Insurance news

• Thai riots political violence claim settled for $110mn

  02-02-2018 19:37
  One of the largest claims ever to hit the London political
  violence market has been settled for around $110mn, The
  Insurance Insider understands.
  The Central World mall in Bangkok, Thailand, wasdamaged by fires started by protesters linked to the Thai
  political movement, the Red Shirts, in May 2010.
  The Central World effectively had double insurance for the peril
  of riot, with the mall's all-risk property policy including
  provision for strikes, riots and civil commotion.
  But the Aon-brokered pro
  
  Read more

• RKH Specialty gains approval for Dubai hub

  02-02-2018 17:25
  The broking house RKH Specialty has received a licence from the
  Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) to set up an operation in
  the City-state's reinsurance hub.
  According to a filing on the Dubai International Financial
  Centre (DIFC) website, RKH Specialty been granted full
  authorisation from the DFSA.
  RKH's operations in Dubai be led by the trade credit and
  political risk broker Mahan Bolourchi, a former Middle East CEO at
  Euler Hermes. Bolourchi joined Hyperion in May 2016 as Middle East.
  
  Read more

• Insurers set for reprieve as GDPR moves through parliament

  02-02-2018 17:25
  Insurers are hopeful that an 11th-hour amendment to the UK
  version of sweeping EU data rules will allow them to continue
  handling sensitive personal information under the new regime.
  The EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is
  designed to strengthen consumer rights over their personal data and
  introduces fines of up to 4 percent of global turnover or EUR20mn
  ($24.9mn), whichever is greater, for companies breaking the
  rules.
  It has forced a cross-industry shakeout of corporate systems f
  
  Read more

• Treasury delays IDD transposition into national law

  02-02-2018 16:34 via insuranceage.co.uk
  Move follows the European Commission’s proposal to push back the application date to 1 October 2018.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Opinion: Amazon empire-building

  02-02-2018 15:24
  Amazon proved its ability to hammer the value of other
  industries this week, and the P&C sector would do well to take
  notice.
  The voracious retailer from Seattle set the P&C industry
  abuzz last year when it began advertising for insurance workers in
  Europe, and again more recently when reports out of India suggested
  it would invest in InsurTech P&C start-up Acko.
  But the slaughter unleashed on Tuesday (30 January) when reports
  surfaced about the company's plans to set up...
  
  Read more

• This month in Post: Renewals, rates and redundancies

  02-02-2018 14:16
  The year started with an executive merry-go-round but this week proved that less senior people were also liable to redundancy, as it was revealed that a total of 480 jobs are at risk as a result of the LV/Allianz deal.
  
  Read more

• GRP buys Lloyd's broker Camberford Law

  02-02-2018 14:08
  Global Risk Partners (GRP) has acquired a majority stake in
  Bromley-based Lloyd's broker and MGA Camberford Law.
  Simon Carter, a director in the business, will become managing
  director (MD), with current MD David Ottewill planning to leave the
  business.
  Fellow director Paul Cooper will also remain temporarily to
  assist with the transition.
  Terms of the final deal, which was first reported by Insurance
  Age, were not disclosed.
  The Insurance Insider first reported
  that Camberford Law was consideri
  
  Read more

• Aon Q4 organic reinsurance revenue rises 8%

  02-02-2018 14:08
  Revenue growth at Aon's reinsurance arm accelerated in the
  fourth quarter as overall quarterly earnings met consensus
  expectations.
  Underlying revenue growth at the reinsurance business was 8
  percent, compared to 7 percent organic growth the previous quarter
  and 2 percent in Q4 2016.
  On a reported basis, revenue at the reinsurance solutions
  division - which includes Aon Benfield - grew 9 percent to $359mn
  for Q4.
  The broker said the result driven by strong growth across all
  major product lines..
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Treasury delays transposition of IDD into national law

  02-02-2018 13:57
  The Treasury has paused the implementation of the Insurance Distribution Directive, earning praise from insurers.
  
  Read more

• No immediate threat to Allianz Bristol claims team

  02-02-2018 13:52
  Personal injury claims handlers in Allianz’s Bristol office will not be placed under employment consultation as part of the Allianz-LV merger.
  
  Read more

• Miller names Moncavage to head Asian political risk

  02-02-2018 12:38
  Miller has expanded its Asian operation with the hire of two
  senior executives in Singapore.
  John Moncavage will head up credit and political risk business
  for Miller in the Asia Pacific region. Piers Hughes will place
  property, terrorism, downstream energy and engineering risks.
  Moncavage joins Miller from Ironshore in Singapore, where he was
  head of trade credit and political risks for Asia. Before
  Ironshore, he worked at Willis and HCC Credit.
  Hughes was head of reinsurance for Howden in Thai
  
  Read more

• Flood heads back to Aon in U-turn from Alliant

  02-02-2018 12:38
  Property broking executive Vincent Flood is set to return to Aon
  just weeks after resigning to join rival Alliant, The
  Insurance Insider can reveal.
  Flood was one of three executives whoresigned from Aon to join Alliant on 3 January in a move that
  would have reunited them with former colleague Al Tobin.Tobin left his position as chairman of the US property practice
  at Aon Risk Services (ARS) in late November. He re-emerged early
  this year as an executive...
  
  Read more

• GRP wants Camberford to buy

  02-02-2018 12:33
  GRP’s Stephen Ross said Camberford Law has targets in mind as he also seeks to expand the MGA’s wholesale capabilities.
  
  Read more

• Blog: Brokers must not ignore the Internet of Things

  02-02-2018 12:30
  Craig Foster, of HomeServe Labs explains how brokers can take advantage of the Internet of Things phenomena.
  
