disclosed a forecast 7.5 percent reduction in diluted...
  
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• Insurers extend travel cover amid Trump travel ban

  30-01-2017 14:54
  
  Travel insurers will allow policyholders to claim if they are denied entry to the US.
  
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• Opinion: Paul Moulton on healthcare cover

  30-01-2017 14:42 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  Going for growth? Go for healthcare: There are large numbers of SMEs in the market for health cover for staff and brokers are well placed to meet the demand, says Paul Moulton
  
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• Claims manager Davies Group sold for £90m to US-PE firm

  30-01-2017 14:17 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  PE firm says it will build on Davies' success through organic growth and strategic acquisitions.
  
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• #insagepeople: 30 Jan - 5 Feb 2017

  30-01-2017 13:50 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  Keep up to date with the latest people moves.
  
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• BP Marsh buys stake in Canadian casualty specialist

  30-01-2017 12:40
  Financial services investor BP Marsh has arranged to acquire a 30
  percent stake in Canadian casualty specialist Stewart Specialty
  Risk Underwriting Ltd (SSRU), the UK group announced today.
  SSRU is a start-up specialty casualty underwriting agency, based in
  Toronto. It is led by CEO Stephen Stewart, formerly of Ironshore
  and Lombard, who founded the business in 2016.
  The company targets the construction, manufacturing, onshore
  energy, public entity and transportation sectors.
  In a stock exchange
  
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• AM Best cuts Singapore Ergo unit outlook to negative

  30-01-2017 12:40
  AM Best has revised the outlook for the Singaporean unit of Ergo to
  negative from stable, while affirming its A- financial strength
  rating and its A- long-term issuer credit rating.
  The revised outlook at Ergo Insurance Pte Ltd, whose ultimate
  owner is Munich Re, reflects "the declining trends in
  Ergo's Insurance's risk-adjusted capitalisation and
  operating performance relative to its peers", said AM
  Best.
  The ratings agency noted that retained losses and high dividend
  payments have weighed on t
  
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• Aegis London strikes marine MGA deal

  30-01-2017 12:40
  Aegis London has entered a partnership with The Meco Group, a
  specialist marine insurance managing general agent (MGA), it
  announced today.
  Under the partnership, which took effect on 1 January, Aegis
  Syndicate 1225 provides 100 percent of the capacity for all
  policies issued by Meco's Transmarine trade disruption
  insurance brand.
  Transmarine provides "loss of hire" and marine trade
  disruption insurance to ship-owners and operators.Meco Group CEO Chris Else said: "Transmarine's
  relationship with
  
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• Previous owner reveals Davies sale price

  30-01-2017 12:33
  
  Private equity group Epiris made profit on Davies sale
  
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• Davies gets new private equity backer as Electra exits

  30-01-2017 11:32
  
  Claims firm Davies now has new majority owner
  
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• David Ross: Money was wasted on Manchester

  30-01-2017 11:17 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  Towergate chief promises to spend latest £57m investment “very wisely”.
  
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• News analysis: LV’s pull out from broker home insurance raises concerns

  30-01-2017 11:15 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  Experts remain upbeat about brokers’ future in personal lines
  
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• Ombudsman investigates 4,683 CMC complaints

  30-01-2017 10:37 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  The Legal Ombudsman is marking two years of dealing with claims management companies.
  
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• QBE pours cold water on Allianz bid speculation

  30-01-2017 10:24
  QBE said there's "no basis" for speculation that
  the Australian group is rethinking its strategy to remain
  independent or has received a takeover proposal.
  A QBE spokesperson made the comments to The Insurance
  Insider after the Australian insurer stated in a
  stock exchange announcement that it is not in takeover talks with
  Allianz or anyone else, following reports by German newspaper
  Handelblatt and others that the Munich group had made an informal
  bid.
  Handelsblatt reported on Sunday that Allia
  
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• Multi-million pound investment in Towergate

  30-01-2017 10:12 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  Proceeds to be used for “several key strategic initiatives”.
  
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• Towergate to receive large cash injection from shareholder

  30-01-2017 08:37
  
  Towergate to spend money on ‘key strategic initiatives’
  
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• Exoskeletons: How wearable robotics could transform medical claims

  30-01-2017 08:00
  
  It sounds like science fiction, but exoskeletons are increasingly being used in rehabilitation therapy and insurers are getting in on the act.
  
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• Personal injury discount rate review delayed

  30-01-2017 07:38
  
  Lord Chancellor says discount rate review has taken longer than anticipated
  
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