Insurance news

• China to merge insurance, banking regulators: reports

  13-03-2018 23:19
  China reportedly plans to merge its insurance and banking
  regulators in a move that will hand the country's central bank
  more power.
  The National People's Congress earlier today announced the
  move to merge the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) with
  the China Banking Regulatory Commission, multiple news outlets
  reported.
  Bloomberg noted that some of the regulators' functions,
  including drafting regulations and prudential oversight, will move
  to the People's Bank of China.
  The move is p
  
  Read more

• Integro-Tysers deal nears the finish line

  13-03-2018 20:24
  Integro is close to signing its long-delayed deal to acquire
  Tysers, five months after the two parties entered exclusivity,
  The Insurance Insider can reveal.
  Sources had speculated at times this year that the deal may
  never be finalised as the timeline was continually pushed out.
  The extended period of exclusivity is believed to have reflected
  the limited due diligence done before the parties went exclusive,
  as well as challenges around valuation caused by account losses at
  Tysers and foreign ex
  
  Read more

• Esser's AFL hires from Ed for new marine division

  13-03-2018 20:24
  Lloyd's broker AFL has appointed Alex Mott as the director
  of a new commercial marine division.
  Mott has 16 years' experience in the marine market and
  before joining AFL held the role of head broker at Ed's marine
  business. He specialises in hull and machinery, disbursements, war
  and P&I risks.
  AFL chairman Toby Esser said: "The launch of a commercial
  marine division is a logical step for AFL as we continue to grow
  the business into a full service intermediary....
  
  Read more

• TWIA seeking new second season cover

  13-03-2018 17:23
  The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) is considering
  options for a new second season cover as it looks set to cut back
  its use of traditional reinsurance and catastrophe bonds for its
  2018 cat programme.
  The residual insurer and its broker Guy Carpenter met reinsurers
  in Bermuda and London in late February and March to assess pricing
  and availability of cover to meet its statutory requirement to buy
  to a 1-in-100-year return period.
  Last month TWIA's board of directors passed...
  
  Read more

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• Shareholders 'blindsided' by Axa's 'about-turn' on strategy

  13-03-2018 17:23
  Shareholders feel "blindsided" by the abrupt change in
  Axa's strategy signalled by its $15.3bn purchase of XL Group,
  analysts have said.
  Axa's share price fell by 9.7 percent to EUR22.62 on 5
  March, the day the deal was announced. A week on and the shares
  have not recovered, closing on Monday (11 March) at EUR22.50,
  implying the company has been adversely re-rated.
  Analysts told The Insurance Insider shareholders were shocked by
  Axa's plan to reposition itself towards P&C, as well...
  
  Read more

• Services sector to drive doubling of cyber premium by 2020

  13-03-2018 17:23
  US commercial cyber liability premium is set to hit $6.2bn by
  2020, with the services sector likely to be the biggest buyer of
  the standalone product in that timeframe, according to a report by
  data analytics firm Verisk.
  The firm estimated the size of the US commercial cyber liability
  market, encompassing both standalone and package offerings, at
  $2.5bn for 2016.
  The consensus among cyber insurance practitioners is that the
  global cyber insurance market currently generates around $3.0bn in
  prem
  
  Read more

• Post-Brexit contract 'grandfathering' vital: Insurance Ireland

  13-03-2018 17:23
  Insurance Ireland has renewed calls for existing contracts
  spanning the post-Brexit border to be recognised after March 2019
  amid signs of European Commission (EC) intransigence on the
  issue.
  The trade body's CEO, Kevin Thompson, is one of the few
  EU-27 industry figures to have spoken on an issue which could
  affect an estimated 10 million policyholders in the UK and 38
  million EU-27 customers of UK insurers.
  Unless local regulators make provision for existing contracts to
  be recognised, or "gran
  
  Read more

• Pacific Specialty's $300mn deal meets a clouded end

  13-03-2018 17:23
  Biglari Holdings has pulled out of a $300mn deal to acquire
  Pacific Specialty Insurance, the firm said in a late December
  regulatory filing that came a few months after a deterioration in
  the target's financial results.
  The statement offered no reason for the termination of the
  acquisition of privately held Western Contract Service Corporation,
  its A-rated Pacific Specialty operating unit based in Palo Alto,
  California, and the related McGraw Insurance Agency.
  The transaction, announced in May 2
  
