Insurance news

• Mega M&A deals target multiple capital platforms: Ryan

  15-03-2018 22:30
  The wave of largescale takeover deals in the property and
  casualty sector is motivated by a desire to create
  "diversified multiple capital platforms", according to
  Ryan Specialty CEO Pat Ryan.
  The industry veteran highlighted AIG's move to buy Validus,
  Axa's proposed $15.3bn takeout of XL, and the 2016 acquisition
  of Chubb by Ace, during remarks at The Insurance Insider's
  Insider US conference today in New York.
  On the $5.6bn AIG-Validus deal, Ryan said the buyer is getting
  multiple platforms, a
  
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• Heritage, UPC reinsurance rates weathered Irma: CEOs

  15-03-2018 22:30
  Reinsurance renewals for two major Florida-based property and
  casualty carriers have gone better than might have been expected
  after Hurricane Irma hit the state last year, the CEOs of United
  and Heritage said today.
  Widely known as UPC, United has already placed 100 percent of
  its program for the year, months ahead of the 1 June renewal
  deadline, CEO John Forney said at The Insurance
  Insider's Insider US conference in New York.
  "We're happy with the pricing," Forney said. He...
  
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• Fosun legacy platform wrote $125mn Aspen LPT

  15-03-2018 18:46
  SunPoint, the legacy platform backed by Fosun, is the carrier
  for Aspen's $125.5mn loss portfolio transfer (LPT) for its US
  primary casualty business, The Insurance
  Insider understands.
  Aspen's 10-K filing states that the Bermudian company ceded
  $125.5mn of reserves as part of an LPT agreement which includes an
  upper coverage limit in excess of the amount transferred.
  As part of the LPT, Aspen also acquired retrospective
  reinsurance coverage during the 12 months ended 31 December 2017,
  the Bermu
  
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• Expense ratios must be 25% or less: Ursano

  15-03-2018 18:46
  The insurer of the future will need to have stable earnings and
  an expense ratio of 25 percent or less, TigerRisk president Tony
  Ursano said today.
  He added that the carriers of tomorrow would also need to
  transfer legacy business to more efficient third-party pools of
  capital.
  Speaking at the Insider US event in New York, Ursano
  said: "For the most part, insurers of the future will need to
  be big."
  While there will be room for niche players, Ursano...
  
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• Davies revamps divisional management after growth spurt

  15-03-2018 18:46
  Davies Group has promoted a number of insiders to lead its
  operating divisions after a series of acquisitions since its own
  takeover in January last year by US private equity firm HGGC.
  Speaking to The Insurance Insider CEO
  Dan Saulter also said the company would continue with its strategy
  of selective M&A to broaden its services offer, including
  potentially businesses that could expand its proposition to
  InsurTechs.
  Under the divisional reorganisation, Mark Grocott becomes CEO of
  Davies' cu
  
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• 'Best of times' for insurance industry: Berger

  15-03-2018 18:46
  The (re)insurance industry is well-placed to take advantage of
  opportunities from growing exposures as a result of climate change,
  shifting demographics, automation and technological revolution,
  according to Ascot Reinsurance CEO John Berger.
  Speaking at the Insider US conference in New York this morning,
  the former Third Point Re, Alterra and Chubb Re CEO said: "For
  the industry it's the best of times. I don't think the
  capital position has ever been stronger, the reserve position is
  terrific."
  
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• MGAM launches event insurance

  15-03-2018 16:46 via insuranceage.co.uk
  The product which covers employers’ and public liability, equipment, abandonment, cancellation and postponement can be white-labelled by brokers.
  
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• Markel pulls out of London open market property

  15-03-2018 15:07
  Markel International will stop writing open market property
  business in the London market, the carrier announced this
  morning.
  Head of property direct and facultative (D&F) Dean Pitts and
  senior underwriter Guy House are set to depart as the insurer pulls
  back from the line of business.
  William Stovin, president of Market International, said Pitts
  and House had worked hard to make the business successful but the
  market had been against them "in terms of both capacity and
  pricing".
  Despite a.
  
