Insurance news

• State National shares surge on first-quarter gains

  11-05-2017 23:28
  State National shares jumped 7.2 percent in New York trading
  today after the company posted strong first-quarter gains in
  earnings and revenue late yesterday.
  The Nasdaq-listed carrier which acts as a front for giant
  insurance-linked securities (ILS) fund Nephila reported an 18
  percent increase in revenue to $59mn while earnings rose 19 percent
  to $11.5mn, or $0.27 a share. The report came after trading had
  ended on Wednesday.
  Shares of the Bedford, Texas-based company surged as much as 13
  perce
  
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• Bunker seals $6mn Series A round

  11-05-2017 23:28
  San Francisco-based InsurTech start-up Bunker has secured a $6mn
  Series A funding round led by venture capital firm Omidyar Network,
  the company announced today.
  The funding comes less than a year after the firm raised a $2mn
  seed round. It launched a beta version of its platform in October
  last year.
  Other investors in the round include Comcast Ventures and Route
  66 Ventures.
  Rob Veres, a venture partner at Omidyar Network has joined theBunker board of directors as part...
  
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• AIG poised to appoint industry veteran Brian Duperreault as chief

  11-05-2017 16:56 via ft.com
  Insurer close to naming Peter Hancock’s successor as it looks to revive its fortunes
  
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• Cameron: Cyber crime solution needs insurance industry input

  11-05-2017 15:17
  
  The insurance industry and the UK government need to work together on cyber crime and travel risks, former Prime Minister David Cameron said in his keynote address to the British Insurance Brokers’ Association conference.
  
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• Axa to use Dragon’s Den labs to grow schemes book to £250m

  11-05-2017 15:09
  
  Axa plans to grow its schemes business to £250m in premium as a result of a Dragon’s Den-style innovation lab.
  
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• Biba heads back to Manchester in 2018

  11-05-2017 14:58 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  Trade body conference to be held at Manchester Central on 16 and 17 May.
  
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• Zurich P&C unit reports milder Ogden impact

  11-05-2017 14:41
  Global insurer Zurich reported a mixed bag of results this
  morning, as P&C profits missed analyst expectations but the
  Ogden impact was better than expected.
  The newly defined P&C segment reported a 13 percent rise in
  profits to $630mn for the first quarter of the year, but this
  excluded the $289mn net impact from the March change to the
  UK's Ogden rate, which is used to calculate personal injury
  compensation.
  The Ogden loss was smaller than the $315mn indicated at...
  
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• Zurich enlists KPMG for German med-mal legacy sale

  11-05-2017 14:41
  Zurich has appointed KPMG to advise on the disposal of its German
  legacy medical malpractice book, The Insurance
  Insider understands.
  The book is understood to hold EUR300mn-EUR400mn ($327mn-$436mn)
  in reserves, and sources said they expected it to come to market in
  the next few weeks.
  There has been significant interest from legacy acquirers in the
  portfolio, which is the first of a string of European back books
  Zurich is planning to divest.
  InOctober last year, this publication revealed Zurich
  
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• Running a private company 'infinitely' easier: Ursano

  11-05-2017 14:41
  TigerRisk Partners president Tony Ursano has highlighted the
  virtues of running a privately owned company, saying it is
  "infinitely" easier than operating as a publicly traded
  firm.
  "Having been at a couple of public companies and now being
  at a more nimble and agile private company, I'd choose private
  any day of the week," Ursano said at The Insurance
  Insider's InsiderScope conference in New
  York on 9 May.
  The former Willis Capital Markets & Advisory CEO dispelled
  the notion that...
  