  Read more

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• Markel Catco's side pockets bulge after 2017 losses

  13-03-2018 17:23
  Markel Catco's London-listed Reinsurance Opportunities Fund
  had to put two-thirds of its year-end 2017 asset base into side
  pockets, much higher than the typical 5-15 percent that it puts on
  hold each year, sister publication Trading
  Risk reported.
  The retro manager uses side pockets to isolate assets that may
  be called on to pay losses if its reserves deteriorate.
  The London fund lost 47.4 percent of 2017 investor capital due
  to last year's catastrophe activity, leading its net asset
  value...
  
  Read more

• London wholesale broking sector in flux

  13-03-2018 17:23
  The competitive landscape for independent wholesale brokers in
  London looks set to evolve rapidly over the next 12 months as Beach
  launches a new platform and Integro at last nears the consummation
  of its deal with Tysers.
  Following PIB's acquisition of Citynet in December, there is
  likely to be further corporate activity in the sector as AG
  (formerly Alston Gayler) nears the end of its sale process and a
  number of other properties that are said to be available pair...
  
  Read more

• Fintech insurance demand fosters cross-class collaboration

  13-03-2018 17:23
  Increasing demand for a comprehensive insurance solution for
  fintech companies is pushing the London market to break down the
  traditional silos built around lines of business.
  Brokers and underwriters told this publication there was huge
  opportunity to serve this new breed of insurance buyer, if carriers
  can find a way to work across insurance classes.
  Historically, fintech companies looking for insurance have had
  to buy separate policies for each of their exposures, which include
  financial inst
  
  Read more

• FHCF Irma loss subsides

  13-03-2018 17:23
  The Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (FHCF) said its losses
  from Hurricane Irma were expected to reach $2.04bn, less than half
  its previous estimate of $5bn.
  In November 2017 the state reinsurer said its share of Irma
  claims could fall between $3‎bn and $6bn, with a $5bn point
  estimate.
  The FHCF estimated ‎that industry residential losses due
  to Irma stood at $8.46bn at year-end 2017.
  This is also well below the earlier implied estimate of a
  Florida residential industry loss of...
  
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• Falvey team to run new SPG yacht platform

  13-03-2018 17:23
  The recently disbanded Falvey Insurance Group yacht underwriting
  team has re-emerged to run a newly created facility at Hub
  International's binding and MGA platform Specialty Program
  Group (SPG).
  SPG said it had launched Flagship Marine Underwriters, a
  "best-in-class" yacht and charter recreational marine
  underwriting facility.
  It said Laura Sherrod, director of underwriting, Dylan
  Schwerdtfeger, managing director of commercial marine and charter,
  and Shawn Kucharski, managing partner, had joine
  
  Read more

• European insurers face consent requirement 'patchwork' under GDPR

  13-03-2018 17:23
  Insurers are hoping that the pan-European data protection
  advisory body will intervene to safeguard the sector's ability
  to handle sensitive consumer data across the bloc after the General
  Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) takes effect.
  From 25 May GDPR will significantly bolster EU residents'
  rights over how their data is handled and introduce heavy fines of
  the greater of up to EUR20mn ($24.6mn), or 4 percent of a
  company's global turnover, for firms that break the rules.
  But as member states.
  
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• Crop premiums and reinsurance rates heading lower

  13-03-2018 17:23
  Crop premiums and reinsurance rates heading lowerCrop insurers
  in the US anticipate lower premiums this year as prices for the
  nation's largest agricultural commodities - grains and soybeans
  - remained largely stable heading into 2018, while reinsurance
  rates may be down in the low-to-mid single-digit range.
  That's the general view of brokers and insurers spoken to by
  The Insurance Insider ahead of the renewals season.
  In recent years, M&A deals have sharply diminished demand
  for quota share
  
  Read more

• Axa-XL talk highlights upbeat AIFA conference

  13-03-2018 17:23
  Analysts attending the Association of Insurance and Financial
  Analysts (AIFA) conference in Naples, Florida, last week came away
  with a sense that (re)insurers see more M&A in the offing given
  the rich price Axa agreed for XL Group and the need for increased
  scale.
  "Overall, the 2018 AIFA conference included an undercurrent
  of ebullience, which KBW analysts attribute to the very full
  valuation in Axa's announced acquisition of XL," wrote
  Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analyst Meyer Shields.
  Oth
  
