Insurance news

• UK insurers settle historic Cape asbestos case

  13-03-2017 22:27
  UK industrial materials manufacturer Cape plc has agreed to pay a
  £52.5mn ($63.8mn) product liability settlement to Aviva, RSA
  and Zurich relating to litigation over the carriers' historic
  employers' liability (EL) exposures.
  In a statement today, Cape said it would make an upfront payment of
  £18mn, inclusive of substantial legal costs, and a deferred
  payment of up to £34.5mn over the period from 2018 to 2023.
  The trio of insurers brought the case against Cape, which was
  histor
  
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• Deutsche Bank downgrades AIG after Hancock resignation

  13-03-2017 18:40
  The departure of AIG CEO Peter Hancock could be a "negative
  catalyst" for the carrier, Deutsche Bank analysts warned as
  they downgraded the company's stock to sell from hold.
  Joshua Shanker and colleagues also cut their price target on the
  stock by 6.6 percent to $57.00.
  In their note, the analysts wrote that AIG's lack of a clear
  successor to Hancock "indicates indecision from the board
  regarding strategic direction".
  They also said the $12.2bn share buyback AIG promised for this...
  
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• Commercial P&C prices mostly flat in Q4: Willis

  13-03-2017 18:40
  Prices for US commercial lines coverage held firm in the final
  quarter of last year, according to Willis Towers Watson, which
  reported that rates were "nearly flat" compared with the
  same three months of 2015.
  The intermediary's Commercial Lines Insurance Pricing Survey
  (Clips) found that the majority of changes were comparable with
  those in the third quarter of last year, when rates were mostly
  flat.
  "Price changes reported by carriers were less than 1
  percent for the fifth consecutive quarter,
  
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• Bishopsgate lands Ed's Gordon Newman as exec chairman

  13-03-2017 18:40
  Bishopsgate, the recently rebranded London market arm of broker
  Towergate, has appointed Gordon Newman as executive chairman with
  effect from 4 July.
  Newman was CEO of Ed's London market operation, then known
  as CGNMB, until last year. He took up the role in November 2013
  after the Lightyear Capital-backed broker acquired Newman, Martin
  & Buchan - the intermediary he co-founded and led.
  The Insurance Insider reported last
  April that Newman wouldretire from his role at CGNMB to make way...
  
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• Travelers buys Simply Business

  13-03-2017 15:39 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  Digital broker bought for an enterprise value of $490m.
  
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• Travelers to acquire Simply Business for $490mn

  13-03-2017 15:10
  US insurance giant Travelers has agreed to acquire UK SME
  insurance broker Simply Business for $490mn ($598.8mn), the carrier
  announced today.
  Travelers will buy the business from Aquiline Capital Partners.
  The private equity house took ownership of the intermediary in
  April 2016.
  Travelers plans to fund the acquisition through a combination of
  debt and internal resources.
  The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of
  2017, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closi
  
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• Patriot National may have botched sale chance: JMP

  13-03-2017 15:10
  Insurance industry service provider Patriot National may have
  "squandered" an opportunity to sell itself for more than
  $475mn and now appears to be bonding more closely with an insurance
  carrier owned by CEO Steven Mariano.
  PatNat has arranged to send $30mn to Guarantee Insurance Company
  in exchange for 10-year service agreements that stipulate no
  decline in fee revenue.
  The move suggests "a significant change in strategy from
  what up until this point had been a commitment to public
  shareholders
  
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• Judge calls for Irish claims data law change

  13-03-2017 15:10
  The chairman of Ireland's Personal Injuries Commission,
  Justice Nicholas Kearns, has said the country's data protection
  laws may need to be changed to bring it in line with the UK.
  Speaking at a seminar at the Lloyd's Old Library last week,
  Kearns said work to establish a data repository of uninsured
  drivers in Ireland had progressed slowly, and warned that the
  government's view that the repository would be run by a public
  body rather than the industry "did not bode...
  
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• Global P&C premiums grew 4% in 2016: Allianz

  13-03-2017 15:10
  Global P&C insurance premiums rose an estimated 4 percent
  last year as the market grew at the slowest rate since 2010,
  according to Allianz.
  In a report released today the insurer said 2016 was the first
  time in five years that average P&C premium growth had fallen
  below 5 percent.
  However, the carrier highlighted that the growth slowdown was an
  "almost exact reflection" of the declining momentum in
  the global economy and global trade.
  Growth in the Chinese P&C market...
  