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• Generali P&C profit falls in Q1 amid cat losses

  11-05-2017 14:41
  Generali reported a 4.4 percent year-on-year decline in
  operating profit at its P&C insurance division in the first
  quarter.
  The insurer, which was briefly a takeover target of Italian bank
  Intesa Sanpaolo, said the P&C unit's operating profit fell
  to EUR476.0mn ($517.8mn).
  The P&C division sustained EUR55mn in national catastrophe
  claims, which pushed the combined ratio up by 1.1 percentage points
  from the same period of last year to 93.1 percent.
  That was just above the analyst con
  
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• Driscoll promoted to Validus president

  11-05-2017 14:41
  Bermudian (re)insurer Validus Holdings has named reinsurance CEO
  Kean Driscoll as company president.
  Driscoll will stay on as Validus Re CEO, while adding company
  president to his responsibilities from 10 May.
  Investors typically scrutinise such promotions for signals about
  potential CEO succession.
  The executive helped to found Validus in 2005 and has been CEO
  of its reinsurance division since 2012.
  Driscoll was chief underwriting officer at Validus before moving
  on to run its reinsurance busin
  
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• Generali rolls out ambitious asset management plans

  11-05-2017 13:51 via ft.com
  Italian insurer seeks to treble profits by managing its own portfolio
  
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• #BibaFever: B-B-Q: Who would the insurance industry invite to the perfect summer BBQ and what would they serve them?

  11-05-2017 13:25
  
  As the embers start to go out at another British Insurance Brokers’ Association Conference, the #BibaFever team sought the answer to the biggest BBQ question of them all.
  
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• #BibaFever: B-B-Q: Can brokers afford to ignore insurtech to remain relevant in the connected digital world?

  11-05-2017 13:16
  
  As British Insurance Brokers’ Association Conference attendees wake up to a new day, the #BibaFever team went in search of finding out the big issues for the market.
  
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• Axa pledges schemes focus

  11-05-2017 13:15 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  Brendan McCafferty reveals that the insurer is looking to increase support to brokers who want to develop schemes.
  
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• #BibaFever B-B-Q: Who would the insurance industry invite to the perfect summer BBQ and what would they serve up?

  11-05-2017 12:56 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  As the embers start to go out at another British Insurance Brokers’ Association Conference, the #BibaFever team sought the answer to the biggest BBQ question of them all.
  
  Read more

• Lemonade expands to California with backing from Ashton Kutcher

  11-05-2017 12:35
  
  Insurtech poster child Lemonade has expanded into California, its third state, winning plaudits from celebrity backer Ashton Kutcher along the way.
  
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• Gallagher MGA targeting 1800 brokers with new online cyber offering

  11-05-2017 12:00
  
  Pen Underwriting is launching an online platform in the UK for brokers to access products
  
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• Gallagher MGA Pen targets 1800 brokers with new online cyber offering

  11-05-2017 12:00
  
  Gallagher MGA Pen Underwriting is launching an online platform in the UK for brokers to access products
  
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• LV launches online commercial combined product

  11-05-2017 10:39
  
  Insurer says Business Connect is available for the wholesale, manufacturing and combined sectors.
  
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• Tokio Marine Kiln launches construction insurance online

  11-05-2017 10:38 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  The insurer said that brokers can now quote and bind construction insurance via an online portal.
  
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• Zurich P&C reports improved Ogden impact

  11-05-2017 10:24
  Global insurer Zurich reported a mixed bag of results this
  morning, as P&C profits missed analyst expectations but the
  Ogden impact was better than expected.
  The newly defined P&C segment reported a 13 percent rise in
  profits to $630mn for the first quarter of the year, but this
  excluded the $289mn net impact from the March change to the
  UK's Ogden rate, which is used to calculate personal injury
  compensation.
  The Ogden loss was smaller than the $315mn indicated at...
  
  Read more

• Opinion: Diversity beyond sex

  11-05-2017 10:24
  The London Market Group (LMG) and BCG should be congratulated on
  producing another insightful, useful and detailed account of the
  London market with their London Matters report, three years after
  its first incarnation.
  As with the original report, London Matters 2017 has become the
  talking point in EC3 and beyond.
  And while there's clearly plenty to be cheerful about in
  terms of London's strengths as a world class commercial
  insurance market and its burgeoning reputation for writing cyber
  risk,
  
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• Beazley's top line falls 2% in Q1