  Read more

• Argo secures Ariscom deal

  13-03-2018 17:23
  ArgoGlobal has acquired Italian specialty insurer Ariscom as it
  seeks to expand its presence in southern Europe.
  The acquisition comes after Argoreceived regulatory approval to buy the insurer, which is
  currently in state administration, for EUR20mn ($24.6mn).
  According to Argo Group chief executive Mark Watson the deal
  will allow the carrier to bolster its insurance operations in
  Italy, Spain and Portugal.
  "Ariscom provides an established platform that we can use
  to efficiently expand our prese
  
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• Analyst Take: Axa, XL and the leverage of reasonable creatures

  13-03-2018 17:23
  One of the lessons of financial markets over the past two
  decades is that if you pay someone enough, they can provide you
  with fancy mathematics to justify almost anything.
  "So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable
  creature," wrote Benjamin Franklin, "since it enables one
  to find or make a reason for everything one has a mind to
  do."
  From the crisis at Long-Term Capital Management to the 2008
  crash, companies used complex statistical models to explain...
  
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• AIG returns to market for international casualty treaty

  13-03-2018 17:23
  AIG has purchased a new $75mn xs $25mn international casualty
  treaty as it continues its strategic pivot towards buying more
  reinsurance, The Insurance Insider can
  reveal.
  According to sources, the per-risk excess-of-loss cover provides
  protection across a number of non-US casualty lines, which were
  previously largely run net.The programme is led by Swiss Re and placed by Willis Re, the
  reinsurance broking arm of Willis Towers Watson.
  Swiss Re has been a major long-term partner of AIG on its...
  
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• NMU Letchworth office axed in regional restructure

  13-03-2018 14:44 via insuranceage.co.uk
  NMU is to close its Letchworth office as it looks to merge three offices into one as part of a restructure of its Southern operations.
  
  Read more

• In-depth - specialist lines: Benefits in bloodstock / Healthcare on hand

  13-03-2018 14:18
  If brokers want to hold on to existing clients and maximise growth opportunities, it makes sense to be able to say ‘yes’ to placing even the trickiest risks. Rachel Gordon puts bloodstock and healthcare in the spotlight
  
  Read more

• Hiscox posts average UK gender pay gap of 31.1%

  13-03-2018 14:15
  Women employed by Hiscox in the UK earn on average 31.1 percent
  less than men, the insurer's gender pay gap figures
  disclosed.
  The report comes ahead of the 4 April government deadline for
  large companies to disclose their pay gaps. Hiscox is the first
  London-listed Lloyd's insurer to issue a report.The carrier said the median hourly pay gap for all UK staff was
  26.2 percent.
  It said the gap was driven by having fewer women at senior
  levels within...
  
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• Chubb snatches deal with Grab

  13-03-2018 14:15
  Southeast Asia's largest taxi app has partnered with Chubb
  to provide cover to the company's 2.6mn drivers.
  Grab and Chubb said today that using the app, drivers would be
  able to buy motor insurance, loss of income protection and personal
  accident coverage.
  Chubb said that telematics data from the Grab app would be used
  to develop better insurance products in Southeast Asia.
  Grab has also launched a fintech arm called Grab Financial.
  The company currently operates in Singapore, Indonesia,
  Philip
  
  Read more

• Assurant preferred sale raises $277M for Warranty deal

  13-03-2018 14:15
  Specialty carrier Assurant has raised net proceeds of $276.7mn
  from a sale of preferred shares to help finance its acquisition of
  The Warranty Group (TWG).
  The offering of over 2.87 million 6.5 percent series D mandatory
  convertible shares included 375,000 shares to cover
  over-allotments, the full amount available for the deal, the New
  York-based insurer said late yesterday.
  The deal priced at $100 per share, putting the value of the
  transaction at $287.5mn.
  Assurant's net proceeds include under
  
  Read more

• Acrisure completes Beach acquisition

  13-03-2018 14:15
  Insurance broker Acrisure has completed its acquisition of
  Beach, with management at the target taking an undisclosed amount
  of equity in the new parent.
  The takeover of Beach is thefirst acquisition outside of the US for Michigan-based
  Acrisure, which was previously owned by private equity fund
  Genstar Capital.
  Beach yesterday announced the appointment offormer Integro leaders John Sutton and Toby Humphreys to its
  senior leadership as the broking house announced it would set up a
  new specialty
  
  Read more

• NMU to close Letchworth office in restructure

  13-03-2018 13:41
  Munich Re service company NMU is closing its Letchworth office in a restructure of its Southern Region operations.
  
