Insurance news

• Travelers threat forces Brolly to change logo

  24-02-2017 19:42
  Start-up InsurTech firm Brolly is crowdsourcing a new logo
  following a legal threat about its original red umbrella motif.
  Sources told The Insurance Insider
  that the lawsuit stems from US insurance giant Travelers, which has
  a history of taking companies that use an umbrella in their logo to
  court in order to protect its own well-known brand.
  Brolly, which describes itself as an app-based insurance
  concierge service, has taken to social media to ask the public and
  its customers to...
  
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• Skuld Copenhagen head unveiled

  24-02-2017 19:42
  Skuld has appointed Krester Krøger Kjær as head of Skuld
  Copenhagen, the protection and indemnity club announced today.
  Krøger Kjær succeeds Helle Lehmann who, after eight
  years in the role, "has decided to step down and pursue new
  opportunities", Skuld said.
  Until this appointment on 22 February, Krøger Kjær was
  head of claims and deputy head of the Copenhagen office. Lehmann
  will remain at Skuld in an advisory role until September to aid the
  transition.
  S
  
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• Discount rate cut announcement date revealed

  24-02-2017 18:08
  
  Wait almost over for insurers as Lord Chancellor Elizabeth Truss confirms discount rate cut date
  
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• Travelers confirms logo dispute with Brolly

  24-02-2017 17:55 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  Insurer says it takes its responsibility to protect its brand seriously.
  
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• News analysis: Insurers gear up for discount rate change

  24-02-2017 17:50
  
  Fears raised that premiums will rise and consumer churn may increase
  
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• Travelers to pay legal costs for PIP Breast Implant claimants

  24-02-2017 17:43
  
  Travelers Insurance Company has to pay legal costs for a number PIP Breast Implant claimants, the High Court has ruled.
  
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• XL Catlin hires UK PI team leader

  24-02-2017 17:30
  XL Catlin has named Noel Horner as senior underwriter and team
  leader for professional indemnity in the UK.
  Horner was previously head of London professional indemnity at
  Zurich Insurance until January.
  Before that he held underwriting positions at companies
  including Newline Insurance and Royal & Sun Alliance.
  At XL Catlin he will be responsible for managing a team of
  underwriters and delivering cover to large risk management clients,
  including surveyors, architects and property managers, X
  
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• Claims Club: Insurtech start-ups should partner with insurers

  24-02-2017 16:44
  
  Insurtech start-ups should look to partner with major insurers rather than go it alone, start-up leaders have said.
  
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• Wholesalers snapshot 2017: Growing optimism

  24-02-2017 15:09
  
  With wholesalers reporting increases in key measures across the board, the future looks bright for the sector
  
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• Swiss Re Corporate Solutions to target primary lead business

  24-02-2017 13:07
  Swiss Re Corporate Solutions will start to write primary lead
  layers for mid-sized corporations as it seeks to change the mix of
  its portfolio to adapt to market conditions.
  According to its full-year results presentation, Swiss Re
  generated $4.1bn of premium through writing excess layers for large
  corporations in 2016, making the carrier a top five to 10 player in
  the space.
  Swiss Re now aims to write additional primary lead premiums of
  $1bn-$1.5bn by 2020, compared with what it...
  
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• JLT Re adds to Nordics team

  24-02-2017 13:07
  JLT Re has hired Annja Karlsson from Guy Carpenter to build its
  Nordics team, after the reinsurance broker appointed a P&C head
  for the region last year.
  Karlsson follows in the footsteps of Anna-Karin Toresson, who
  joined JLT Re as the P&C head for the Nordic region last year,
  having worked at Guy Carpenter until last May, according to her
  LinkedIn profile.
  As well as hiring Karlsson, JLT Re has recruited Daniel
  Knös as an actuarial analyst from
  Länsförsäkringar.
  JLT
  
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• Goldman Sachs and Blackstone among USI bidders

  24-02-2017 13:07
  Goldman Sachs Private Equity, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice
  (CD&R) and Blackstone are among the bidders set to table offers
  for $4bn US broker USI, The Insurance
  Insider understands.
  USI was put up for sale last month by current owner Onex, a
  private equity firm, with Bank of America retained to run an
  auction.
  It is understood that the first-round bid deadline is this week,
  with a high single-digit number of offers anticipated.
  Banking sources said that bids are likely to...
  
