Insurance news

• Blackstone backs buyout of US annuity provider

  24-05-2017 20:31
  Fidelity & Guaranty Life buyout part of a wider shake-up of the US annuity industry
  
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• Swiss Re Singapore CEO gains P&C remit

  24-05-2017 19:05
  Swiss Re has named Sharon Ooi as head of its Singapore property and
  casualty underwriting hub, as part of a wider set of changes to the
  structure of its Asian business.
  In a newly created role, Ooi, who is Swiss Re's Singapore
  CEO, will add P&C underwriting head for Asia, Australia and New
  Zealand to her remit, Swiss Re said.
  Victor Kuk takes over responsibility for P&C client markets
  in southeast Asia, India, Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan, a role...
  
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• Post-Brexit 'bonfire of regulations' unlikely: Execs

  24-05-2017 19:05
  Expectations of a "bonfire of regulations" following the
  UK's exit from the EU are likely to prove unfounded given the
  country's already taut oversight regime, according to a group
  of senior industry executives.
  Speaking at The Insurance
  Insider's London 100 roundtable this morning, the
  cohort agreed the UK's regulatory framework would have to be
  fundamentally altered to bring about the changes some had expected
  from the Brexit vote.
  Several also highlighted Prime Minister Theresa May's
  apparent
  
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• Over-cap Canterbury claims add to Tower losses

  24-05-2017 19:05
  New Zealand insurer Tower said new Canterbury earthquake claims
  received from the state-backed Earthquake Commission (EQC) led it
  to increase its loss reserves for the 2010-11 Canterbury
  earthquakes in the half-year to 31 March.
  The boost to reserves had a net impact on the insurer's
  results of NZ$9.8mn ($6.9mn), pushing it into an NZ$8.2mn loss for
  the half-year, while reinsurance recoveries rose by NZ$24.5mn in
  the period.
  The carrier said it had closed almost one third of the 564
  claims...
  
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• Florida water claim losses spiral: AM Best

  24-05-2017 19:05
  Assignment of benefits (AOB) problems in the Florida property
  insurance market have led to a 14.2 percent annual increase in
  water claim losses since 2010, according an AM Best report.
  The AOB process allows an insured to assign rights to payment of
  a claim to a third party, and gives contractors the right to have
  their legal fees reimbursed if they are found by courts to be owed
  a larger sum - no matter how small the additional amount -...
  
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• F&G in $1.8bn buyout led by CF Corp

  24-05-2017 19:05
  A group of investors led by CF Corporation have agreed to buy
  Fidelity & Guaranty Life (FGL) from HRG Group for about $1.84bn
  in cash and the assumption of $405mn in debt.
  CF Corporation is a listed investment vehicle formed for the
  purpose of making acquisitions.
  The deal, which includes $31.10 per share in cash, implies a
  valuation for the life insurer of 1.1x adjusted book value as of 31
  March.
  CF plans to acquire about half of FGL's equity....
  
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• Cathedral's head of aviation war departs

  24-05-2017 19:05
  Cathedral's aviation war head underwriter Bruce Carman has
  resigned after nearly three years at the company.
  The underwriter has been placed on gardening leave for the
  duration of his six-month notice period and his next move in the
  market is unclear.
  However, it is understood he has not resigned to join his former
  colleagues at Lloyd's start-up Blenheim.
  The Lancashire defectors formed Blenheim in late 2016 and sealed
  £150.0mn ($194.7mn) of stamp capacity for the syndicate last
  September
  
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• Aviva plans to tackle dual pricing with Ask It Never service

  24-05-2017 17:54
  
  Aviva is planning to tackle the issue of dual pricing with its Big Data-driven Ask It Never service and offer customers a fixed level pricing when they renew their policy.
  
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• BC Partners reportedly preparing to sell Sabre

  24-05-2017 17:47
  
  Sabre Insurance is reportedly being sold by private equity firm BC Partners.
  
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• InsurTech Futures: Regulation in InsurTech needs to change, says Aviva's Wilson

  24-05-2017 17:21
  
  Aviva group CEO says there's room for brokers as technology evolves.
  
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• Tragic hero of Manchester bombing was Aviva employee

  24-05-2017 16:14
  
  One of the victims of the Manchester terrorist attack, Kelly Brewster, was an employee of Aviva, it has emerged.
  
