Insurance news

• M&A moves buff US P&C sector credit ratings: AM Best

  17-08-2017 20:45
  Credit upgrades outnumbered downgrades for US property and
  casualty carriers in the first half of this year, AM Best said,
  citing the effects of merger and acquisition activity as well as
  greater parent-company support.
  Improved underwriting results after carriers tightened standards
  were also a significant cause of rising scores, along with
  improvements in risk management and capital increases, AM Best said
  today in a report that examines long-term issuer credit rating
  activity.
  From January th
  
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• Bardon joins JLT Re's Bermuda team

  17-08-2017 20:45
  JLT Re has appointed Nicolas Bardon as a partner in its Bermuda
  operation, reporting to office head Guy Hengesbaugh.
  Bardon will also work alongside Gary Reynolds and other members
  of the firm's industry loss warranty team in Bermuda, London
  and New York.
  He is expected to take up the role in a few weeks.
  Bardon joins from boutique Bermuda broker Somerset Holdings,
  where he has led business development and production since
  2013.
  Prior to that he worked in the banking...
  
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• Barcelona attack unlikely to hit private market

  17-08-2017 20:45
  An apparent terrorist attack in Barcelona likely will not lead
  to large-scale payouts by insurers as a government-owned fund in
  Spain has taken on the role of covering such events.
  Spain's state-owned Consorcio de Compensación de Seguros
  (CCS) has become the direct insurer of losses due to terrorism,
  according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
  Development (OECD).
  An insured needs only to have an active policy in place and paid
  up to be eligible for CCS coverage, the insure
  
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• Allstate estimates July cat losses at $181mn

  17-08-2017 18:12
  Allstate said that 13 events last month generated cat losses of
  $181mn before tax, or $118mn after tax.
  In a regular disclosure Allstate said that more than 60 percent
  of the losses stemmed from two severe wind, hail and rain events,
  primarily impacting the US Midwest.
  The 13 events in July cost an estimated $151mn before tax, with
  reserve strengthening of cat losses that largely occurred in the
  second quarter bolstering the total.
  Allstate earlier this month posted asurprisingly...
  
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• White Mountains launches buyback of up to 500,000 shares

  17-08-2017 15:45
  White Mountains is to spend up to $437.5mn in buying back as many
  as half a million of its own shares via a process known as a
  modified Dutch auction.
  White Mountains said today it would offer between $825 and $875
  for the shares tendered. Its shares closed on Wednesday at
  $850.65.
  The tender offer will start today and end at the close of the
  day on 14 September, unless it is extended.
  A modified Dutch auction allows shareholders to...
  
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• Admiral CEO’s charity sells £4.57m shares following H1 results

  17-08-2017 14:25
  Executive: A charity linked to Admiral CEO David Stevens has sold £4.57m in shares in the company.
  
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• Staysure snaps up travel rival Avanti

  17-08-2017 14:22
  The Avanti brand will be kept.
  
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• Revised innovation strategies see insurers investing £1.53bn into insurtech

  17-08-2017 13:46
  Major insurers have collectively invested $1.97bn (£1.53bn) into insurtech start-ups globally since 2016.
  
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• Swiss Re Corporate Solutions appoints Cole as global contingency head

  17-08-2017 13:37
  Jonathan Cole, the North American head of contingency at Swiss
  Re Corporate Solutions, has been promoted to run a new global
  contingency and sports personal accident segment.
  Cole's appointment follows the departure of Tom Phillipson,
  who is joiningDale Underwriting Partners in September to set up a Lloyd's
  special purpose arrangement (SPA) managed by Asta.
  New York-based Cole first joined Swiss Re in 2012 from Tower
  Hill Entertainment.
  Cole has more than 16 years of experience placing contingen
  
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• Rothschild appointed to advise on Swinton sale

  17-08-2017 13:37
  Covéa has appointed Rothschild & Co to advise on the
  sale of UK personal lines and commercial motor broker Swinton,
  The Insurance Insider understands.
  Sources said the French mutual insurer is aiming to start the
  sale process in the fourth quarter.
  The Insurance Insider first revealed
  Covéa was planning
  to sell the UK insurer on 4 August.
  Sources said that Covéa - an insurer with EUR13.4bn
  ($15.9bn) of shareholder equity - has long considered distribution
  business Swinto
  
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• GWP slips to $2.39bn at QBE Europe in half year results

  17-08-2017 12:26 via insuranceage.co.uk
  COR, excluding Ogden effect, worsened to 91.3% .
  
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• Meet the Expo Leeds panellists: Jon Newall

  17-08-2017 12:06
  The principal at Lockyers chats about the local market ahead of Broker Expo Leeds.
  