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• This week: Personal injury, fundamental flaws and results

  24-02-2017 11:53
  
  Personal injury took on a new meaning for me this week when I discovered a bruised ankle picked up during a recent paragliding adventure was actually a bad break.
  
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• Open GI posts continuing growth for 2016

  24-02-2017 11:44
  
  Profits stable as technology provider ramps up investment.
  
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• RenRe board gives buyback authorisation

  24-02-2017 11:25
  Bermudian reinsurer RenaissanceRe said on Tuesday (21 February)
  that its board has authorised share buybacks worth $500mn.
  In both May and August last year RenRe obtained authorisations
  for $500mn in buybacks.
  The reinsurer said on 31 January that it had bought back
  $309.4mn in shares at an average share price of $112.87 in
  2016.
  At the Tuesday board meeting RenRe's board also voted to
  increase its quarterly dividend from $0.31 to $0.32.
  RenRe's shares closed yesterday in New York down...
  
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• Opinion: Corporate Solutions conundrum

  24-02-2017 11:25
  The grass is always greener on the other side, or so the idiom
  goes.
  This well-used phrase feels particularly pertinent to
  (re)insurers right now. In an era of dwindling reinsurance margins
  and persistent rating pressure, primary insurance - in particular,
  specialty and commercial business - has been held up as a beacon of
  hope, a promising diversifier to buoy the results of the most
  property cat-heavy of carriers.
  A number of reinsurers went down this path - Swiss Re, Berkshire...
  
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• InsurTech Futures: Brightside partners with digital agency

  24-02-2017 11:05
  
  Broker says aim is to be fully digitised within three years.
  
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• Insurer threatens broker Brolly over logo

  24-02-2017 10:58
  
  Brolly is now set to crowdsource a new logo following the dispute.
  
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• Quizzical Questions: 24 February 2017

  24-02-2017 10:51
  
  Test your knowledge of the week's news with our topical quiz.
  
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• Heritage teams with Alps for classic car cover

  24-02-2017 10:37
  
  The motor broker will provide Alps breakdown cover to customers with single and multiple classic car policies.
  
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• 'Unchecked ego' warning to brokers by Lockton International chairman

  24-02-2017 10:10
  
  Premium content: Clients and cusomers are all too often the ones that suffer, says Lockton International chairman
  
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• 'Unchecked ego' warning given to brokers by Lockton international chairman

  24-02-2017 10:10
  
  Premium content: Clients and cusomers are all too often the ones that suffer, says Lockton international chairman
  
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• 'Unchecked ego' warning given to brokers amid latest acquisition wave

  24-02-2017 10:10
  
  Premium content: Clients and cusomers are all too often the ones that suffer, says Lockton’s Hammond 
  
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• Insurers see 300% surge in claims as a result of Storm Doris

  24-02-2017 09:54
  
  Insurers expect to see as many storm claims in the next two days as they’ve seen for the whole of the year so far.
  
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• Three Indian carriers could be merged pre-IPO: report

  24-02-2017 09:48
  Three state-owned Indian non-life insurers may be merged to
  create a stronger company which would fetch a higher valuation in
  an IPO, according to India's Economic Times.
  Oriental Insurance, National Insurance and United India
  Insurance have a combined market share of 34 percent and together
  write direct premiums of over 33,000 crore rupees ($4.9bn).
  The three firms were among five state-owned carriers to be
  grantedin-principle approval from the Indian government to go public.A senior finance mi
  
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• Qatar Re 2016 profits jump on investments

