Insurance news

• MGAs outgrew P&C market in 2016: Conning

  13-07-2017 22:25
  Growth in the MGA and program market outpaced the broader
  property and casualty (P&C) market by 1.2 percentage points
  last year, according to data from Conning.
  A study of the market showed 3.7 percent growth for the P&C
  sector overall last year, but MGAs managed to expand at a 4.9
  percent rate despite the ongoing soft market cycle compressing
  overall growth year-on-year, the Hartford, Connecticut-based
  investment management and research firm said.
  Conning vice president of insurance res
  
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• CNA names Thomas first claims analytics head

  13-07-2017 22:25
  Insurer CNA has hired Robert Thomas from The Hartford to become
  its first senior vice president for claims analytics, finance and
  operations with the global property and casualty (P&C)
  division.
  Thomas reports to Andrew Pinkes, executive vice president for
  worldwide P&C claims, and will work with the commercial,
  specialty and international businesses of the Chicago-based
  carrier.
  Previously, Thomas was a senior vice president and chief P&C
  actuary with The Hartford, where he had work
  
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• Trisura secures specialty licence from Oklahoma regulator

  13-07-2017 18:24
  Canadian carrier Trisura Group has received a licence to write
  specialty business from the Oklahoma Insurance Department, weeks
  after completing a $110mn spin-off from controlling shareholder
  Brookfield Asset Management.
  In a statement released late yesterday, the company said it
  would now seek a rating from AM Best and begin writing business in
  the US.
  Trisura writes surety, risk solution and corporate (re)insurance
  business and is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
  The carrier, led by CEO G
  
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• Saudi Re to buy into Probitas as Istmo Re exits

  13-07-2017 18:24
  Middle Eastern reinsurer Saudi Re is set to take a significant
  minority position believed to be upwards of 40 percent in Ash
  Bathia's Lloyd's start-up Probitas as its failed Panamanian
  backer sells out, The Insurance Insider
  can reveal.
  Istmo Re was the majority owner of Probitas' holding
  company, the entity which also owned the corporate member which
  supports the underwriting of Syndicate 1492.
  Sources said that a memorandum of understanding has now been
  signed between the various parties. The
  
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• NatGen secures $70mn auto and homeowners quota shares

  13-07-2017 18:24
  US general insurer National General has arranged separate
  two-year auto and homeowners reinsurance placements each with $70mn
  per-event limits.
  The auto cover, provided by Hannover Re, commanded a 31.2
  percent provisional ceding commission, subject to a sliding scale
  up to a maximum of 32.8 percent if the loss ratio remains below
  63.4 percent for the reinsured portions of the book.
  If the ratio rises above 66.6 percent the minimum ceding
  commission falls to 29.6 percent. Hannover Re's liability
  
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• Macia returns to AIG fold from Hamilton

  13-07-2017 18:24
  Seraina Macia, one of AIG CEO Brian Duperreault's key
  lieutenants at Hamilton, has returned to AIG after leaving the firm
  as part of a management purge by former CEO Peter Hancock.
  Macia has been appointed CEO of AIG's emerging technology
  business, which will include the assets of Hamilton USA.
  She will report directly to Duperreault and join AIG's
  executive leadership team.
  Macia, née Maag, was CEO of Hamilton USA from October
  2016.
  As part of Duperreault's accession to one of...
  
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• HPS and BP Marsh fund Nexus acquisitions

  13-07-2017 18:24
  Global investment firm HPS Investment Partners and venture capital
  provider BP Marsh & Partners have provided the financing for a
  trio of acquisitions for expansive MGA Nexus Underwriting.
  BP Marsh announced today that it had provided a £4mn
  ($5.2mn) loan facility to the Colin Thompson-led MGA, while HPS has
  provided a £26mn loan facility.
  BP Marsh holds an 18.6 percent shareholding in Nexus.
  Prior to this transaction, Nexus had no debt on its balance
  sheet and an Ebitda of aroun
  
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• Alesco CEO takes on AJG specialty leadership

