Insurance news

• AM Best goes negative on Tower

  16-08-2017 23:47
  AM Best has changed its review status on the ratings of Tower
  Insurance Limited to negative after regulatorsblocked the proposed takeover of the New Zealand insurer by
  Suncorp late last month.
  AM Best said it had revised the implications of the "under
  review" status to negative on the A- financial strength and a-
  long-term credit ratings of the operating company and the bbb-
  long-term credit rating of parent Tower Limited.
  The change to negative came in response to the...
  
  Read more

• PartnerRe sells New York unit in streamlining drive

  16-08-2017 19:00
  PartnerRe has agreed to sell PartnerRe Insurance Company of New
  York (PRNY) to Employers Group, as it continues to tidy its
  portfolio following its takeover by Agnelli family-controlled
  investment company Exorin March 2016.
  Reno, Nevada-based Employers Group agreed to pay a price equal
  to PRNY's statutory capital at closing plus $5.8mn, and will
  assume its liabilities at that time, PartnerRe and Employers said
  in regulatory filings. The deal does not include any ongoing
  operations.
  "There will b
  
  Read more

• AmTrust promotes Gorelik to CIO to strengthen top ranks

  16-08-2017 19:00
  AmTrust has elevated Ariel Gorelik to the role of chief information
  officer to further bolster the insurer's top management.
  The promotion follows a tumultuous period in which the
  insurer's share price has fallen by over half as the company
  restated years of past results and faced persistent questions from
  Wall Street analysts over transparency and other issues.
  Gorelik joined AmTrust in 2014 as a senior vice president in
  North America and was named COO of AmTrust Warranty in January
  2016....
  
  Read more

• Admiral: bad carma

  16-08-2017 18:08 via ft.com
  UK insurer’s overseas unit is over a decade old but a long way from profitability
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• JLT Specialty hires UK environmental head from AIG

  16-08-2017 16:23
  JLT Specialty has recruited former AIG UK lead environmental
  underwriter Emilie Walsh as head of environmental within its London
  P&C team.
  Walsh joins after more than six years with AIG, where she
  started as an underwriter. She became senior UK environmental
  underwriter at AIG in March 2015 and environmental UK profit centre
  manager in March this year, according to her LinkedIn profile.
  JLT Specialty said Walsh has been involved in a "broad
  range of complex and major risks" in the...
  
  Read more

• Greenlight Re fills new COO post

  16-08-2017 16:23
  Greenlight Capital Re has named Mike Belfatti, a former chief
  actuary of Endurance and Validus, as chief operating officer in the
  latest of a series of senior hires.
  Belfatti begins in the role immediately, reporting to CEO Simon
  Burton, Greenlight Re said today. The Cayman Islands-based
  reinsurer has not had a COO before.
  Belfatti previously founded and led MJ Belfatti, a consultancy
  focused on insurance innovation, analytics and M&As.
  He was an executive vice president and chief actuary at
  
  Read more

• Besso and Decus sign up for PPL

  16-08-2017 16:23
  London market broker Besso Insurance Group has agreed to join
  Placing Platform Limited (PPL), the electronic risk placement
  system being rolled out as part of the London market modernisation
  programme.
  Also joining PPL is Decus Insurance, a London market broking
  house focused on high-value property, professional lines and
  binding authority business.
  The addition of the two broking firms brings the total number of
  intermediaries using PPL to 21.
  At least 88 carriers are also signed up to PPL.
  JLT
  
  Read more

• Robert Organ to become CEO of Tasker Insurance

  16-08-2017 16:03
  Ex-Bluefin CEO Robert Organ will replace Paul Tasker in September of this year.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Tasker Insurance names Robert Organ as new CEO

  16-08-2017 15:55
  Former Bluefin CEO replaces founder and current chief executive Paul Tasker.
  