  Read more

• Motor premiums climbed by over 10% in 2017

  13-03-2018 12:07
  Premiums for all types of motor insurance increased in Q4 2017.
  
  Read more

• Video: A broking minute with Dale Collett of Gravity Risk Services

  13-03-2018 12:02
  Meet the managing director of Stourbridge-headquartered Gravity Risk Services in our latest video.
  
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• XL Catlin recruits Zurich's Uhlmann for Canada head

  13-03-2018 11:16
  XL Catlin has hired Urs Uhlmann as CEO and country manager for
  Canada. He was previously CEO of global corporate at Zurich's
  Canadian business.Based in Toronto, Uhlmann will oversee XL Catlin offices in
  Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver, XL Group said today.Doug Howat, chief executive of global lines said of Uhlmann:
  "His strategic and critical thinking skills and proven track
  record for growing commercial insurance businesses will help us put
  XL Catlin at the top of the list of...
  
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• Sutton and Humphreys shun RFIB for Beach wholesale arm

  13-03-2018 11:16
  Former Integro leaders John Sutton and Toby Humphreys are set to
  join reinsurance broker Beach to establish a new specialty and
  wholesale insurance platform.
  The reinsurance broker's hire of the duo - alongside
  Humphreys Haggas Sutton & Co. co-founder Simon Haggas - upends
  a plan for the two executives to
  bolster the senior management of RFIB .
  That move itself had marked an about-turn for the two
  executives, who had previously been considering whether tolaunch a start-up .It...
  
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• Steamship Mutual reserves $95mn for Sanchi P&I loss

  13-03-2018 11:16
  Carriers on the reinsurance programme of the International Group
  (IG) have narrowly averted a pay-out after reserves for pollution
  claims arising from the loss of the Sanchi oil tanker were
  set below $100mn.
  Steamship Mutual has set reserves at $95mn for the protection
  and indemnity (P&I) claim arising from the sinking of the
  Iranian tanker, below the $100mn threshold required for the
  reinsurance programme to kick in.
  In addition to P&I cover the tanker has $32mn of hull and
  machinery...
  
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• Selective adds Mitchell as independent director

  13-03-2018 11:16
  Former Platinum Underwriters and RenaissanceRe executive Liz
  Mitchell joined Selective Insurance's board of directors on
  Friday, the Branchville, New Jersey-based holding company said
  today.
  Mitchell left her position as president and CEO of RenRe's
  US operations in January 2016 to take an "extended
  sabbatical", less than a year after joining the reinsurer with
  its acquisition of fellow Bermudian Platinum Underwriters.
  The executive also sits on Hudson Structured Capital
  Management's board of ad
  
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• Natixis takes majority stake in Fenchurch Advisory Partners

  13-03-2018 11:16
  Natixis has acquired a 51 percent stake in boutique insurance
  and financial services investment bank Fenchurch Advisory Partners
  for an undisclosed fee.
  The deal is part of the French investment bank's strategy to
  build a network of advisory businesses around the world.
  Alongside the investment in Fenchurch, Natixis has announced
  similar investments in Vermilion Partners, a specialist in
  cross-border transactions in China, and Clipperton, a Paris-based
  M&A boutique specialising in high-growt
  
  Read more

• M&A will remain tactical, not transforming: Conning

  13-03-2018 11:16
  Most of the merger and acquisition activity among (re)insurers
  last year was tactical and not transformative and that trend should
  continue in 2018, according to a report by Conning.
  The Hartford, Connecticut-based investment management and
  research firm noted that dealmaking involving insurers and
  reinsurers "mainly featured bolt-on property-casualty
  specialty acquisitions, run-off dispositions in both the life and
  property-casualty sectors".
  There were only five transactions in the P&C spa
  
