Insurance news

• Life assurers rake in billions from pension transfers

  25-10-2017 22:00
  Standard Life Aberdeen and Royal London among biggest beneficiaries from £50bn flow
  
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• Zurich hires Tresadern to spearhead downstream comeback

  25-10-2017 20:09
  Zurich has lured Steve Tresadern away from Talbot as it prepares
  to re-enter the downstream energy market in London, The
  Insurance Insider can reveal.
  Tresadern, who was part of Talbot's five strong downstream
  team alongside Stephen Sykes, has extensive market experience
  including as a corporate manager in AIG's energy division.
  He has also held underwriting positions at Hannover Re,
  Wellington Underwriting Agencies and AE Grant Underwriting
  Agencies.
  After seeing out his notice period, Tresader
  
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• QBE Ventures makes first InsurTech investment with RiskGenius

  25-10-2017 20:09
  QBE dipped into a $50mn venture investment fund to invest in
  RiskGenius, a developer of machine learning systems which the
  insurer expects to begin using in North America next year.
  Plans are in place to put 125,000 policy documents into a
  RiskGenius system in 2018 for use by QBE North America, the
  Sydney-based carrier said today. The technology is designed to
  assist policy and endorsement analysis as well as product
  development.
  "QBE North America completed a proof-of-concept of the
  RiskGenius.
  
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• GIC Re slips in BSE trading debut

  25-10-2017 20:09
  India's GIC Re's shares sank in their first day of
  trading on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), falling 4.5 percent in
  Mumbai.
  The shares opened at 850 rupees ($13.10), down 6.8 percent from
  the 912 rupee IPO price, and fell as much as 13.6 percent before
  reversing to close at 870.40 rupees today on the BSE for a loss of
  4.5 percent.
  But the close was just above the discounted share price of 867
  rupees offered to retail investors and...
  
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• Cybersecurity regulation model adopted by NAIC

  25-10-2017 20:09
  Insurers across the US may soon be obliged to obey data security
  rules similar to those imposed on carriers operating in New York
  earlier this year.
  The National Association of Insurance Commissioners adopted the
  Insurance Data Security Model Law in a meeting yesterday.
  The new rules are likely to raise insurers' operating costs as well as their exposure to
  penalty and compliance risks, Fitch Ratings has said.
  The model statute would create rules for insurers, agents and
  others concerning data..
  
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• UK insurers welcome regulator’s move to reform Solvency II

  25-10-2017 17:41
  PRA identifies areas where implementation of rules can be improved
  
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• Reinsurers begin fight for rate rises in Baden-Baden

  25-10-2017 17:29
  Reinsurance buyers at Baden-Baden have conceded that they will not
  be able to achieve European property cat rate reductions at 1
  JanuarySources speaking to The Insurance
  Insider during the course of the reinsurance
  conference said buyers were now coming round to the idea that a
  flat renewal would be a good outcome for them at 1.1.
  "I think buyers came into the conference with the attitude
  that reductions would still be achievable," one broker said.
  "But that perception changed...
  
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• NY regulator queries Chubb on NRA cover: WSJ

  25-10-2017 17:29
  New York State's insurance regulator has requested
  information from Chubb, Lockton and the National Rifle Association
  (NRA) over the gun-owner advocacy group's Carry Guard insurance
  policies, according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
  The cover offers protection against the risk of legal action
  following a self-defence shooting.The state Department of Financial Services has issued subpoenas
  to the two companies and the NRA seeking documents to determine
  whether the advocacy group is involved in
  
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• Ex-Aspen Insurance COO joins Volante

  25-10-2017 17:29
  Ann Haugh, former chief operating officer of Aspen Insurance, has
  joined Volante Global, the MGA start-up led by ex-Dual CEO Talbir
  Bains, The Insurance Insider can reveal.
  She is the latest industry executive to join the expansive new
  platform.
  Earlier this week this publication reported that former Sompo
  Canopius executive Eric Gutiérrez hadsigned up to launch Volante's first MGA - a European treaty
  underwriting operation known as Horizon.
  Haugh left her job as COO of Aspen Insurance an
  
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• Nexus buys trade credit broker Credit Risk Solutions

  25-10-2017 15:49
  Credit Risk Solutions will continue to be led by its founding shareholders amid plans to make regional acquisitions.
  
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• The great British pensions cash-in

  25-10-2017 15:35
  Reforms gave Britons the freedom to spend their pension how they pleased. But concerns are growing over sales tactics, scaremongering and mis-selling
  
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• Markerstudy brings together retail and affinity operations

  25-10-2017 14:23
  Ross Barrington to lead the new combined division.
  
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• Insurance Linx buys Swadlincote-based broker

  25-10-2017 12:45
  Deal marks the broker's ninth acquisition.
  
