Insurance news

• ILS fund Twelve Capital reports 5% Heritage stake

  20-10-2017 22:45
  Swiss ILS manager Twelve Capital is holding a 5 percent stake in
  Florida-based homeowners specialist Heritage, regulatory filings
  reveal.
  In a report to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Twelve
  Capital held 1,461,083 Heritage shares as of 4 October, the
  investment manager said yesterday.
  At yesterday's $15.85 per share closing price, the stake was
  worth around $23.2mn. However the Floridian's share price has
  climbed 13 percent since Twelve Capital passed the 5 percent
  reporting threshold o
  
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• BB&T CEO King suggests bank is hunting insurance deals

  20-10-2017 22:45
  BB&T Corporation CEO Kelly King wants to acquire more
  insurance properties to add to the big regional bank's
  brokerage group.
  "We're very interested in doing insurance acquisitions
  today," King told Evercore ISI analyst John Pancari during a
  conference call on third quarter earnings yesterday.Referring to the mix of insurance and banking revenue, Kelly
  indicated that the current ratio is lower than he would prefer.
  "We would like to ideally keep it at about 20 percent of
  revenues," Kelly sai
  
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• Opinion: Rates in the balance

  20-10-2017 19:30
  It would be a brave reinsurer or broker that tried to call the 1
  January renewal at this stage.
  After the posturing of the CIAB meeting in Colorado last week
  there was a palpable sense of optimism from primary and reinsurance
  underwriters that the market was headed for a turn.
  With the exception of one of the largest reinsurance brokers,
  everyone appeared to be on the same page.
  Retail and wholesale intermediaries were asking for carriers to
  be "reasonable", while...
  
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• Nate property damage $650mn-$1.35bn: CoreLogic

  20-10-2017 19:30
  Real estate data and analysis firm CoreLogic has estimated that
  property damage from Hurricane Nate's US landfall earlier this
  month is between $650mn and $1.35bn.
  Nate struck land as a Category 1 storm near Biloxi, Mississippi
  before rapidly moving into the US heartland.
  About $500mn to $1bn of wind damage occurred during the storm,
  the California-based company said yesterday, along with $150mn to
  $350mn in flood damage.
  Commercial insured flood damage ranged from $50mn to $150mn,
  CoreLogic sai
  
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• Aon Benfield lands Mulligan to head US cyber practice

  20-10-2017 19:30
  Aon Benfield has hired Catherine Mulligan from Zurich North
  America as its US cyber practice group leader, The
  Insurance Insider can reveal.
  According to sources, the executive officially joined the
  reinsurance broker today as a managing director and leader of its
  US cyber platform.
  Mulligan is an established figure in the field and was most
  recently head of professional liability for Zurich North America,
  overseeing the insurer's cyber product lines.
  It is thought that Mulligan will work closel
  
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• Aon Benfield adds EMEA head to Siccardi's role

  20-10-2017 19:30
  Reinsurance broker Aon Benfield has given Leonora Siccardi the
  enlarged role of head of EMEA as well as UK client services.
  Siccardi joined Aon in 2006 and is currently UK head of client
  services, a position which she will retain alongside the Emea
  remit. She became head of claims advocacy for Aon Risk Solutions in
  2014 and before joining the broker held positions at Munich Re in
  Italy and Willis in London.
  In the expanded role, Siccardi will oversee the...
  
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• Brexit threatens billions in premiums: IUA

  20-10-2017 19:30
  Over £7bn of premium could be affected by Brexit, the
  International Underwriting Association (IUA) has estimated.
  The London company market booked a 2.9 percent increase in gross
  written premium to £22.72bn ($29.96bn) last year.
  An estimated £16bn of premium was written by London-based
  company market underwriters, with £6.7bn written by branches
  outside London and managed by EC3 insurers, the IUA said.
  The IUA attributed the growth to an increase in internationally
  writte
  
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• Ecclesiastical launches standalone fine art product for brokers

  20-10-2017 15:05
  The policy is designed to enable brokers to place collections with Ecclesiastical’s specialist fine art team outside of buildings cover for the first time.
  
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• This Week in Post: Red suns and robots

  20-10-2017 13:54
  A Blade Runner mist engulfed London on Monday as storm Ophelia blew Saharan sand into the capital. Struck by the eerie atmosphere, City workers tweeted pictures of the yellow sky, which an Irish commentator promised to look at “as soon as our houses land”.
  
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• McGill joins board of The Hartford

  20-10-2017 13:45
  Former Aon group president Steve McGill has been elected to the
  board of The Hartford, as he takes on his first role since leaving
  the broking giant.
  McGill, the most senior insurance broking executive at Aon until
  his departure earlier this year, will join the board of the New
  York-listed insurer on 20 December.
  The Insurance Insiderrevealed in January that McGill was to stand down from his
  roles at Aon.The Hartford also announced that Greig Woodring, CEO of...
  
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• Lockton prepares clients for property price increases

  20-10-2017 13:45
  Lockton has begun setting expectations for property clients
  post-HIM by warning that carriers are pushing for rate rises of at
  least 20 percent on loss-struck cat-exposed accounts,
  The Insurance Insider can reveal.
  The Kansas City-based retail broker sent out a client advisory
  earlier this week after meeting with two dozen of its
  "key" insurance carriers.
  These companies' leaders "unanimously" expect
  property rates to rise, with most citing similar strategies that
  were being put in place with im
  
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• Brexit places £7.38bn in London premium income at risk

  20-10-2017 13:10
  A third of total premium across the whole London company market could be affected as a result of Brexit, a report has warned.
  
