Insurance news

• USI snaps up Cameron M Harris

  06-04-2017 20:58
  Expansive retail intermediary giant USI has bought Charlotte-based
  broker Cameron M Harris & Co (CMH) as it looks to build its
  middle market presence in the Carolinas.
  In a statement, USI described CMH as one of the fastest growing
  agencies in North Carolina.
  It added that CMH and its employees will remain at their current
  Charlotte location, and that terms of the transaction were not
  disclosed.
  The deal is the second significant sale by CMH president and
  founder Cameron Harris...
  
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• Terrorism risk climbs in US and worldwide: Ao

  06-04-2017 20:58
  Terrorist attacks in the US rose to the highest number in a decade
  last year amid a sharp increase in such incidents targeting Western
  countries, a new report shows.
  Reported attacks more than doubled to 96 from 35 in 2015, global
  broker Aon said in the study. Overall, it said incidents rose 14
  percent worldwide to 4,151 from 3,633 in the previous year.
  Islamic State militants spread violence to a broader range of
  nations last year, hitting in 29 countries...
  
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• Profits down 85% at Sompo Canopius syndicate

  06-04-2017 20:58
  Profits fell by 85 percent to £8.2mn ($10.2mn) at Sompo
  Canopius' Syndicate 4444 for the 2016 calendar year, as a
  tripling of the investment result failed to offset deteriorating
  underwriting performance.
  Syndicate 4444's combined ratio deteriorated by 8.6
  percentage points year-on-year to 101.1 percent, largely due to an
  8.9-point increase in the net claims ratio.
  Sompo Canopius said that while 2016 was a benign year for
  natural catastrophe losses, Syndicate 4444 had been impacted by a
  nu
  
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• Markel takes full ownership of Canada's Allsport MGA

  06-04-2017 20:58
  Markel's Canadian subsidiary has taken over full ownership
  of managing general agency Allsport from its joint venture partner
  Sports BC Insurance to expand in the market for sports accident and
  liability insurance.Markel Canada and Sports BC have each owned a 50 percent stake
  in Burnaby, British Columbia-based Allsport since 1997. Terms of
  the deal were not disclosed.
  Sports BC is provides recreational and professional sports
  liability cover in its home province.
  Gina Bennett, president of Allsp
  
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• JLT Specialty USA builds real estate team

  06-04-2017 20:58
  JLT Specialty USA has hired Gavin Shiels as senior vice president
  in its real estate practice, the company announced today.
  Shiels was previously a San Francisco-based senior vice
  president at Aon, where he worked in providing brokerage services
  to the real estate, technology, financial institutions, and food
  and beverage industries.
  At JLT, Shiels will remain working from San Francisco. The
  broker's US real estate practice is led by Gary Pestana.
  Denver-based JLT Specialty is on a recruitment d
  
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• Fosun buys into China's Fanhua distribution network

  06-04-2017 20:58
  Fosun's industrial unit has invested about $29.2mn in China
  financial services provider Fanhua to build demand for Fosun
  insurance products in one of the world's largest economies.
  The investment by Fosun gives the financial services and
  insurance provider a 5.3 percent stake in Guangzhou-based Fanhua,
  formerly known as CNinsure and comes with an agreement to
  collaborate in certain business areas, including insurance.
  "Fanhua expects to strengthen business cooperation with
  Fosun's affiliated ins
  
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• Lloyd’s of London opens Indian office in reinsurance push

  06-04-2017 18:37
  Reforms have opened up the market to international competition
  
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• European insurance: boring and chiselling

  06-04-2017 18:33
  UFR proposals could affect long-term payouts to shareholders
  
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• RMS expands cyber risk models to include physical damage

  06-04-2017 17:12
  
  RMS has expanded its range of cyber models to include cyber physical models to help insurers weigh up the cost of risk.
  
