Insurance news

• Trump signs law financing NFIP only through July

  23-03-2018 23:45
  A massive spending bill President Donald Trump signed into law
  today includes hundreds of millions of dollars to fund pre-disaster
  mitigation efforts and flood plain mapping, a category targeted for
  a substantial cut in the White House budget proposal for fiscal
  2019.
  But the $1.3tn funding measure also sets a 31 July deadline by
  which Congress must re-authorise the National Flood Insurance
  Program (NFIP) or it will expire. The deadline falls in the middle
  of the Atlantic hurricane season.
  The..
  
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• Cyber threats challenge energy sector insurers: AM Best

  23-03-2018 23:45
  As the US grapples with foreign agents hacking into energy
  infrastructure, insurers will have a difficult time assessing the
  premium growth impact of cyber security threats to the nation's
  power grid, according to AM Best.
  Currently, premium growth and variability in energy and utility
  markets tends to reflect the addition or termination of lines of
  business by specialty insurers. Going forward, AM Best said in a
  report released today, "there is no way to determine what and
  how these adverse...
  
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• IAT buys Rockhill's excess umbrella renewal rights

  23-03-2018 20:36
  US specialty insurer IAT has agreed a deal to acquire the
  renewal rights to a $40mn book of surplus lines excess and umbrella
  business from State Auto subsidiary, Rockhill.
  The transaction is the latest involving Rockhill and when it
  closes on 1 May will complete State Auto's stated strategy to
  exit specialty lines insurance.
  The latest deal sees Raleigh, North Carolina-based IAT buy the
  renewal rights and associated assets, including 11 current Rockhill
  employees.
  In a statement, IAT said it...
  
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• FSCS paid claims of £16.5m to former Gable policyholders in 2017

  23-03-2018 17:52
  The bankrupt insurer had 60,000 UK policyholders and was working with 12 brokers in UK.
  
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• Investors welcome Aviva climbdown on preference shares

  23-03-2018 17:48 via ft.com
  Insurer cancels controversial move to redeem high-yielding shares
  
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• Opinion: The Florida example

  23-03-2018 16:58
  Texas needs to become more like Florida, and insurers must help
  with the makeover.
  And the Lone Star State isn't alone. When it comes to making
  building codes stronger, other states have to follow the lead of
  the Sunshine State, too.
  For insurers and reinsurers, such moves help the bottom
  line.
  Some company chiefs that attended The Insurance
  Insider's Insider US event on 15 March
  pointed to how well homes and other buildings in Florida held up to
  Hurricane Irma,...
  
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• Hamilton Re casualty CUO to depart

  23-03-2018 16:58
  Hamilton Re's CUO for partnerships and casualty reinsurance,
  Claude Lefebvre, will leave at the end of March, the company has
  said.
  Lefebvre was a founding member of Hamilton Re. He will take an
  unspecified period of gardening leave after he steps down while
  remaining available to the reinsurer, the company said.
  Hamilton Re added that Lefebvre is leaving to "pursue other
  interests".Lefebvre joined Hamilton Re in 2012 as CUO for casualty. In
  September last year, he moved into his...
  
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• Five trade credit brokers to leave Marsh

  23-03-2018 16:58
  Five trade credit brokers are set to leave Marsh in Manchester
  and Birmingham, The Insurance Insider
  understands.
  Daniel Stewart, Rachel Smailes and Colin Cunningham in
  Manchester have tendered resignations, along with Laura Ferguson
  and Rob Farquharson in Birmingham, according to sources.
  The moves come amid a surge of interest in trade credit cover
  from insureds, after the collapse of multinational facilities
  management and construction services company Carillion earlier this
  year.
  Thetrade cr
  
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• Biba chair calls for 'mutual market access' after Brexit

  23-03-2018 16:58
  British Insurance Brokers' Association (Biba) chairman David
  Hunt, Baron Hunt of Wirral, has reiterated calls for a free-trade
  agreement between the UK and the EU after Brexit.
  Speaking at the Insurance Institute of London lunch in the
  Mansion House today, Lord Hunt said the ideal situation would be a
  new free-trade agreement providing mutual market access to make
  sure there was no interruption to clients' cover and their
  ongoing protection.
  "This will require mutual recognition of prudential
  re
  
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• Aviva drops plan to cancel preference shares

  23-03-2018 16:03 via ft.com
  Insurer abandons idea after investor backlash as it faces probe
  
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• Cloud-based insurtech eyes up US MGA market following €2.2m funding round

  23-03-2018 14:37
  Cloud-based insurtech platform Insly has raised €2.2m led by venture capital firms Concentric and Black Pearls.
  