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• Insurance industry 'one of main influences' of UK cyber resilience, minister says

  20-10-2017 12:32
  The insurance industry is at the forefront of helping to increase cyber resilience among businesses in the UK, the minister for digital, Matthew Hancock has said.
  
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• Hamilton appoints Munich Re chief Giuseppina Albo as CEO

  20-10-2017 12:16
  Munich Re board member Giuseppina Albo is leaving the group to become CEO of Hamilton Insurance Group.
  
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• Pukka’s Sam White launches Freedom Brokers

  20-10-2017 12:03
  The broker will focus on motor and will be based in Cheadle, Manchester.
  
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• Zurich explores Endsleigh sale - report

  20-10-2017 11:53 via insuranceage.co.uk
  Insurer hires investment bankers to look at possible sale of the specialist student insurance broker.
  
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• Quizzical Questions: 20 October 2017

  20-10-2017 11:32 via insuranceage.co.uk
  Test out your market knowhow with our weekly quiz.
  
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• Blog: Why trust is so important in insurance

  20-10-2017 10:59
  Seb Maley, of Qdos Group’s insurance division, says brokers must work harder to build trust with their customers.
  
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• Swiss Re expects $3.6bn hit from HIM and Mexican quakes

  20-10-2017 10:49
  Swiss Re has estimated its Q3 pre-tax loss from hurricanes
  Harvey, Irma and Maria (HIM) and the two Mexican earthquakes at
  $3.6bn, net of retrocession.
  Of the combined losses, claims from the two earthquakes in
  Mexico are expected to be about $175mn, Swiss Re said.
  The reinsurer estimated the total insured market loss from HIM
  and the earthquakes at about $95bn.
  But the company added: "The foregoing estimates are subject
  to a higher than usual degree of uncertainty and may...
  
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• Sompo pegs HIM and Mexico losses at $621mn

  20-10-2017 10:49
  Japanese big-three player Sompo Holdings has estimated its net
  losses from hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria and the two Mexican
  earthquakes at about 70bn yen ($621mn).
  The breakdown of losses shows Irma to have had the greatest
  impact, at 37bn yen, followed by Harvey at 24bn yen.Maria and the two Mexican quakes generated net losses of 8bn yen
  and 1bn yen, respectively.
  The company, which owns Lloyd's business Canopius and
  specialty (re)insurer Endurance, said its earnings forecast for the...
  
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• Opinion: A Travelers tale

  20-10-2017 10:49
  Travelers leaders buttressed expectations for commercial rate hikes
  yesterday as the property and casualty industry copes with third
  quarter catastrophe losses and years of price erosion.
  CEO Alan Schnitzer, in commenting on the company's
  surprisingly robustthird quarter results, discussed the prospects for generally
  higher rates heading into next year.
  "Big events impact pricing when a material amount of
  industry surplus is eroded and/or when the events change the
  market's view of risk," Schnit
  
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• Neon sets up Italian marine JV

  20-10-2017 10:49
  Neon has launched an Italian marine joint venture with domestic
  broker Cambiaso Rosso, targeting hull and cargo business placed
  local.
  The underwriting venture, named Neon Italy, will be based in
  Genoa and intends to start writing business from 1 January.
  Neon Italy will, subject to approval, be regulated by the
  Italian Institute for the Supervision of Insurance and become a
  Lloyd's approved coverholder writing on behalf of Neon's
  syndicate 2468.
  The JV will be led by Sergio Revello, who has...
  
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• Hannover Re expects 2018 rating correction

  20-10-2017 10:49
  The combined natural catastrophe losses seen in 2017 should
  trigger a rating correction for reinsurers in 2018, Hannover Re has
  claimed.
  At the company's investor day, CEO Ulrich Wallin said he
  believed the total nat cat industry loss for 2017 would lead to
  reinsurers reporting a return on equity (RoE) of less than 5
  percent in the mid-term, which would lead to rate increases.
  He added that his firm was already seeing a much firmer market
  in facultative reinsurance and...
  
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• California insurance body puts current wildfire insured loss at $1.05bn

  20-10-2017 10:49
  Insured losses from the Californian wildfires are currently
  estimated at $1.045bn, according to the Insurance Commission of
  California.
  The body said the preliminary data update, gathered from eight
  California insurers, reflected losses from commercial and
  residential structures, personal and commercial vehicles, and
  agricultural equipment.
  More than 7,000 structures have been damaged or destroyed, and
  the insured loss number is expected to climb as more claims are
  filed and processed.
  "These nu
  
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• Brightside's Mark Cliff on the impact of the discount rate for brokers

  20-10-2017 07:00
  Following the shock change to the discount rate, and subsequent backtracking from the government, insurers have been vocal about their feelings but Mark Cliff, executive chairman at Brightside Group, asks how this has affected brokers, who have been at the sharp end of market turmoil during this time.
  
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• Blog: The three ways data will change insurance

  20-10-2017 07:00
  The data revolution will lead to a shift in the very business model of insurance, warns Rob Cushen, digital leader at Virtusa.
  
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• Germans save more than Brits — but they don’t invest

  20-10-2017 06:02
  Our continental neighbours save assiduously for low returns
  
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• California wine region fire cause may go undetected

  20-10-2017 01:42
  California wine country's wildfires have largely been
  brought under control but their cause may never be learned,
  according to one key regulator.
  Public utilities regulator Michael Picker said investigators may
  not be able to find enough evidence to determine the cause,
  including whether sparks from downed power lines operated by
  Pacific Gas & Electric led to the catastrophic fire storm.
  The San Francisco-based power company has said it has about
  $800mn in insurance against wildfire damage.
  
  Read more

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