  11-05-2017 10:24
  London-listed Beazley reported a 2 percent decline in gross written
  premiums (GWP) to $573mn in the first quarter of 2017, as premium
  rates on renewal business fell 1 percent.
  Specialty lines, its largest division, reported 6 percent growth
  to $277mn, but this was offset by declines in reinsurance, marine
  and the newly reorganised political, accident and contingency
  unit.
  The biggest reduction was in the political, accident and
  contingency division, which was formed in January after the carrier
  
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• AIG to name Duperreault as CEO: WSJ

  11-05-2017 10:24
  AIG will reportedly name Brian Duperreault as CEO, with an
  announcement due as early as today.
  The WSJ said Duperreault, a one-time deputy at the insurer to
  Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, will replace Peter Hancock, who
  tendered his resignation in March after an unexpected $5.6bn
  reserves charge pushed the company into a $2.8bn loss in the fourth
  quarter.
  Duperreault is CEO of Hamilton Insurance Group and Bloomberg
  last month reported that Duperreault's re-entry into the
  company could even involve AI
  
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• Ogden pushes Zurich UK GI unit to big loss

  11-05-2017 10:23
  
  Discount rate cut adds 36.9 percentage points to COR
  
  Read more

• #BibaFever B-B-Q: How can brokers survive and prosper in the connected digital world?

  11-05-2017 10:23 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  As British Insurance Brokers’ Association Conference attendees wake up to a new day, the #BibaFever team went in search of finding out the big issues at stake for the market.
  
  Read more

• #BibaFever: B-B-Q: How can brokers survive and prosper in connected digital world?

  11-05-2017 10:23 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  As British Insurance Brokers’ Association Conference attendees wake up to a new day, the #BibaFever team went in search of finding out the big issues at stake for the market.
  
  Read more

• Zurich falls to Q1 loss in UK after Ogden hit

  11-05-2017 08:47
  
  Global insurer Zurich posted a UK pre-tax loss of $132m (£102m on today's exchange rate) in the first quarter of 2017 compared with a profit of £50m in Q1 2016.
  
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• Zurich falls to Q1 £105m GI loss in UK after Ogden hit

  11-05-2017 08:47
  
  Global insurer Zurich posted a UK pre-tax loss for general insurance of £105m, which now includes global corporate, in the first quarter of 2017 compared with a profit of £49.6m in Q1 2016.
  
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• Zurich’s Guy Miller on why recovery is an opportunity for reform

  11-05-2017 08:00
  A synchronised global recovery is an opportunity for reform, not for complacency, argues Guy Miller, chief market strategist and head of macroeconomics, Zurich.
  
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• Insurance Times Biba Daily issue 2

  11-05-2017 07:30
  
  Towergate transformed: Ross & Co chart the future
  
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• Novae warns on full year COR and exits four lines

  11-05-2017 04:00
  
  Lloyd's specialist insurer Novae is reshaping its business as it expects a full year combined operating ratio above 100% for the full year.
  
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• State National posts gains in profit and revenue

  11-05-2017 01:06
  State National reported strong first
  quarter growth in both its top and bottom line as demand for both
  its programme and lender services products rose.The Bedford, Texas-based company, which
  acts as a front for giant insurance-linked securities (ILS) fund
  Nephila, said total revenue climbed 18 percent to $59mn.That figure includes premiums earned which
  totaled $35.5mn, a 15 percent uptick from the 2016 period.Net income surged 19 percent to $11.5mn, or
  $0.27 a share, while Ebitda rose 17...
  
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• Bank of America mandated to sell AmTrust fee business

  11-05-2017 01:06
  AmTrust has retained Bank of America Merrill Lynch to sell a
  majority stake in its sizeable fee business, The
  Insurance Insider understands.
  The beleaguered insurer's chairman, president and CEO Barry
  Zyskind disclosed on its first quarter earnings call this week that
  it was "exploring several ways to monetise the value of our
  fee business", with a view to securing a $1bn windfall,
  according to a Thomson Reuters transcript.
  In February, Zyskind described the operation involved as "a
  combination
  
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