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• Trov closes $45mn Munich Re-led Series D funding

  06-04-2017 16:54
  California-based InsurTech start-up Trov has announced a $45mn
  Series D funding round led by Munich Re's HSB Ventures arm.
  The round brings the company's total funding to over $85mn,
  and includes previous investors Oak HC, Suncorp group, Guidewire
  and Anthemis.
  Trov describes itself as the world's "first on-demand
  insurance platform for single items", which allows customers
  to activate coverage as and when required.
  Sompo Holdings has also joined the financing through its Sompo
  Japan Nipponkoa s
  
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• RMS launches 'cyber-physical' property model

  06-04-2017 16:54
  RMS has released a model for a new class of
  "cyber-physical" risk aimed at cyber-attack scenarios
  that could cause physical damage to property.
  The catastrophe modelling firm said the model would allow
  carriers to identify silent exposures in lines of business it had
  found were most vulnerable to cyber-physical attacks, including
  commercial property, marine, energy, industrial and facultative
  facilities.
  These risks include cyber-induced fires in commercial office
  buildings, triggered fires or e
  
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• Lloyd's makes Council and Franchise Board appointments

  06-04-2017 16:54
  Lloyd's has appointed a top asset manager to the Council of
  Lloyd's and added a compliance consultant to the Franchise
  Board.
  Gregory Fleming, the former head of Morgan Stanley's asset
  management division, has been appointed to the Council of
  Lloyd's.
  He was president of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management from 2011
  to 2016 and also ran the bank's investment management division
  from 2010 to 2015. Prior to that he was president and COO of
  Merrill Lynch.
  Fleming replaces Henrique Meirelles, who...
  
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• Liberty names European financial risks head

  06-04-2017 16:54
  Liberty Specialty Markets has appointed Alexandra Paton head of
  continental Europe at its Global Financial Risks (GFR) arm, it
  announced today.
  Paton most recently worked as a founder and chief market officer
  of the managing general agent Equinox Global, and has previously
  held positions at AIG and Atradius.
  Paton replaces Alex Egnell, who recently transferred to
  Liberty's GFR operation in North America.
  She will be based in both Paris and London and report directly
  to Peter Sprent, head of GFR,
  
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• HPS and Madison Dearborn to buy Ryan Direct

  06-04-2017 16:54
  Towergate owners HPS Investment Partners and Madison Dearborn
  Partners are in advanced talks to buy Ryan Direct Group,
  The Insurance Insider understands.
  The private equity firms are understood to be hoping to seal the
  deal as early as next week.
  HPS and Madison Dearborn have made a number of investments in
  recent months. Last year HPS bought Broker Network from Towergate
  for £46mn, and both firms became major shareholders in broker
  Autonet.
  The news was first reported by Insurance Age....
  
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• Darag acquires Ikano Försäkring

  06-04-2017 16:54
  European run-off insurer Darag has bought 100 percent of shares
  in Ikano Försäkring AB, a Stockholm-based insurance
  company owned by conglomerate Ikano Group, for an undisclosed
  consideration.
  The deal will provide Ikano with legal and economic finality in
  regards to its insurance business, the carrier said in a statement
  today.
  Ikano operates across the finance, insurance, production, real
  estate and retail sectors, and is headquartered in Luxembourg.
  Darag did not disclose the volume
  
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• Catlin to reap $2.5mn from consulting role

  06-04-2017 16:54
  Stephen Catlin stands to collect $2.5mn for nine months'
  work next year under a consulting arrangement he has agreed with XL
  Group ahead of his retirement from the company.
  Catlin will relinquish his role as executive deputy chairman on
  15 May and become a special adviser to CEO Mike McGavick until
  year-end, while continuing to receive his $1.3mn annual salary. He
  will also be eligible for a cash bonus for 2017 of up to
  $1.5mn.
  The executive has agreed to...
  
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• Open GI deal "marriage made in heaven", says Transactor CEO Ray Vincent

  06-04-2017 16:33 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  Open GI CEO Chris Guillaume notes that the aim is to combine the best bits of both companies' technologies.
  