  Read more

• Dual pricing hitting vulnerable customers, says consumer watchdog

  02-02-2018 12:25
  Dual pricing is hitting vulnerable customers hardest and insurers are part of the problem, according to research from Consumer Advice.
  
  Read more

• GRP buys Camberford Law

  02-02-2018 12:00
  Insurance Age has learned that the deal sees MD David Ottewill leave the wholesale specialist.
  
  Read more

• Quizzical questions: 2 February 2018

  02-02-2018 11:44
  Test your knowledge of the week's news with our topical quiz.
  
  Read more

• XL Catlin sees profits fall $1.4m from nat cats

  02-02-2018 11:15
  XL Catlin has seen profits fall by $1.4m (£985,000) from a profit of $570,653 in 2016, to a loss of $862,067 last year.
  
  Read more

• XL Catlin sees profits fall $1.4bn from nat cats

  02-02-2018 11:15
  XL Catlin has seen profits fall by $1.4bn (£985,000) from a profit of $570m in 2016, to a loss of $862m last year.
  
  Read more

• Zurich North America hires trade credit head

  02-02-2018 11:03
  Lillian Labbat has joined Zurich North America as head of trade
  credit and political risk.
  She succeeds David Anderson, who left Zurich in January to
  pursue other opportunities. In her new role, Labbat will be
  responsible for the political risk and single-risk trade credit
  underwriting teams in the Americas, London, Continental Europe and
  the Asia Pacific region.
  Labbat joins from financial advisory firm Metis Markets, where
  she was managing partner and co-founder, with a focus on
  fundraising an
  
  Read more

• Opinion: Fairfield and Penelope

  02-02-2018 11:03
  Last nightthis publication reported that Matt Fairfield's insurance
  start-up Exin had asked the Bank of Greece for an extension on
  providing details on the financing of its proposed EUR718mn
  ($894mn) acquisition of a majority stake in state-owned insurer
  Ethniki.
  Let's be clear on what this latest twist in the Exin story
  means.
  Exin and then-cornerstone backer Calamos Asset Management agreed
  a deal to buy Ethnikiin June last year after an auction process contested by Chinese
  conglomerate Fosun.
  
  Read more

• McGavick: Reducing catastrophe volatility is 'right thing to do'

  02-02-2018 11:03
  XL Group is reducing volatility in the cat space through its
  ceded programmes as it reshapes its "earnings engine"
  following last year's catastrophe losses, according to CEO Mike
  McGavick.
  Speaking to analysts on a conference call following the
  carrier's fourth quarter results, McGavick said it was clear
  that taking this action was "the right thing to do" and
  that while XL had made "good strides" at 1 January and
  during Q4, more was to come.
  XL hadearlier on Thursday...
  
  Read more

• Validus misses Street view as earnings slump

  02-02-2018 02:34
  Validus, the (re)insurer being acquired by AIG, missed
  analysts' fourth quarter earnings estimates, posting a deeply
  shrunken profit as its loss ratio ballooned and the combined ratio
  deteriorated sharply compared with the year-earlier period.
  The (re)insurer posted an operating profit of $0.05 a share,
  while analysts had anticipated $0.84 per share, based on the
  average of eight forecasts compiled by MarketWatch.
  The company cited a $36.8mn insurance underwriting loss as well
  as surging corpora
  
  Read more

• Transfer of Sompo America to SIH is completed

  02-02-2018 02:34
  The transfer of Sompo America companies to Sompo International
  Holdings (SIH) has been completed, the Bermuda-based specialty
  provider of property and casualty insurance and reinsurance said
  today.
  SIH started a transition to conduct all property and casualty
  reinsurance operations outside Japan through one unified platform
  run from Bermuda under CEO John Charman in September with the
  transfer of all former Endurance companies. SIH is the new name for
  Endurance, which Sompo Holdings bought in Ma
  
  Read more

• Commoditising D&O coverage is dangerous: Duperreault

  02-02-2018 02:34
  The idea of directors and officers insurance becoming
  commoditised "is dangerous to me," especially as cyber,
  cultural and corporate irresponsibility risks that corporate boards
  and managements face continue to get more complex, AIG CEO Brian
  Duperreault told a gathering of industry leaders today.
  Pressure on D&O liabilities is "helping to get prices
  to harden," but insurers aren't seeing an adequate
  response by excess lines underwriters, Duperreault said in keynote
  remarks at the PLUS D&
  
  Read more

• XL beats even as cats rise and reserve releases drop

  02-02-2018 00:22
  XL Group's fourth quarter operating profit dropped almost 10
  percent to $116.1mn as it took a $315.2mn hit from previously
  announced catastrophe losses, driven by California wildfires.
  But at $0.45 a share, the performance surpassed the $0.38 per
  share expected by Wall Street, based on the average of 15
  analysts' estimates compiled by MarketWatch.
  The pre-tax net cat losses for the quarter were higher than the
  $246.1mn reported in the prior-year period and took XL's total
  for 2018 to $2.0bn,...
  
  Read more

• Selective targets expansion after Q4 beat

  02-02-2018 00:22
  US carrier Selective Insurance Group is looking to add three
  states to its commercial lines platform in 2018 as it targets
  growth opportunities.
  The company said that, with two other recent state entries, the
  additions would take the total number of states it writes in to
  27.
  The insurer is now spying a $370mn premium opportunity from its
  expansion strategy, based on its long-term target of taking a 3
  percent market share and the $12bn total commercial liens industry
  premium...
  
  Read more

Follow @Insurance_UKnws on Twitter!