  Read more

• Bluefin’s Robert Organ resurfaces to head up London broker

  16-08-2017 15:48
  Robert Organ takes up new role after Bluefin departure
  
  Read more

• The Blog Spot: #20Now – Is it time for a campaign to raise IPT?

  16-08-2017 15:39
  But it should come with a rather huge caveat.
  
  Read more

• New MD for Liberty in London as Nick Metcalf exits

  16-08-2017 14:37
  Nick Metcalf to leave Liberty Specialty Markets after ten years at helm
  
  Read more

• Moore to head LSM as Metcalf retires

  16-08-2017 13:41
  Liberty Specialty Markets (LSM) has installed Matthew Moore as
  president and managing director, replacing the retiring Nick
  Metcalf as head of the business.
  Moore, who has been groomed to take on the role for years, is
  taking over from Metcalf with immediate effect.
  The executive became chief underwriting officer (CUO) of
  Lloyd's platform Liberty Syndicates in 2009 and took the group
  CUO role at LSM in 2014 after parent Liberty Mutual created the
  operation through an internal merger.
  Metcalf has
  
  Read more

• Markel co-CEO Whitt trims holding

  16-08-2017 13:41
  Markel co-CEO Richard Whitt has sold $104,500 worth of shares in
  the insurer weeks after it penned a $919mn deal to acquire State
  National.
  Whitt sold 100 shares on Monday (14 August) at $1,045 per
  share.
  According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange
  Commission, Whitt sold the shares under a 10b5 -1 trading plan,
  which allows executives to make planned equity trades without
  falling foul of insider trading rules.
  The move leaves Whitt with about 12,038 directly owned...
  
  Read more

• Global insurance rates fall for 17th consecutive quarter: Marsh

  16-08-2017 13:41
  Global insurance rates declined by 2.2 percent in Q2 to mark the
  17th consecutive quarter of falling rates, according to data from
  Marsh.
  However, Q2 was also the sixth consecutive quarter where rate
  declines moderated. The 2.2 percent fall compared to a 2.3 percent
  drop in Q1 and a 3.6 percent decline in the second quarter of
  2016.
  By line of business, only global casualty business showed
  further softening quarter on quarter, with rates falling 1.7
  percent in Q2, compared...
  
  Read more

• Matthew Moore appointed as LSM president as Metcalf steps down

  16-08-2017 13:10
  Matthew Moore will take over as president of Liberty Specialty Markets as Nick Metcalf, president and managing director of the company, steps down.
  
  Read more

• Further Ogden hits anticipated but whiplash claims falling, says Admiral

  16-08-2017 13:01
  Admiral is anticipating further cost pressures as a result of the change to the discount rate, but has confirmed that whiplash claims are falling.
  
  Read more

• Confused's profits fall 46%

  16-08-2017 12:14
  Confused, Admiral’s price comparison business, saw profits almost half in the first six months of the year.
  
  Read more

• Prudential sells US broker-dealer network for $325m

  16-08-2017 11:52 via ft.com
  Insurer says it will now focus on retirement products in North America
  
  Read more

• Opinion: Executive interventions

  16-08-2017 11:30
  Extraordinary times can demand extraordinary steps from business
  leaders, and sometimes that means literally using your money where
  you might otherwise prefer to rely on words.
  In recent days the top executives of two P&C insurers
  stepped up and bought stock in their companies on the open market,
  presumably as a show of confidence even as the shares fell to
  multi-year lows.
  But this strategy of symbolically buying shares is by no means
  certain to work.
  At Maiden Holdings, CEO...
  
  Read more

• Admiral H1 profits tempered by Ogden rate cut

  16-08-2017 11:30
  The motor insurer Admiral Group reported a 2 percent rise in
  pretax profits in the first half of the year, with the increase
  contained by a cut in the Ogden personal injury discount rate.
  Admiral's first-half pretax profits were £193mn
  ($249mn), which Bernstein analysts said were 10 percent above their
  own expectations and 1 percent over the consensus.
  But Bernstein analyst Thomas Seidl added: "The beat was of
  low quality as higher than expected reserve releases more than
  offset a...
  