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• ​Esure fights financial crime with predictive analytics tool

  06-04-2017 15:29
  
  Esure predictive analytics tool latest in a boom of insurers using tool
  
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• Perils estimates storm Thomas property losses at EUR213mn

  06-04-2017 12:17
  Catastrophe modelling firm Perils has estimated the property
  insured loss from extra-tropical cyclone Thomas at EUR213mn
  ($265mn).
  The storm, known as Doris in the UK, hit Ireland and the UK on
  23 February before moving further to the southeast through Belgium,
  the Netherlands and Germany.
  The majority of the losses occurred in the UK and Germany,
  Perils said.
  The winds caused by Thomas reached a maximum gust value of
  152kph over the British Isles in Capel Cruig (Wales), while over...
  
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• Opinion: Catlin's exit

  06-04-2017 12:17
  Stephen Catlin will leave XL Catlin at the end of the year.
  Perhaps there is an incisive opinion piece to be written about
  entrepreneurship in the insurance sector drawing on Catlin's
  experience, or perhaps something to be said about the impact of
  consolidation on talent that touches on the XL-Catlin deal.
  But actually, I think that the more appropriate thing to do here
  today is just to recognise Catlin for his remarkable career.
  He is the standout entrepreneur of his...
  
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• Ludlow named Airmic CEO

  06-04-2017 12:17
  John Ludlow has been appointed CEO of risk management trade body
  Airmic, after John Hurrell announced his retirement in January.
  Ludlow has been a director at Airmic since 2012, and was most
  recently head of global risk management at InterContinental Hotels
  Group, where he spent 15 years in risk management roles.
  Before this he spent 15 years working in senior operational
  leadership roles in hotels, restaurants and pubs. He is a certified
  fellow of the Institute of Risk Management and...
  
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• Insured losses from Debbie rise to A$410mn

  06-04-2017 12:17
  Insurers are now expecting A$410mn ($309mn) in insured losses in
  the wake of Tropical Cyclone Debbie, the Insurance Council of
  Australia (ICA) said today, as it raised its running loss estimate
  by a third.
  According to the trade association, as of 9.00am Sydney time,
  insurers had received 35,370 claims as a result of the storm.
  The previous claims estimate from the ICA was A$306mn on April 4 .
  Category 4 Cyclone Debbie, which was downgraded to tropical
  storm after making...
  
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• Incremental innovation won't sustain profitability: PwC

  06-04-2017 12:17
  Global consultancy PwC has warned the (re)insurance industry that
  incremental innovation may not be enough to preserve its
  profitability in the face of increased competition from technology
  start-ups.
  In the firm's Global FinTech Report for 2017, released
  today, it said while incumbent companies had embraced innovation
  they appeared "relatively more conservative" in their
  approach to technology compared to other segments of the financial
  sector.
  PwC attributed this approach to the industry's com
  
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• Greenberg condemns brokers' 'abusive behaviour'

  06-04-2017 12:17
  Chubb chairman and CEO Evan Greenberg has fiercely criticised
  brokers for exhibiting "abusive behaviour" and accused
  some of enriching themselves at the expense of customers and
  underwriters.
  In his letter to shareholders in Chubb's annual report, the
  executive remarked that some brokers were demanding
  "excessive" commission terms, a practice that Greenberg
  said was "simply unsustainable".
  Greenburg warned of a customer and regulatory backlash if this
  continued and singled out the London market
  
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• 1.4 renewal points to mid-year rate reductions: Aon Benfield

  06-04-2017 12:17
  A favourable experience for cedants at the 1 April reinsurance
  renewals has set the scene for buyers to continue to obtain better
  rates, terms and conditions at the mid-year renewals, Aon Benfield
  said.
  The broker's brief report on the renewals said demand for
  reinsurance remained on a modest upward trend, but described
  available capacity as "ample".
  During the first quarter of 2017, insured cat losses totalled
  roughly $7.6bn, an active but below-average level of payouts.
  The total was 48 percen
  
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• Plum high net worth home insurance to include cyber cover

  06-04-2017 12:01
  
  Plum underwriting has included cyber and data risks cover into its high net worth and mid net worth home insurance products.
  