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• Sabre tipped for £600m stock market float

  24-05-2017 14:55
  
  The motor insurer is being sold by majority owner BC Partners, according to reports.
  
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• Trustees call for lower trigger on $1bn FHCF treaty

  24-05-2017 13:53
  Trustees at the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (FHCF) have
  expressed an interest in lowering the reinsurance trigger for the
  renewal of its $1bn catastrophe reinsurance programme.
  The fund's communications director said that FHCF executive
  director Ash Williams had told a meeting of the trustees yesterday
  that he would "go into the [reinsurance] market and report
  back once a final agreement, if any, was made".
  Williams had presented several options for renewing the cat
  fund's reinsurance pro
  
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• Swiss Re Corporate Solutions names Emea and Asia CEOs

  24-05-2017 13:53
  Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, the commercial and specialty arm of
  Swiss Re, has made two management changes following the resignation
  of Europe, Middle East and Africa (Emea) CEO Tony Buckle.
  Fred Kleiterp will replace Buckle as CEO for Emea at the
  commercial insurer. Kleiterp has been CEO for Asia Pacific at Swiss
  Re Corporate Solutions since 2013 and will move from Singapore to
  Zurich to take up the new position.
  Southeast Asia head Jonathan Rake will replace Kleiterp in
  Singapore...
  
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• State Auto specialty insurance head departs

  24-05-2017 13:53
  Jessica Clark, the director of commercial and specialty
  insurance at Nasdaq-listed State Auto Financial Corporation (STFC),
  has left the company, the carrier announced yesterday.
  According to a statement from the carrier, Clark left to become
  CEO of Iowa-based GuideOne Insurance.
  Clark joined Ohio-based State Auto in 2009 as part of its
  acquisition of Rockhill Insurance Company, where she was CFO and
  head of specialty.
  State Auto has not revealed Clark's replacement as
  commercial and specialty h
  
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• Reinsurer group led by Nico swings to $2.4bn loss

  24-05-2017 13:53
  A group that includes some of the biggest US reinsurers slid to a
  $2.4bn net loss in the first quarter, driven by a $2.98bn deficit
  at Berkshire Hathaway's National Indemnity Company (Nico), data
  collected by the Reinsurance Association of America (RAA) showed.
  The group of 18 companies, which includes Everest Re, General Re
  and QBE North America, posted weaker underwriting results compared
  with the same period in 2016 as the collective loss ratio climbed
  at a faster pace than expenses...
  
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• Opinion: Tackling terror

  24-05-2017 13:53
  Like a shapeshifting monster, the face of terrorism in the Western
  world has changed again with Monday night's devastating attack
  on young concert goers leaving Manchester Arena.
  The November 2015 attacks in Paris awoke security services - and
  insurers providing coverage - to the growing threat from single or
  small groups of armed assailants targeting relatively wide
  areas.
  And then came the use of vehicles as a weapon, which crashed
  into the Western consciousness with the massacre at the Bastil
  
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• Novae departures mount with ex-active underwriter's exit

  24-05-2017 13:53
  Ian Burford, Novae's director of
  underwriting performance, and joint active underwriter until
  earlier this year, has left the company in the latest of a spate of
  exits from the London-listed carrier, The Insurance
  Insider can reveal.
  Burford vacated his positions as active underwriter earlier this
  year, with chief underwriting officer Robert Forster taking on the
  role on a sole basis.
  Burford, whose background was in US catastrophe reinsurance,
  continued to be connected to the underwriting of No
  
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• Motor insurer Sabre exploring sale or IPO

  24-05-2017 13:53
  The car insurer Sabre is considering an initial public offering
  or a sale as its private equity owner looks to liquidate its
  position, the London Evening Standard has reported.
  Banking sources have been talking about a potential sale of the
  specialty motor insurer for the last 12 months, with an abortive
  sale process run by a boutique investment bank last year.
  The Evening Standard reported that an IPO could value
  the business at £600mn, which is the price tag that...
  