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• Gable had 60,000 UK policyholders when it collapsed

  23-03-2018 13:33
  More than 60,000 UK policyholders had business with Gable at the time of its collapse, and the UK guarantee scheme has to date paid almost £27m in compensation.
  
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• Zensar to acquire Cynosure InsurTech consultancy for $33mn

  23-03-2018 13:12
  Indian technology services company Zensar has agreed to buy
  US-based InsurTech consultancy Cynosure for $33mn.
  Zensar is set to acquire all of Chicago-based Cynosure's
  shares, funded by internal capital and external debt. The statement
  provided no information about the selling shareholders.
  Cynosure is a consultancy which helps P&C insurers adopt
  modern software platforms.
  It specialises in the implementation of insurance management
  software Guidewire InsuranceSuite.
  Sandeep Kishore, chief e
  
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• Weinstein lawyers seek to move Chubb liability case

  23-03-2018 13:12
  Lawyers for former US movie producer Harvey Weinstein have filed
  papers to move a lawsuit from the Hollywood mogul's personal
  indemnity insurers to the Southern District Court of New York.
  Weinstein's attorneys have asked for the case be moved from
  New York's Supreme Court, citing Weinstein's Connecticut
  citizenship and the headquarters of the insurers involved.
  In a notice of removal filed at the Southern District Court, the
  former film producer's lawyers say the original suit
  incorrectly descr
  
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• Shanaghy named Aon UK COO

  23-03-2018 13:12
  Aon UK has appointed Nathan Shanaghy as chief operating officer to
  replace David Ledger.
  Shanaghy was most recently COO of Aon Risk Solutions UK and
  Aon's London Global Broking Centre. Before that he was director
  of operations for Aon Risk Solutions Emea after joining the broker
  from Marsh in 2010.
  He starts the new role on 1 April and will report to Aon UK CEO
  Julie Page.
  This publicationreported last month that Ledger would retire as chairman of Aon...
  
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• Reinsurers face Access fallout

  23-03-2018 13:12
  Reinsurers of Access Insurance Company (AIC) renewed its giant
  quota share last November just weeks before the non-standard auto
  insurer's policyholders' surplus collapsed at the end of
  2017, The Insurance Insider can
  reveal.
  The JLT Re-placed cover incepted on 1 November and was offered
  as a one-year or two-year term with a provisional cede commission
  of 25 percent in the firm order terms (FOTs), according to market
  sources.
  At the time, the carrier's surplus was a relatively healthy
  $29.9mn. H
  
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• Quizzical questions: 23 March 2018

  23-03-2018 13:12
  Test your knowledge of the week's news with our topical quiz.
  
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• Fosun would 're-evaluate' Ethniki before new bid

  23-03-2018 13:12
  Chinese conglomerate Fosun International has publicly reaffirmed
  its interest in acquiring Greek insurer Ethniki if Exin's
  attempt to buy the carrier collapses.
  However, a senior executive said Fosun would peruse the
  carrier's books again before any new bid.
  Fosun lost out to Exin and Calamos Asset Management in a tender
  to buy the National Bank of Greece's insurance business last
  June. The successful bidders offered EUR718mn ($882mn) for a 75
  percent stake Ethniki.
  However, with the parties in
  
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• AM Best affirms Canopius US rating as it downgrades reinsurance unit

  23-03-2018 13:12
  The financial strength rating of Canopius Re has been cut one
  notch to A- by AM Best following the private equity-backed $952mn
  acquisition of the parent from Tokyo-based Sompo Holdings.
  Canopius' US primary carrier, Canopius US Insurance (CUSI),
  retained its A- financial strength rating as AM Best also said
  today that it had removed both operating units from its "under
  review" list.
  The ratings of both units reflect their strategic importance to
  parent company Canopius AG as well its "strong&am
  
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• Over half of Lloyd’s MGAs have under resourced teams

  23-03-2018 12:57
  The majority of Lloyd’s managing agents are struggling with a lack of resources in their delegated authority teams.
  