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• Driverless bus pilot begins in London

  06-04-2017 11:44
  
  RSA involved in first extended tests of automated public bus pilot
  
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• Storm Thomas loss estimated at €213m

  06-04-2017 11:37
  
  Perils has made an initial loss estimate for February’s Storm Thomas of €213m (£182m).
  
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• Open GI buys rival software house

  06-04-2017 11:37
  
  Open GI buys rival software house in £40m deal
  
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• Open GI buys noted rival software house

  06-04-2017 11:37
  
  Open GI buys rival software house in £40m deal
  
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• Plum launches high net worth home cyber cover

  06-04-2017 11:21 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  MGA says policy is designed to cover and support private clients exposed to cyber fraud.
  
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• Open GI buys Transactor in £40m deal

  06-04-2017 11:05 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  Acquisition builds on purchase of Powerplace in 2013.
  
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• Towergate-owners poised to buy Ryan Direct Group

  06-04-2017 10:59 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  HPS Investment Partners and Madison Dearborn Partners are set to buy the provider according to market sources.
  
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• Ogden change dents Co-op's full year results

  06-04-2017 10:40
  
  Co-op Insurance made an operating loss of £18m in 2016, despite seeing gross written premiums rise by 15%.
  
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• John Ludlow appointed CEO of Airmic

  06-04-2017 10:20 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  Ludlow takes over from John Hurrell.
  
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• Making Winners work: African farm insurance

  06-04-2017 09:30
  
  The Winners Project aims to provide a long-term-solution to the threat of extreme weather for farmers in Africa
  
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• Solvency II: still dividing opinion in the insurance industry a year on

  06-04-2017 08:50
  
  In light of Brexit, what will regulation look like in the future?
  
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• Analysis: UK insurtech getting ready to scale the peaks

  06-04-2017 08:00
  
  UK insurtech is getting ready to scale the peaks with the help of incubators and accelerators
  
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• Analysis: Insurtech aims to rock your world

  06-04-2017 08:00
  
  Insurtech aims to rock your world, and startups are raising funds to target every aspect of the industry
  
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• V3 hires Auslander and Lacey for professional lines

  06-04-2017 03:15
  Programme administrator and managing general agency V3 Insurance
  Partners has bolstered its professional lines ranks by hiring two
  senior executives.
  Dan Auslander came aboard as senior vice president and
  professional lines practice leader, with Brad Lacey added as a vice
  president in the unit by the Newtown, Pennsylvania-based
  company.
  Auslander was previously director of operations and business
  development at New York-based Ambridge Partners, and is a former
  CNA vice president.
  Lacey was most
  
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• QBE Re Bermuda's Soria heads to Sirius

  06-04-2017 03:15
  QBE Re's Bermuda branch manager Erik Soria is leaving the
  reinsurer to join rival Sirius International on the island,
  The Insurance Insider can reveal.
  According to broker sources, the executive will join up with the
  company owned by China Minsheng Investment (CMI) to head up
  casualty reinsurance in Bermuda.
  Soria is understood to have resigned from QBE Re and is
  currently working out his notice period.
  Soria moved from QBE's New York office to Bermuda in
  November 2014 to head...
  
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• Aon elevates Bruno to COO post

  06-04-2017 03:15
  Global broker Aon has promoted John Bruno to chief operations
  officer, a new position based primarily in Chicago.
  Bruno, who joined Aon in 2014 as executive vice president of
  enterprise innovation and chief information officer from NCR, has
  been based in New York. He will retain the CIO duties, an Aon
  spokeswoman said.
  "John has substantially enhanced the manner in which we
  leverage technology to create value for our clients and I am
  confident he will find similar, innovative ways...
  
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• American Empire names Lonneman president

  06-04-2017 03:15
  American Empire Surplus Lines Insurance Company has promoted
  Mark Lonneman to president, replacing Fred Woebse, who recently
  retired.
  Lonnemen will continue to serve as division president of Great
  American Insurance Group's specialty excess and surplus lines
  (E&S) division, a position he has held since 2010. American
  Empire is a member of the group.
  American Empire is an eligible E&S carrier writing a range
  of property and casualty products nationwide providing an E&S
  facility for wh
  
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