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• Elliott relinquishes CEO role at Tysers

  13-03-2017 15:10
  Tysers CEO Chris Elliott has stepped down with immediate effect,
  The Insurance Insider
  can reveal.
  Elliott has resigned for "personal reasons", according
  to a circular seen by this publication, with chairman Christopher
  Spratt, 71, taking on the role of interim CEO.
  "Chris is stepping down from his current role for personal
  reasons, but will remain an active member of the boards of HBH and
  Tysers, offering his considerable expertise on strategy, business
  development and client relationships," th
  
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• Simply Business snapped up by US insurance giant

  13-03-2017 15:05
  
  US insurance giant plots US microbusiness expansion with acquisition
  
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• CII teams up with UAE Insurance Authority

  13-03-2017 13:45
  
  The Chartered Insurance Institute has entered into a partnership with the United Arab Emirates Insurance Authority in a move to boost professionalism in the UAE insurance sector.
  
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• Chubb partners with low-cost airline to broaden European travel cover

  13-03-2017 12:09
  
  Chubb has expanded its travel cover offering by signing an agreement with low-cost airline, Wizz Air.
  
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• Opinion: M&A flow

  13-03-2017 12:03
  In late 2015, this publicationconfidently predictedthat the Florida market was set to
  become the scene of frantic M&A activity as the owners of
  several of the state's homeowners' insurers looked for
  liquidity through a sale or IPO.
  High trading multiples for listed Floridians coincided with
  evidence of emerging top and bottom line pressures in the sector,
  suggesting an opportune time for investors to exit before
  conditions deteriorated.
  For much of the next 12 months, it looked as if...
  
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• IGI full-year 2016 profits slip

  13-03-2017 12:03
  Dubai-based carrier International General Insurance Holdings
  (IGI) reported an 8.3 percent drop in net profits for full-year
  2016, amid a decline in underwriting income.
  Net underwriting profit fell by 3.8 percent to $50.2mn in 2016.
  The combined ratio deteriorated by 3.1 percentage points to 87.4
  percent, as the firm was impacted by a 1 point increase to the loss
  ratio, taking it to 45.5 percent.
  IGI's return on equity declined to 10.3 percent from 12.3
  percent the previous year.
  The...
  
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• Barbican hires energy class underwriter

  13-03-2017 12:03
  London market carrier Barbican has hired Marc Sullivan as class
  underwriter for downstream energy from Starr Underwriting
  Agents.
  Sullivan will report to the carrier's divisional head of
  energy, power and utilitiesOlivier Decombes,
  who Barbican hired from Starr last July.Sullivan's appointment is effective immediately.
  At Starr he served as a senior underwriter of onshore energy
  covering oil, petrochemical and chemical lines, having joined the
  company in 2008.
  Sullivan began his career in the in
  
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• JLT launches “social engineering” fraud policy

  13-03-2017 10:31
  
  Broker said move comes after demand for the cover from businesses.
  
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• InsurTech Futures: Brokerbility joins forces with InsurTech firm

  13-03-2017 10:25
  
  Partnership to help brokers ensure customers are not underinsured.
  
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• Horizon launches three new products

  13-03-2017 10:21
  
  Policies aimed at mid and high net worth clients.
  
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• #Insagepeople: 13 - 19 March 2017

  13-03-2017 09:38
  
  Keep up to date with the latest people moves.
  
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• Blog: Insurers could regret whiplash reforms

  13-03-2017 08:00
  
  In the end, the whiplash reform moved remarkably quickly. After 12 months of deliberating, we only had six weeks of consultation, followed by seven weeks of considering what to do. The tangible result was the compiling of seven hurriedly drafted clauses inserted into the long delayed Prisons and Courts Bill.
  
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• China: The new silk road

  13-03-2017 04:08
  
  China’s One Belt, One Road initiative is one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects the world has ever seen.
  
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• AIA's Tucker to join HSBC

  13-03-2017 03:06
  
  Mark Tucker, group CEO and president of Hong Kong-headquartered AIA, is leaving the Asia life insurer to join international banking group HSBC.
  
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