  Read more

• ERS replaces departed motor fleet head

  16-08-2017 11:20
  Lloyd’s motor insurer ERS looks internally for new motor fleet head
  
  Read more

• Admiral profits up despite rising personal injury payouts

  16-08-2017 11:16 via ft.com
  Costs for motor insurers rise after UK government changes rate used to determine payouts
  
  Read more

• Admiral profit growth held back by rising personal injury payouts

  16-08-2017 11:16 via ft.com
  Motor insurers’ costs increase after UK government changes rate used to determine payouts
  
  Read more

• #Insagepeople: 14 - 20 August 2017

  16-08-2017 11:07
  Keep up to date with all the latest people moves.
  
  Read more

• Confused.com sees profits halve for start of 2017

  16-08-2017 10:51
  Admiral’s price comparison website made a pre-tax profit of £4.5m.
  
  Read more

• Admiral reports slight rise in pre-tax profit despite Ogden impact

  16-08-2017 10:18
  Admiral has reported a slight jump in its pre-tax profit during the first half of 2017, despite an earlier hit to profits of £150m from the Ogden rate change.
  
  Read more

• Bollington's Paul Moors hails "excellent" results for 2016

  16-08-2017 10:08
  CEO says 2016 results were "best for some time" after pre-tax profit rose by 54%.
  
  Read more

• H1 results: Confused profit dives after spending spree

  16-08-2017 09:59
  Admiral owned price comparison site Confused profit almost halves
  
  Read more

• InsurTech Futures: Worry+Peace to offer on demand drone cover

  16-08-2017 09:57 via insuranceage.co.uk
  The broker has teamed up with Flock's following the start-up's tie-up with Allianz on drone insurance.
  
  Read more

• InsurTech Futures: Worry+Peace teams up with Flock on drone cover

  16-08-2017 09:57
  The partnership follows Flock's recent tie-up with Allianz.
  
  Read more

• H1 results: Ogden impact slows Admiral UK profit growth

  16-08-2017 09:31
  Admiral UK profit almost flat because of continued Ogden effects
  
  Read more

• Australian insurers need to innovate to survive, says TAS

  16-08-2017 07:35
  Insurers need to deal with their legacy systems and adapt to insurtech threats according to Sydney-headquartered financial technology firm TAS.
  
  Read more

• Analysis: Business interruption - Trigger warning

  16-08-2017 07:00
  As cyber and terror risks trigger new types of business interruption, insurers are becoming the go-to resource for expertise.
  
  Read more

• Five strategic challenges facing Standard Life Aberdeen

  16-08-2017 05:02 via ft.com
  Taking on BlackRock and Vanguard will require all the talents of its co-chiefs
  
  Read more

• Trump rolls back flood standards for roads, bridges

  16-08-2017 02:23
  President Donald Trump rescinded an executive order from the
  Obama administration to roll back building standards in areas
  subject to flooding threats, resetting the rules to those that
  applied in the mid-1970s, setting off blistering criticism from
  both right and left.
  In an executive order he signed today, Trump reportedly revoked
  Executive Order 13690, which required federally funded projects to
  recognize the threats stemming from climate change, including
  rising sea levels and more frequent
  
  Read more

• Everest Re taps ex-Maxum exec to run US casualty fac

  16-08-2017 02:23
  Everest Re has appointed former Maxum executive Darwin Lucas to
  head up its US casualty facultative program business, the reinsurer
  said today.
  In the new role Lucas will take responsibility for all the US
  general casualty and professional liability business in Everest
  Re's facultative reinsurance division.
  "His initial focus will be on managing the division's
  rapidly growing program portfolio, and developing broader
  relationships with its reinsurance trading partners,"
  Bermuda-based Everest Re
  
  Read more

Follow @Insurance_UKnws on Twitter!