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• Hiscox launches first cyber ILW

  15-03-2018 15:07
  Hiscox Re has launched the first ever cyber industry loss
  warranty (ILW) in a bid to address the uncertainty around cyber
  tail risk.
  The cover responds to the aggregation of cyber losses throughout
  the year.
  The size of the market loss will be determined by the PCS Global
  Cyber Index.
  Hiscox said the product can be used as a hedging tool for cyber
  underwriters.
  Up until now, ILWs have been used only in the property
  reinsurance and retro markets.
  The...
  
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• AJ Gallagher's M&A spending could reach $1bn in 2018

  15-03-2018 15:07
  Acquisitive broker AJ Gallagher could spend as much as $1bn this
  year on buying smaller agencies, and already has as much as $400mn
  on hand to finance deals, company executives said yesterday.
  AJ Gallagher has bought more brokerages and agencies in North
  America over the past five years than any other publicly traded
  company, closing 129 deals, according to Chicago-based specialty
  investment bank Optis Partners.
  Rolling Meadows, Illinois-based AJ Gallagher made 30
  acquisitions last year, 24 in 2
  
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• MCE blames Brexit as it pulls out of Republic of Ireland

  15-03-2018 13:44 via insuranceage.co.uk
  Firm to stop trading in the country on 30 March.
  
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• Markel stops writing London open market property

  15-03-2018 13:15 via insuranceage.co.uk
  Three people will be made redundant following the move which was made because the business sector was "not profitable".
  
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• Markel International to cease writing London open market property

  15-03-2018 13:05
  Markel International has ceased writing London open market property business, making three redundancies.
  
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• Aston Lark buys Ingram Hawkins and Nock

  15-03-2018 13:03 via insuranceage.co.uk
  Deal is the broker's first since the merger of Aston Scott and Lark in June 2017.
  
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• Aviva hires LV and Zurich bosses in commercial growth plan

  15-03-2018 12:34
  Exclusive: David Carey and Mark Campbell have left Zurich and LV respectively to join Aviva, as the company bolsters its commercial business.
  
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• Double digit profit growth at Miles Smith in 2017

  15-03-2018 11:53 via insuranceage.co.uk
  All divisions report rises in turnover.
  
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• Opinion: Regulatory risk

  15-03-2018 11:45
  Crop (re)insurers suffered some lean years after the US
  government changed the rules of the game in 2011, with the added
  stress of a severe drought in 2012 producing the sector's first
  net loss in a decade. But the market adapted, and carriers roared
  back to a near record year in 2016.
  Last year was almost as good, too. But premium volume has
  declined from what might be termed the salad days of a decade ago,
  as reinsurers reached into...
  
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• Munich Re flags 2018 profit of up to $3bn amid cost cuts

  15-03-2018 11:45
  Munich Re is targeting net profit for 2018 of EUR2.1bn-EUR2.5bn
  ($2.6bn-$3.0bn) as it confirmed a EUR1bn share buyback and
  highlighted restructuring moves in its reinsurance unit.
  The carrier gave the forecast along with 2020 profit goals and
  full-year 2017 numbers.
  Last month it had disclosed thatgroup operating profit rose 5 percent to EUR864mn in the fourth
  quarter, with growth led by its restructuring Ergo primary unit,
  even as catastrophe losses weighed on the reinsurance combined
  ratio.
  Th
  
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• Generali P&C profit falls 4.9% in 2017

  15-03-2018 11:45
  P&C operating profits at Generali declined by 4.9 percent in
  2017 to EUR1.97bn ($2.44bn) as the group booked EUR416mn in
  catastrophe losses and a lower investment result.
  Despite the cat losses, Generali's 2017 combined ratio
  deteriorated by just 0.5 percentage points over the year to 92.8
  percent.
  This translated into a 7.5 percent decrease in the P&C
  technical result to EUR1.29bn for the year.
  Generali's loss ratio remained flat year on year at 65.0
  percent, with 2.1 percentage points
  
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• Generali made EUR196mn profit from Compre run-off deal

  15-03-2018 11:45
  Generali booked a one-off profit of EUR196mn ($243mn) from the
  sale of its old London market run-off book, according to its
  full-year 2017 financial disclosures.
  The Italian carrier transferred about EUR300mn in liabilities to
  legacy acquirer Compre in December 2017.
  As first revealed by
  this publication, Compre won exclusivity in the sale process
  for the book in October last year. The deal is the biggest
  transaction the legacy acquirer has secured to date.The portfolio predominantly holds US as
  
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• GDPR: What do brokers need to know?