  13-07-2017 18:24
  Alesco CEO Simon Matson has been promoted to head of AJ
  Gallagher International (AJG)'s London-based specialty business
  in a management restructure that brings the two units together
  under the same leadership.
  The Insurance Insider understands
  Matson will continue as CEO of energy-focused wholesaler Alesco,
  which has been run on a semi-autonomous basis since it was founded
  in 2008.
  Former AJG specialty managing director Andrew Agnew will now
  become chairman of the division.
  Sources suggested tha
  
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• A&H merry-go-round continues with Ing departure

  13-07-2017 18:24
  Tom Ing, senior accident and health (A&H) underwriter at CV
  Starr, has resigned from the company, The Insurance
  Insider understands.It is strongly believed that Ing is set to reappear at Barbican,
  which would mark the first meaningful entry into A&H by the
  London-based carrier.However, Ing has also been linked with opportunities at other
  outlets in EC3, including Swiss Re's London operation and
  Hamilton at Lloyd's.Hamilton at Lloyd's lost its A&H head, Laura Owen, last
  month.Ing's de
  
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• ABI calls for cross-party collaboration on Brexit

  13-07-2017 15:53
  
  The Association of British Insurers has called on the government to establish a framework for cross-party cooperation over Brexit.
  
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• Meet the techies: Brolly's Phoebe Hugh warns brokers of being cut out of the market

  13-07-2017 15:14
  
  Phoebe Hugh, co-founder and chief executive officer of InsurTech start-up Brolly, talks us through how brokers can take advantage of technology.
  
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• Enterprise, Gable collapse pushes FSCS bill to £375mn

  13-07-2017 14:26
  The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) paid out
  £50mn ($64.3mn) in compensation in its last financial year to
  customers of Enterprise Insurance and Gable Insurance.
  The FSCS gave the figure in a tally of its overall compensation
  costs, which totalled £375mn in 2016/2017. The figure includes
  an estimated £24mn from claims that have yet to be paid and
  compares with £271mn in compensation pay-outs in the FSCS'
  2015/2016 year.
  Excluding about 740,000 Enterprise and
  
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• GRP regional hub announces second acquisition

  13-07-2017 12:48
  
  More deals to follow for GRP regional hub
  
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• Higos buys South West broker Colin Fear

  13-07-2017 12:31
  
  The deal is part of Higos-owner GRP's strategy to develop regional hubs.
  
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• 33% of insurance customers 'will request for their data to be deleted'

  13-07-2017 12:30
  
  One in three insurance customers will exercise their right to be forgotten under the General Data Protection Regulation.
  
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• Aviva redundancies: Insurer says 50% of claims can be serviced online

  13-07-2017 12:28
  
  Brokers agree technology can help claims service but Unite Union slams the job losses.
  
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• Fashion firm faces £40m FCA fine for mis-selling GI products

  13-07-2017 12:27
  
  A fashion company may be facing a fine of £40m from the Financial Conduct Authority after mis-selling GI products.
  
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• Fashion firm faces £40m FCA bill for mis-selling GI products

  13-07-2017 12:27
  
  A fashion company may be facing a bill of £40m from the Financial Conduct Authority after mis-selling GI products.
  
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• N Brown faces £40m bill after insurance product flaw

  13-07-2017 12:24
  
  Fashion brand says this follows review prompted by the FCA's crackdown on add-ons.
  
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• Beazley gets green light for Dublin subsidiary

  13-07-2017 11:47
  
  Specialist insurer Beazley has received the go ahead to convert its Dublin-based reinsurance company into an insurance company.
  
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• FSCS paid out £375m over 2016/17

  13-07-2017 11:35
  
  The Financial Services Compensation Scheme’s compensation costs totalled £375m in 2016/17 in response to almost 37,000 claims.
  
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• FCA crackdown leads to fashion firm facing £40m bill for GI mis-selling

  13-07-2017 11:20
  
  Fashion retailer compensation bill comes after FCA crackdown on GI mis-selling and add-on products 
  
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• Aviva staff cuts decision comes under fire

  13-07-2017 10:46
  
  Aviva staff cuts will cause a ’devastating’ backlash on local community 
  
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• Opinion: Societal progress

  13-07-2017 10:44
  It was one of those smash-your-face-into-your-keyboard
  moments.
  On Monday - that's this week, this month, in 2017 -
  Conservative whip Anne Marie Morris decided it was perfectly
  acceptable to classify the possibility of the UK leaving the EU
  without a trade deal as a "n***** in the woodpile".
  It's hard to find a positive from what is a totally
  unacceptable use of an utterly offensive phrase, but if there is
  one, perhaps it's this: that it shines a very public...
  