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• XL sees double-digit rate increases

  25-10-2017 12:40
  XL Group is already seeing double-digit rate rises for short-tail
  lines, with loss-affected accounts showing higher increases,
  according to Greg Hendrick, president of property and casualty
  insurance and reinsurance.
  Speaking as part of an analyst conference call in the wake of
  XL's third quarter results, Hendrick suggested that rate
  increases would not be limited to particular lines.
  "[Given] the reality of a challenging rate environment for
  a prolonged period, with increasing return expectatio
  
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• GIC Re stock falls by double digits on IPO debut

  25-10-2017 12:40
  General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re), India's
  largest reinsurer, made a disappointing debut on the Bombay Stock
  Exchange, with the shares falling as much as 12 percent.
  The stock began the day at 857.50 rupees, down 6 percent on the
  IPO price of 912 rupees.
  As of midday local time (07:30 in London), the stock was trading
  at 802.70 rupees.
  GIC Re's initial public offering gave the carrier a market
  value of around $12.3bn and cut the government's
  stake...
  
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• Credit Suisse launches ILS legacy funds

  25-10-2017 12:40
  Credit Suisse has launched two new legacy ILS vehicles for which it
  has already raised more than $270mn, regulatory filings show.
  The ILS Property & Casualty fund II and the ILS Property
  & Casualty feeder fund II are the second series of the initial
  vehicle, which was set up in 2014.
  The feeder fund had raised $268mn as of a 23 October filing with
  the US Securities and Exchange Commission, and $14.5mn of
  investments have been registered for the master...
  
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• Insurers back fire chief's calls for mandatory school sprinklers

  25-10-2017 12:35
  Insurers have backed calls from the National Fire Chiefs Council to fit all refurbished schools with sprinklers.
  
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• InsurTech Futures: Homelyfe raises £2.4m in super seed round

  25-10-2017 12:29
  App-based start-up says investment by Talis Capital and Peterson Ventures will go towards technical development and expanding its team.
  
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• Meet the Broker Apprentices 2017: Peter Marezana

  25-10-2017 11:42
  Meet the next Broker Apprentice taking part in this year's competition
  
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• Inaugural profit for Lorica bosses Marelli and Puttnam

  25-10-2017 11:31
  Company delivers £847,000 Ebitda profit for start of 2017.
  
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• Direct Line appoints Claire Sadler as marketing director

  25-10-2017 11:29
  Direct Line for Business has appointed Claire Sadler as marketing director.
  
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• Brit expands US offering with senior cyber hire

  25-10-2017 11:23
  Brit has appointed Courtney Mocio as vice president, cyber and technology at Brit Global Specialty USA.
  
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• Social engineering fastest rising cause of data breaches

  25-10-2017 11:16
  Beazley report reveals hacking and malware attacks are also on the rise for financial institution firms.
  
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• Opinion: Outside the box

  25-10-2017 10:20
  The winds of hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria have propelled 2017
  into being one of the reinsurance market's most expensive years
  for catastrophe losses ever.
  And yet the scale of rate changes being discussed in response
  are relatively modest, a matter of setting back the clocks a couple
  of years, if that.
  This isn't unexpected. At industry gatherings or conferences
  in recent years, every time the question is asked about what scale
  of cat loss could turn the reinsurance market,...
  
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• Markel takeover wins State National shareholder clearance

  25-10-2017 10:20
  State National shareholders have overwhelmingly approved the
  company's $919mn takeover by Markel, with 96 percent of votes
  cast in favour of the deal.
  Out of 42,173,561 outstanding shares entitled to vote, about 86
  percent voted in person or by proxy at a special meeting held on
  Tuesday.
  Of the votes cast, around 2 percent were voted against the deal,
  while shareholders owning the remainder abstained.
  Markelsealed its $919mn agreement to buy State National in a deal
  worth $21.00 per...
  
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• Lloyd's Brussels to start with clean underwriting slate

  25-10-2017 10:20
  Lloyd's has confirmed that no existing books of European
  business will be transferred to the Lloyd's Brussels platform
  once it is operational.
  Jan Blumenthal, Lloyd's general representative for Germany,
  told an audience at a roundtable in Baden-Baden today that existing
  books of European business will be run off, and new business will
  be written on the platform from 1 January 2019.
  "There will be no transfer of any books or portfolios so
  that's going to be very clean cut,&quo...
  
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• HIM 'more than an earnings event' for carriers: Hancock

  25-10-2017 10:20
  Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria (HIM) will trigger capital
  reallocations at some insurers but will not jeopardise the solvency
  of Lloyd's carriers, according to Lloyd's director of
  performance management Jon Hancock.
  Speaking at a Lloyd's reception at the Baden-Baden
  reinsurance meeting, Hancock said the commercial and reinsurance
  sectors would likely post an underwriting loss as a whole in 2017
  following the catastrophes.
  "But the losses are certainly absorbable," Hancock
  said. "They are more
  
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• Hannover Re strives for rate stability on loss-free business

  25-10-2017 10:20
  Hannover Re said it would target loss-stricken business for
  payback from Q3 catastrophe losses, and strive for stable rates on
  loss-free reinsurance lines and geographies.
  The firm's expectations diverge from German rival Munich Re,
  where executives in Baden-Baden predicted 1 January rate rises
  would spread beyond North American catastrophe business as they
  suggested that reinsurance pricing would be globally
  correlated.
  But speaking to this publication at the Baden-Baden Reinsurance
  Meeting, Ha
  
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• GIC Re falls double digits as debut disappoints

  25-10-2017 10:20
  General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re), India's
  largest reinsurer, made a disappointing debut on the Bombay Stock
  Exchange, with the shares falling as much as 12 percent.
  The stock began the day at 857.50 rupees, down 6 percent on the
  IPO price of 912 rupees.
  As of midday local time (07:30 in London), the stock was trading
  at 802.70 rupees.
  GIC Re's initial public offering gave the carrier a market
  value of around $12.3bn and cut the government's
  stake...
  