  15-03-2018 11:29 via insuranceage.co.uk
  Register now to watch our bespoke webinar and learn how brokers can prepare for GDPR.
  
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• Axa denies U-turn after customer has excess refunded from Liverpool car park fire

  15-03-2018 10:44
  Exclusive: Axa has denied it has made a U-turn after a customer had their excess refunded from the Liverpool car park fire.
  
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• Zurich’s Thomas Liebi on the spectre of inflation

  15-03-2018 07:00
  After the stock exchange jolts last month, Thomas Liebi, head of US and UK market strategy at Zurich, analyses whether inflation fears are justified.
  
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• Blog: 'Beast from the East' hits farms hard

  15-03-2018 07:00
  The 'Beast from the East' has killed sheep, stopped milk collections and destroyed farm buildings. Graham Plaister, loss adjuster at Agrical, describes the tempest of claims blowing through the sector.
  
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• Blog: 'Beast from the East' has hit farms

  15-03-2018 07:00
  The 'Beast from the East' has killed sheep, stopped milk collections and destroyed farm buildings. Graham Plaister, loss adjuster at Agrical, describes the tempest of claims blowing through the sector.
  
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• Zurich seeks sale of $500mn asbestos book

  15-03-2018 03:33
  Zurich Insurance Group has entered talks with run-off players
  about the sale of a North American asbestos book with around $500mn
  of reserves, The Insurance Insider can
  reveal.
  Likely bidders include Enstar, Catalina, Berkshire Hathaway and
  Armour, according to one source.
  Zurich is believed to have retained an adviser.
  Selling the asbestos book would follow an effort at Zurich to
  rationalise its legacy business.
  Enstar acquired Zurich's Australian motor legacy business in February
  and Catalina
  
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• Schriber joins PartnerRe in structured risk role

  15-03-2018 00:05
  Former WR Berkley executive Jon Schriber has re-emerged as head
  of structured risk, North American P&C at PartnerRe,
  The Insurance Insider can reveal.
  The executive's most recent role was senior vice president
  of underwriting at the US specialty insurer, a position he took at
  the start of last year.
  But for the previous decade he had held senior roles in the
  company's reinsurance operations, including as president of
  Berkley Re America followed by a stint as chief underwriting
  officer for...
  
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• InsurTech pet insurer gets $4mn investment

  15-03-2018 00:05
  HCS Capital Partners has invested $4mn in FIGO Pet Insurance, a
  cloud-based InsurTech business.
  Chicago-based FIGO offers comprehensive pet insurance coverages
  and uses mobile-friendly cloud technology that connects pet owners
  with services such as paperless document uploads, pet tags and
  mobile bill payment, according to its website.
  The company will soon be offering their Pet Cloud platform for
  free.
  HCS, a Miami-based private equity firm, completed a $10mn
  fundraising round for its Tech Fund
  
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• Illinois eyes revived state-backed workers' comp plan

  15-03-2018 00:05
  Illinois would set up a non-profit workers' compensation
  insurer under a revived measure similar to a bill vetoed last year
  by Republican Governor Bruce Rauner.
  The bill, HB 4595, moved a step closer to consideration by the
  full House of Representatives earlier this week when the
  chamber's Labor and Commerce Committee moved it forward.
  Proposed by state Representative Laura Fine, a Democrat who
  entered the state legislature in 2012 vowing "to take on the
  powerful insurance industry", the measure
  
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• Icahn's man on AIG board expected to depart in May

  15-03-2018 00:05
  Investor Carl Icahn's representative on AIG's board of
  directors has notified the company that he will not seek
  re-election in May, according to an SEC filing late today.
  Samuel Merksamer, who has served on the board since 2016, will
  continue until the New York-based insurer's annual shareholders
  meeting set for 9 May, AIG said in the regulatory filing.
  Merskamer quit the billionaire's firm Icahn Capital LP last
  year and weighed setting up his own hedge fund,
  The Insurance Insider reported...
  
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