  24-02-2017 09:48
  Full-year net income at Qatar Re grew by 52.3 percent to $38mn
  for 2016, as net investment income more than tripled from a year
  earlier.
  Net investment income surged to $32.7mn for the year, from $10.7mn
  in 2015.
  The investment performance offset a deterioration in underwriting
  performance, which was impacted by an "unusually high"
  frequency of man-made losses, as well as sizeable losses from
  Hurricane Matthew and the New Zealand earthquake, Qatar Re said.
  The full-year 2016 combined ratio incre
  
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• Allianz sponsors Asian Champions League

  24-02-2017 08:06
  
  Global general insurer Allianz has signed a four year sponsorship agreement with the Asian Football Confederation for three major cup competitions.
  
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• Blog: Usage-based insurance, an untapped opportunity

  24-02-2017 08:00
  
  The growing usage-based insurance market is an opportunity for insurers, but there are some barriers yet to overcome.
  
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• Blog: Insuring automated vehicles will require data sharing

  24-02-2017 08:00
  
  Private and commercial vehicles with advanced automated functions are going to gradually enter the UK market over the next few years. In addition to changes to the regulations governing vehicle type-approval, a number of amendments need to be made to the UK's insurance framework.
  
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• WestCongress MGA launches as Lloyd's coverholder

  24-02-2017 00:44
  Managing general agent start-up WestCongress Insurance Services
  is set to begin underwriting liability cover for oil-services
  contractors and security companies after securing coverholder
  status at Lloyd's.
  Four industry veterans led by Richard Smith, a former First
  Mercury CEO who was at the helm when it was acquired by Fairfax in
  2011 for $294mn, have been developing the Detroit-based commercial
  excess and surplus specialist for over a year.
  "We've done a lot of leg work getting all the pieces
  
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• The Hanover dispels Chaucer sale talk

  24-02-2017 00:44
  Chaucer has taken a place at The Hanover's table under CEO Joe
  Zubretsky, who outlined his strategy in detail to investors today
  for the first time after taking over last year.
  Chaucer, the London-based reinsurance group The Hanover acquired
  in 2011, is counted as a main support for that strategy, which
  involves using it as a launchpad to expand the company's
  international specialty business.
  The inclusion appears to have put to rest, at least for the
  present, speculation that the...
  
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• State National grows top and bottom line and raises 2017 outlook

  24-02-2017 00:44
  Fronting and programme specialist State National reported moderate
  top and bottom line growth for the fourth quarter and full-year
  2016.
  The company, which acts as a front for Nephila, said total
  revenues for Q4 climbed 9 percent to $60.1mn, including a 12
  percent rise in ceding fees to $20.9mn.
  Premiums earned were up 7 percent to $35.4mn, the Texas-based
  firm added.
  Net income was 1 percent higher at $14.1mn, with Ebitda up 4
  percent to $23.7mn and earnings per share...
  
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• Gas takes Scor US property treaty role

  24-02-2017 00:44
  Augustin Gas has been named head of property in Scor's
  Chicago-based US treaty team, The Insurance
  Insider can reveal.
  The executive was formerly head of Scor's global P&C
  retrocession department, a position he took up in January 2012, and
  has been with the reinsurer for 11 years.
  In his new role he will report directly to Frank Coglianese, who
  he effectively succeeds after the executive moved from head of US
  property treaty to take over as P&C treaty reinsurance CUO...
  
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• Berger steps down as Third Point Re reports Q4 loss

  24-02-2017 00:44
  John Berger is stepping down as Third Point Re CEO with effect
  from 1 March, the company has announced.
  The former Harbor Point, Chubb Re and F&G Re executive will
  remain chairman of the Bermudian's board and its underwriting
  committee.
  Berger, who launched Third Point Re in 2012, will be replaced by
  the hedge fund reinsurer's current president and COO Rob
  Bredahl.
  The announcement came on the day the company announced a $46.7mn
  net loss for the fourth quarter, reversing...
  
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