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• This week in Post: Why insurers should head to a Maths Jam

  23-03-2018 11:49
  This week I attended my first Maths Jam, a gathering of self-confessed maths enthusiasts who get together in a pub and share stuff they like.
  
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• CII confirms move to 21 Lombard Street

  23-03-2018 11:32
  Body to move from the Aldermanbury building in June.
  
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• Adrian Colosso joins PIB

  23-03-2018 11:28
  Former Howden and Gallagher boss takes up non-executive director role.
  
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• Aviva backtracks on preference share cancellation plans

  23-03-2018 10:48 via insuranceage.co.uk
  U-turn follows criticism from investors and enquiries from the FCA.
  
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• Opinion: Blue blood on the streets

  23-03-2018 10:13
  If Lloyd's aggregate results were not already shock enough,
  yesterday'sexclusive revelation that MS Amlin was a £1.4bn ($2bn)
  capacity outlier within that £33bn whole ripped down Lime
  Street like a lightning bolt.
  Amlin was one of the jewels in the crown. It was market royalty.
  A high-teens return business with potential for global growth. A
  consistently top-quartile performer and a respected leader. The
  first name on the team sheet and probably the last on the
  Lloyd's performance di
  
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• Australian losses from Marcus, fires to top $50mn

  23-03-2018 10:13
  Insurers are tallying up property losses caused by Cyclone Marcus
  and wildfires in southeastern Australia.
  Pay-outs from the bushfire in Tathra are expected to exceed
  A$36mn ($28mn), according to an Insurance Council of Australia
  estimate cited in Aon Benfield's Impact Forecasting catastrophe
  report.
  Claims submitted from other fires that continue to burn across
  the state of Victoria have already reached A$12mn, according to
  preliminary data.
  Meanwhile, insurance pay-outs from Cyclone Marcus are
  
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• ‘Aviva has listened’: Insurer bins plan to cancel preference shares

  23-03-2018 08:37 via ft.com
  ‘I hope our decision today goes some way to restoring . . . trust’, says CEO
  
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• My Other Life: Stephen Ridley, triathlon competitor

  23-03-2018 07:00
  When not busy as lead cyber underwriter at Hiscox UK and Ireland, Stephen Ridley competes in triathlons.
  
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• Analysis: Passing up on passporting

  23-03-2018 07:00
  What next after the UK ruled out maintaining passporting within the European Union?
  
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• Aviva set to scrap plan to cancel preference shares

  23-03-2018 06:00 via ft.com
  Insurer responds to backlash from MPs and investors
  
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• Price of D&O slipped over 8% last year: Aon

  23-03-2018 02:31
  The price per $1mn of directors and officers (D&O) coverage
  fell 8.3 percent last year, according to Aon Risk Solutions
  (ARS).
  Clients also renewed in both 2017 and 2016 at a price per $1mn
  that slipped 4.6 percent, the Aon unit reported.
  Some 40 percent of primary policies renewing with the same limit
  and deductible had a lower price, while 24 percent paid a higher
  rate than previously.
  When it came to primary policy renewals, 95 percent of clients
  renewed...
  
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• JLT adds Dobos to lead West Coast M&A team

  23-03-2018 02:31
  Ted Dobos is joining JLT's West Coast M&A practice as
  executive vice president, the broker said today.
  Based in San Francisco, he will shape the group's mergers
  and acquisitions strategy and delivery of M&A solutions to
  JLT's private equity and other clients with a focus on complex
  risk.
  Dobos was most recently Aon's senior managing director
  within their M&A transaction solutions practice, focusing on
  similar complex risks related to deals.Previously, Dobos held senior positions at W
  
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• Cyber risk modeller emerges from under Symantec's wing

  23-03-2018 02:31
  CyberCube Analytics, a risk analytics provider backed by
  computer security software maker Symantec, is taking aim at what is
  expected to be a $20bn market within a decade.
  Armed with technology Symantec developed with insurers, San
  Francisco-based CyberCube built a proprietary risk-modelling
  platform that it unveiled today.
  Symantec contributed technology assets to CyberCube in exchange
  for an equity stake in the company, held through its Symantec
  Ventures group.
  In 2015, Symantec built a platfo
  
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