  Read more

• Liberty Specialty A&H head Morris retires

  13-03-2018 11:16
  Liberty Specialty Markets' (LSM) head of accident and health
  specialty underwriting David Morris is set to retire,
  The Insurance Insider can reveal.
  Morris is understood to have announced his impending retirement
  earlier this month, with his deputy of 25 years John Riches set to
  succeed him.
  The executive leads a team of five underwriters who cover
  accident and health, personal accident, travel, expatriate medical
  expenses and entertainers insurance, among other risks, through
  Syndicate 4472, wi
  
  Read more

• InsurTechs Lemonade and Metromile report rising losses

  13-03-2018 11:16
  Prominent InsurTechs Metromile and Lemonade have filed statutory
  reports with regulators showing ballooning net premiums earned
  along with surging underwriting losses.
  Lemonade, the New York-based provider of renters' and
  homeowners' cover through mobile devices, had $2.3mn in earned
  premiums last year and an underwriting loss that climbed more than
  eightfold to $15.8mn, according to S&P Global data.
  The startup's pre-tax operating loss surged by a similar
  proportion, with the loss rising to
  
  Read more

• InsurTech investments surge in February: S&P Global

  13-03-2018 11:16
  Investing in InsurTech startups and technology dominated other
  categories last month in the FinTech financing space monitored by
  S&P Global, the credit-rating service's research shows.
  InsurTech deals tripled in value month to month, rising to
  $216.1mn in February from $71.3mn in January, while the total
  number of FinTech deals across all sectors fell about 10
  percent.
  While InsurTech deals trailed other sectors in January, such as
  investment and capital markets technology, with $214.8mn in
  
  Read more

• Hannover Re Q4 P&C profit rises 16%

  13-03-2018 11:16
  Hannover Re has reported a 16.4 percent increase in P&C
  operating profits for the fourth quarter and a steep rise in the
  volume of business written.
  P&C operating profit rose to EUR518.5mn ($638.8mn), and
  comprised the lion's share of Hannover Re's group operating
  profit of EUR558mn, which rose 12 percent.The P&C combined ratio improved 2.8 points to 87.1 percent.
  Underwriting profit at the unit rose 48.9 percent to
  EUR311.20mn.
  P&C gross written premiums (GWP) rose 20.5 percent
  
  Read more

• Great American hires Shepherd to lead cyber segment

  13-03-2018 11:16
  Betty Shepherd has been appointed by Great American Insurance
  Group to be divisional senior vice president of cyber liability,
  the company said today.
  Shepherd will oversee Cincinnati-based Great American's
  cyber initiatives and existing cyber underwriting operations, and
  will coordinate product management and development for all cyber
  liability products.
  She has spent more than half her 28 years in the business
  dealing with cyber liability coverage from both the brokerage and
  carrier sides.
  Mos
  
  Read more

• Direct Insurance hires Flint as commercial chief

  13-03-2018 11:16
  Lloyd's broker Direct Insurance Group has appointed David
  Flint to the newly created role of chief commercial officer.
  Flint will lead the firm's wholesale division, Direct
  Insurance London Market.
  He joined Direct from TPD & Associates, where he was a
  partner and headed up the executive search and senior recruitment
  arm of the business.
  Flint brings more than 30 years of insurance industry experience
  to Direct, including the development of UK and international
  business, the company said.
  "W
  
  Read more

• Clips shows 1% uptick in Q4 US commercial rates

  13-03-2018 11:16
  US commercial insurance rates increased only tentatively in the
  fourth quarter, according to Willis Towers Watson.
  The broker's Q4 Commercial Lines Insurance Pricing Survey
  (Clips) showed that year-on-year price changes reported by carriers
  still averaged 1 percent or less for the 10th consecutive quarter,
  following a moderating trend in price increases that began in the
  first quarter of 2013.
  Commercial property price data, which had been showing decreases
  for much of the recent past, now point
  
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• Castellucci becomes NSM's new COO