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• QBE shares plunge after H1 results

  17-08-2017 11:29
  QBE shares fell more than 7 percent after the Australian company
  released first-half results and announced a restructuring at its
  troubled emerging markets unit.
  The division, the subject of a June profit warning, will lose
  its CEO, David Fried, and be split into two, said QBE, which
  announced a near-22 percent increase in first-half group pretax
  profits to $422mn .
  QBE reported an 0.8 point expansion of the adjusted combined ratio
  to 95.3 percent, with the increase contained by a...
  
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• Opinion: Trump flood rollback

  17-08-2017 11:29
  As with just about all things Trumpian, the US president's
  latest message has been clouded with unrelated and often
  inflammatory rhetoric that grabs headlines while obscuring the
  portent of his actions.
  Tuesday provided a good example.
  Donald Trump took another step toward untangling the red tape
  that so hobbles the federal government that something as vital as
  the levee system protecting New Orleans against hurricane-driven
  flooding has taken almost a dozen years to fully rebuild.
  But Trump's e
  
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• H1 disaster claims drop by a third

  17-08-2017 11:29
  Insured disaster losses for the first half of 2017 have come in
  $10bn below the 10-year average at $23bn, which was also down by 36
  percent from a year earlier, according to Swiss Re's latest
  Sigma report.
  Most of the losses were due to US thunderstorms, with these
  events making up four of the top five catastrophe claims in the
  half-year.
  The most costly event was the four days of hailstorms and
  thunderstorms in Colorado in May, which produced insured...
  
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• ASA reveals insurance advertising complaints

  17-08-2017 11:29 via insuranceage.co.uk
  Data shows that there have been 366 complaints so far this year but the number of year-on-year complaints is falling.
  
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• Blog: Allianz and LV deal further proof that SME commercial is a tough nut to crack

  17-08-2017 11:16
  Jonathan Swift looks back at the past decade and concludes the Allianz /LV deal is the latest evidence that the dominant incumbents have a iron-like grip on the UK SME market.
  
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• H1 results: Profit-hit QBE Europe turns fire on rivals over Ogden response

  17-08-2017 11:04
  QBE Europe disappointed with rivals’ response to Ogden cut
  
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• Aegon enters strategic partnership with fintech lending platform

  17-08-2017 10:49
  Aegon has entered a strategic partnership with fintech lending platform, Funding Circle, with the intention of boosting UK SMEs.
  
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• Staysure buys travel insurance firm

  17-08-2017 10:16
  Staysure buys travel insurance firm and adds 2 million customers
  
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• Nick Metcalfe steps down from MD role at Liberty Specialty Markets

  17-08-2017 09:41
  Chief operating officer Matthew Moore takes up the reins.
  
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• Blog: Insurers must look beyond Brexit

  17-08-2017 07:00
  From change management to cyber risk, Onno Bloemers, head of insurance at Delta Capita, explains why insurers need to look beyond Brexit to the wider challenges facing the industry.
  
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• Analysis: Retirement villages, an infant market

  17-08-2017 07:00
  Retirement villages are asking for group contents insurance but UK insurers are waiting for the market to mature.
  
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• Fried to leave QBE role as insurer splits emerging markets division

  17-08-2017 05:40
  Australian insurer QBE is reviewing its emerging markets division after making a pre-tax loss of $48m (£28m) in the first half of the year compared with a profit of $36m in the same period last year.
  
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• Fried to leave QBE role as insurer splits emerging market division

  17-08-2017 05:40
  Australian insurer QBE is reviewing its emerging market division after making a pre-tax loss of $48m (£28m) in the first half of the year compared with a profit of $36m in the same period last year.
  
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• Fried to leave QBE as insurer splits emerging market division

  17-08-2017 05:40
  Australian insurer QBE is reviewing its emerging market division after making a pre-tax loss of $48m (£28m) in the first half of the year compared with a profit of $36m in the same period last year.
  
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• Nationwide plans to pump $100mn into tech ventures

  17-08-2017 01:46
  Diversified carrier Nationwide intends to invest over $100mn in
  technology-focussed ventures under the leadership of Terrance
  Williams, the insurers marketing chief, and newly hired Scott
  Sanchez.
  Sanchez, most recently the vice president for innovation at First
  Data in Atlanta, will join Columbus, Ohio-based Nationwide next
  month as chief innovation officer, reporting to Williams, who was
  given the added role of president, emerging businesses, the company
  said today.
  Nationwide, a mutual insure
  
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• Cyber security model law may raise costs, risks: Fitch

  17-08-2017 01:46
  A new model statute dealing with cyber security and nearing
  final approval by the National Association of Insurance
  Commissioners (NAIC) is likely to raise insurer's operating
  costs as well as their exposure to penalty and compliance risks,
  Fitch Ratings said today.
  The model statute on data security is similar to a New York State
  rule thattook effect in March and applies to over 3,000 insurers, Fitch
  said in a report. Any carrier that complies with the Empire
  State's mandates...
  
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