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• Market dodged major losses from WannaCry: AM Best

  24-05-2017 13:53
  Insurers probably dodged a cyber bullet when the WannaCry virus
  disabled more than 300,000 computer systems worldwide because few
  of the victims were covered for the risk, according to AM Best.
  While estimated economic losses may reach $8bn, according to
  cyber risk evaluation specialists at Cyence in California's
  Silicon Valley, AM Best says the low dollar value of ransom demands
  for the software needed to unlock disabled systems - no more than
  $600 per computer - meant only larger organisations
  
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• Denver storm losses estimated at record $1.4bn

  24-05-2017 13:53
  The Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association has
  estimated insured losses from the hailstorm that hit Colorado's
  Front Range region on 8 May at $1.4bn, making it the state's
  costliest catastrophe to date.
  So far, more than more 150,000 car insurance claims and 50,000
  homeowners' insurance claims have been filed in relation to the
  storm, the association said.
  The event is set to surpass the historic storms of 20 July 2009
  and 11 July 1990, which caused insured losses of $845.5mn...
  
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• Chinese insurers well captialised: CIRC

  24-05-2017 13:53
  A study by the Chinese insurance regulator has found that the
  country's insurers tend to be well capitalised.
  According to analysis by the Chinese Insurance Regulatory
  Commission (CIRC), capitalisation levels vary in China, but most
  carriers were capitalised in excess of the 100 percent minimum.Personal lines carriers had an average solvency adequacy ratio
  of 230 percent, P&C insurers a ratio of 269 percent and
  reinsurers a ratio of 330 percent.
  The watchdog found that the Chinese insurance
  
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• California agrees $12mn settlement with WR Berkley

  24-05-2017 13:53
  The California Department of Insurance (CDI) has received a $12mn
  settlement from WR Berkley Corporation after one of its
  subsidiaries was found to be operating as a surplus lines carrier
  in the state without the required licences.
  The settlement, announced yesterday by the state's insurance
  commissioner Dave Jones, was issued against the carrier's
  Admiral Insurance Company subsidiaries.
  It followed an investigation launched in 2011 that found
  evidence the subsidiaries had transacted surplus lin
  
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• Australian MGA Blend Insurance launches

  24-05-2017 13:53
  New underwriting agency Blend Insurance Solutions has launched in
  the Australian market after securing an accident and health
  (A&H) renewal rights deal with Beazley Underwriting.
  The Sydney-based MGA is a joint venture owned equally by
  Steadfast Group and London-based specialty underwriter Advent
  Capital.
  Initially, the firm will focus on serving Beazley's A&H
  policyholders in the region, before expanding further into the
  market.
  Blend's business will be placed at Lloyd's via specialty
  i
  
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• UKBA: Award opened opportunities for career development, says Higos winner

  24-05-2017 12:40
  
  Young Broker of the Year Award helped Charlotte Eggleton to gain greater responsibilities at work and pushed her into enrolling for the insurance fellowship programme.
  
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• Gallagher and Portsoken settle court battle

  24-05-2017 12:35
  
  Agreement ends long-running Gallagher and Portsoken legal battle
  
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• Opinion: Tim Holliday on the effects of the Ogden rate change

  24-05-2017 12:29
  
  Tim Holliday analyses what the effect of the recent change in the Ogden rate to minus 0.75% will be for insurers and reinsurers, as well as what it could mean for brokers.
  
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• Blog: From Noddy to Sweep, kids TV has been helping insurers sell products since 1985

  24-05-2017 11:37
  
  Post content director Jonathan Swift reflects on the relationship between children's television and insurance over the last four decades.
  
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• Former Autofocus employees found guilty of 'systemic' fabrication of evidence

  24-05-2017 11:18
  
  A judge today found seven former Autofocus employees guilty of doctoring credit hire rate evidence to defend insurers in court.
  
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• Gallagher versus Portsoken court case settled

  24-05-2017 11:03
  
  Legal spat focused on confidential information from Agent Assure’s database and Dallas Kirkland business.
  
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• Q&A: Cheryl Agius, L&G

  24-05-2017 08:00
  
  Cheryl Agius was recently appointed CEO of Legal & General's general insurance business. She talks to Post about what GI can learn from retirement and other sectors, and in which areas she's looking to grow the business.
  
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• Maison owner taps Dan Case as COO to grow business

  24-05-2017 03:11
  Maison owner 1347 Property Insurance Holdings (PIH) named Dan
  Case, a veteran of Advocate Reinsurance Partners, as COO
  responsible for growing operations for the carrier.
  Case helped start Dallas-based Advocate and led its property
  reinsurance business when it was acquired by BMS Re in September, remaining as a
  BMS executive vice president until March. Advocate focused on the
  US Midwest and Southeast markets, particularly Texas and
  Florida.
  Maison, the main operating unit of Tampa, Florida-based
  
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