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• Reprieve for Lloyds over PPI boosts third-quarter profits

  25-10-2017 09:29
  Absence of provisions after payment protection insurance scandal lifts earnings
  
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• XL Catlin falls to $1bn Q3 loss with 146.9% P&C COR

  25-10-2017 08:39
  As expected global insurer XL Catlin's third quarter 2017 financial results were hit significantly by the recent significant natural catastrophes in the US, Caribbean and Mexico.
  
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• Research: What brokers really think of insurers

  25-10-2017 07:00
  Brokers share their views on their relationships with insurers, the impact of technology and their investment priorities in this exclusive piece of research conducted by Post in association with WPA
  
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• Analysis: Wind of change: how the industry learnt from the 1987 Great Storm

  25-10-2017 07:00
  A look back at how disaster claims have moved on
  
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• Asia's multi-billion dollar insurtech opportunity

  25-10-2017 06:29
  Insurtech will transform the Asian insurance industry in the next ten years with consumers likely to be the real winners of innovation, according to Nicky Burridge.
  
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• XL Catlin misses as cats bite into operating results

  25-10-2017 01:11
  XL Group missed Wall Street expectations with a $4.00 per share
  operating loss for the third quarter as $1.48bn in pre-announced
  net catastrophe losses took their toll.
  Analysts had looked for a $3.91 per share operating loss, the
  average of 16 estimates compiled by Reuters.
  Cat losses net of reinsurance recoveries, reinstatement and
  premium adjustments, plus redeemable non-controlling interest added
  58.8 points to the (re)insurer's loss ratio, on a pre-tax
  basis, the company said late today.
  Th
  
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• WR Berkley profit falls 27% after $119mn cat hit

  25-10-2017 01:11
  WR Berkley's net income fell 27 percent to $162.1mn, or
  $1.26 a share, in the third quarter as it reported catastrophe
  losses of $119mn.
  The carrier said that $107mn of those losses related to
  Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, and the earthquakes in
  Mexico.
  The firm had already announced that it expected claims from the
  events to come in at less than $110mn for the third quarter.
  "In light of significant catastrophe activity in the third
  quarter, we were pleased...
  
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• NFIP's $16bn bailout passes minus reforms Trump sought

  25-10-2017 01:11
  A request to cancel $16bn in National Flood Insurance Program
  (NFIP) debt won approval in the Senate today as part of a $36.5bn
  debt relief package sought by President Donald Trump.
  The vote came over objections from conservative Republicans who
  took issue with forgiving the debt of a programme that is fiscally
  unsound without including any reforms or budget offsets.
  White House budget director Mick Mulvaney had asked for NFIP
  reforms along with the debt relief, but lawmakers in the...
  
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• Meadowbrook renamed AmeriTrust and vows to do deals

  25-10-2017 01:11
  Fosun-owned Meadowbrook has rebranded itself as AmeriTrust, the
  US insurer declared today and said its growth plans include an
  acquisition strategy.
  The carrier said it wanted to maximise distribution channels for
  its agents and clients to enable them to purchase insurance
  products more directly.
  "This corporate name change turns the page toward the
  future," said Kenn Allen, president and CEO of Southfield,
  Michigan-based AmeriTrust.
  "It reflects the trust our clients have in our ability to
  prov
  
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• Horace Mann earnings soar over Q3 estimates

  25-10-2017 01:11
  Horace Mann Educators handily beat expectations with operating
  earnings of $0.69 per share for the third quarter, more than double
  the average Wall Street analyst's estimate.
  The Street had anticipated $0.33 per share, the average of four
  estimates compiled by MarketWatch.
  The insurer's operating profit rose 19 percent in the
  just-ended quarter from $0.58 a share a year earlier, the
  Springfield, Illinois-based carrier said late today.
  Total revenue edged slightly lower to $289.8mn. But property
  
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• AIG hires Evercore's Leonardi to run public affairs

  25-10-2017 01:11
  AIG named Evercore banker Thomas Leonardi, a former Connecticut
  insurance commissioner, as head of its public affairs and
  communications operations, effective next week.
  Leonardi will join the New York-based company from Evercore,
  where he focused on insurance as a senior advisor to the firm's
  investment advisory service, AIG said today. He will report to CEO
  Brian Duperreault.
  "I know him to be both an excellent businessman and
  accomplished entrepreneur," Duperreault said of Leonardi.
  "His know
  
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