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• Hiscox recruits professional lines duo

  13-07-2017 10:44
  London-listed (re)insurer Hiscox has hired professional lines
  underwriters from XL Group and Travelers, as it expands its US
  engineering and professional liability teams.
  Joseph Reynolds from XL has become architects' and
  engineers' product head and a vice president at Hiscox USA,
  Hiscox said.
  Thomas Rea from Travelers has been named professional liability
  product head and vice president at the company.
  Both Reynolds and Rea will report to David Egosi, who is Hiscox
  USA senior vice president and
  
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• Africa Re rating on negative review: AM Best

  13-07-2017 10:44
  AM Best raised concerns about the capital structure of Africa
  Re, the continent's largest reinsurer as it put the
  company's financial strength rating under review with negative
  implications.
  The credit ratings agency noted that Africa Re's investors,
  which include 41 African nations and more than 100 (re)insurers,
  have a right to sell shares back to the carrier, potentially
  disrupting its capital base.Africa Re's management team is said to be working on a plan
  to mitigate concerns about sharehol
  
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• Unite slams Aviva over potential plans to cut 120 jobs

  13-07-2017 09:41
  
  A union has hit out at “simply unacceptable” plans by Aviva to close its Southend office, putting 120 jobs at risk.
  
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• Interview: Grenfell Tower insurer's CEO reveals UK expansion plans

  13-07-2017 07:00
  It is estimated that the Grenfell Tower fire could result in claims of up to £50m. However, the carrier responsible for insuring the building said that its expansion plans for the UK remain undimmed.
  
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• Interview: Grenfell Tower insurer reveals UK expansion plans

  13-07-2017 07:00
  
  It is estimated that the Grenfell Tower fire could result in claims of up to £50m. However, the carrier responsible for insuring the building said that its expansion plans for the UK remain undimmed.
  
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• Horace Mann sees Q2 pre-tax cat losses of up to $34mn

  13-07-2017 02:55
  Property and casualty insurer Horace Mann Educators shares fell
  almost 3 percent today after the carrier said late Tuesday that it
  expects to report pre-tax catastrophe losses of $31mn to $34mn for
  the second quarter.
  The company cited 16 severe wind and hail events, particularly
  in Colorado and Minnesota, during the period and said would clip
  $0.49 to $0.53 a share from earnings, in a regulatory filing today
  that recapped the Tuesday release. The personal lines carrier cited
  auto and...
  
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• Chubb's Bertossi replaces Bonneau as underwriting head

  13-07-2017 02:55
  Chubb has named former Ace executive Ross Bertossi to succeed
  Jacques Bonneau as vice president of global underwriting.
  Bertossi will work with Bonneau until the latter retires at the
  end of this year, Zurich-based Chubb said late today. Bonneau, who
  joined Ace in 1999, led the company's reinsurance operations
  for 15 years before becoming executive vice president of global
  underwriting in 2014.
  As part of his new responsibilities, Bertossi will oversee
  companywide efforts to advance underwriting
  
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• Workers comp margins may evaporate by 2018: Moody's

  13-07-2017 00:05
  Underwriting profit in the workers' compensation market is
  likely to disappear next year amid increasing competition and rate
  pressure that has pushed prices below loss cost trends, Moody's
  Investors Service said in a report released today.
  A rise in medical cost inflation would further aggravate the
  situation for carriers, Moody's said, noting that industry
  reserves are adequate but public health trends such as rising
  obesity and diabetes rates as well as opioid abuse could drive
  future reserve
  
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• Ping An fund targets US firms in technology hunt

  13-07-2017 00:05
  The head of Chinese insurer Ping An's $1bn Global Voyager
  investment fund plans to acquire technology and related knowledge
  to benefit its mainland business by deploying its assets in the US,
  Israel and Singapore, according to a report from Hong Kong.
  Jonathan Larsen, Ping An's group chief innovation officer
  and Global Voyager chairman, told Reuters yesterday at a conference
  in Hong Kong that he expects to invest 60 percent of the fund in
  startups that are at least three years...
  
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