  13-03-2018 11:16
  Marc Castellucci has joined NSM Insurance Group as chief
  operating officer, the Conshohocken, Pennsylvania-based company
  said today.
  Castellucci comes to NSM, a program administrator of niche
  industry-specific programs, from American Family Insurance, where
  he was vice president of claims.
  Before going to American Family, Castellucci spent several years
  at Liberty Mutual in a variety of senior roles.
  "We are very pleased to welcome Mr. Castellucci to
  NSM," CEO Geof McKernan said. "His passion fo
  
  Read more

• Canopius reduces cat exposure as version 3.0 begins

  13-03-2018 11:16
  Reduced catastrophe exposure, targeted underwriting and an
  improving investment environment will help the new-look Canopius
  reward its financial backers, according to chairman Michael
  Watson.
  Speaking to this publication following the close of its
  Centerbridge and consortium partners-backed$952mn management buyout from Sompo on Friday (9 March), Watson
  explained that while Canopius' reinsurance buying remained
  unchanged, it had adjusted its risk appetite as a consequence of
  the deal."Previously,
  
  Read more

• Assurant preferred sale raises cash for Warranty deal

  13-03-2018 11:16
  Specialty carrier Assurant has raised net proceeds of $276.7mn
  from a sale of preferred shares to help finance its acquisition of
  The Warranty Group (TWG).
  The offering of over 2.87 million 6.5 percent series D mandatory
  convertible shares included 375,000 shares to cover
  over-allotments, the full amount available for the deal, the New
  York-based insurer said late yesterday.
  The deal priced at $100 per share, putting the value of the
  transaction at $287.5mn.
  Assurant's net proceeds include under
  
  Read more

• Aspen shares jump after carrier retains JP Morgan team

  13-03-2018 11:16
  Aspen shares surged over 8 percent in New York trading today on
  news that the (re)insurer brought in JP Morgan as an adviser,
  supplementing the work of "house" bank Goldman Sachs amid
  speculation over further M&A activity in Bermuda.
  The shares soared more than 11 percent minutes after The Insurance Insider revealed the move
  by Aspen's board of directors, citing multiple banking sources
  who also stressed that the addition of a second Wall Street bank
  does not necessarily represent a...
  
  Read more

• Aspen drafts in JP Morgan alongside Goldman

  13-03-2018 11:16
  Aspen's board of directors has retained JP Morgan alongside
  "house" bank Goldman Sachs to advise the carrier on its
  alternatives as M&A speculation in Bermuda hits fever pitch,
  The Insurance Insider can reveal.
  Four banking sources said that Aspen's board had chosen to
  draft in a second bank, but stressed that the move was difficult to
  interpret and does not necessarily represent a prelude to a sale of
  the company.
  Aspen shares nonetheless shot higher when this publication broke
  the...
  
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• AM Best removes Tower from under review

  13-03-2018 11:16
  AM Best has removed New Zealand carrier Tower Limited and
  subsidiary Tower Insurance from under review with negative
  implications following the sale of a stake in the parent to
  distressed debt specialist Bain Capital.
  The ratings agency affirmed Tower Insurance's financial
  strength rating of A- and the longer-term issuer credit rating of
  a-.
  It reiterated its bbb- credit rating of Tower Limited.
  In a note AM Best said its move reflected an improvement in the
  strength of Tower Insurance's balance
  
  Read more

• AIG to sell Arch stock at 0.2% discount

  13-03-2018 11:16
  Arch Capital said AIG's secondary share offering of Arch
  stock will raise $502.5mn for the selling shareholder.
  AIG priced the offer of just over 5.67 million shares at $88.55
  apiece, a 0.2 percent discount to Arch's $88.72 closing price
  on Thursday (8 March). Arch shares were little changed at $88.68 in
  early trading in New York today.
  The seller acquired the shares in part-payment for Arch's
  $3.4bn purchase of AIG's mortgage insurance unit United
  Guaranty. That dealclosed last July....
  
  Read more

• The stats: March 2018 - The Acturis Premium Index

  13-03-2018 09:26
  The Acturis stats show that brokers finished 2017 with their best quarter for over four years
  
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• Blog: How insurers can support mental health in the workplace

  13-03-2018 07:00
  Insurance can help mitigate the economic impact of poor mental health in the workplace, but policy design must adapt to meet the challenge, argues Michael Ryley, partner at Weightmans.
  
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