Insurance news

• Wright quits NFIP to lead P&C-backed non-profit

  05-04-2018 23:11
  Roy Wright, who shepherded the use of reinsurance by the
  National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), has resigned as its CEO to
  lead an industry-funded non-profit group that promotes defences
  against property destruction by natural disasters.
  After taking over as head of the NFIP in 2015, Wright ushered in
  the first use of reinsurance by the financially strapped insurer,
  which got a $16bn federal bailout last year to stay afloat. So far,
  the agency has paid out $385mn in premiums to...
  
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• Tokio Marine Kiln makes Dugand Asia managing director

  05-04-2018 20:15
  Tokio Marine Kiln (TMK) has named Asian underwriting director
  Alex Dugand managing director for the region.
  The promotion takes effect immediately, with Dugand reporting to
  TMK group CFO James Dover.
  TMK's Asian business spans Hong Kong, Singapore and
  China.
  Kin Lau and Susanna Quek, who are country heads for Hong Kong
  and Singapore, respectively, now report to Dugand.
  Dugand served as regional underwriting director for the Asia
  division for the past two years. He joined TMK more than a decade..
  
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• PRA adds ILS expertise with Guevara hire

  05-04-2018 20:15
  The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has hired an
  insurance-linked securities specialist from interdealer broker
  Tullett Prebon to work in the fledgling UK sector, sister
  publication Trading Risk reported.
  As a senior technical specialist at the PRA Antonio Guevara is
  tasked with working on transactions made under the UK's new
  Insurance Special Purpose Vehicles regime.
  He joined the PRA in January, according to his LinkedIn profile.
  Before working for Tullett Prebon, Guevara was a vice pres
  
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• Navigators will not join Lloyd's sales rush

  05-04-2018 20:15
  Navigators intends to retain ownership of its Lloyd's
  platform despite a flurry of moves from rivals to place businesses
  on the market, The Insurance Insider
  understands.
  Sources close to Navigators said the US-based insurer has no
  current plans to put its managing agency up for sale and had not
  engaged any advisers.
  Press reports earlier today suggested that Navigators had
  retained a "corporate adviser" as it mulled its options
  for the platform.
  Navigators declined to comment.
  The London insura
  
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• Marsh to strip out management layers

  05-04-2018 20:15
  Global broker Marsh is planning to reduce its number of
  management layers in an effort to streamline the business,
  according to an email sent to staff today.
  The message, obtained by The Insurance
  Insider, was sent by president and CEO John Doyle
  this afternoon, and provides a high-level account of the firm's
  efforts to simplify the business and bring its brokers closer to
  the end client.
  The email noted that some staff would leave the business as a
  result of...
  
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• Hurricane landfall in US viewed as more likely this year

  05-04-2018 20:15
  A more active Atlantic storm season this year is likely to
  produce seven hurricanes, three of them major, with an above normal
  probability of a US landfall by a major hurricane, according to
  forecasters at Colorado State University.
  The season is expected to bring 14 named storms to the Atlantic
  Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean, meteorologists led by Philip
  Klotzbach said today.
  "We anticipate a slightly above-average probability for
  major hurricanes making landfall along the continental US c
  
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• Amanda Blanc a "big loss to Axa and unbelievable gain for Zurich"

  05-04-2018 17:39 via insuranceage.co.uk
  Blanc credited with turning Axa around.
  
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• Syndicate 1414 makes 2017 loss as backers put up $85mn

  05-04-2018 17:01
  Ascot's Syndicate 1414 swung to a £28.9mn ($40.7mn)
  loss last year as second-half catastrophes forced it to tap backers
  for more cash.
  The result compared with a £31.3mn profit in 2016 and came
  as the syndicate's combined ratio swelled 12.5 points to 106.3
  percent.Ascot said it made an $85mn cash call in February to plug a US
  funding gap resulting from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria (HIM)
  and the California wildfires.
  For the 2018 underwriting year Syndicate 1414 has...
  
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• MS Amlin cuts another two senior casualty roles

  05-04-2018 17:01
  Two further senior members of MS Amlin's casualty operations
  have left as the Lloyd's carrier looks to cut costs as part of
  a review of underperforming businesses.
  The Insurance Insider understands Mark
  Iceton, lead underwriter for international casualty, and Craig
  Chater, lead underwriter for international professional indemnity
  (PI), have both parted ways with MS Amlin.
  The departures mark a further reduction in headcount in the
  firm's casualty division as MS Amlin targets a 10 percent
  reducti
  
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• International liability quartet departs XL Catlin

  05-04-2018 17:01
  Four of XL Catlin's international liability underwriters have
  left the carrier, The Insurance Insider
  understands.
  Alastair Herbert, senior class liability underwriter, class
  underwriters Nick Tye and Jacqui Ferrier and assistant underwriter
  Ben Laidlaw are all understood to have resigned in the past
  month.
  Herbert has worked as senior class underwriter at legacy Catlin
  for four years, after joining from QBE in 2014.
  Ferrier has worked at XL Catlin since she joined legacy Catlin
  in 2005, having
  
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• Dual Italia to buy Synkronos insurance

  05-04-2018 17:01
  Dual's Italian operation plans to buy Milan-headquartered MGA
  Synkronos from Munich Re and Italian insurer Reale Mutua.
  Dual said it is seeking to buy 100 percent of the MGA's
  share capital for an undisclosed sum. It expects the acquisition to
  close by the end of the month.
  Munich Re owns 80.35 percent of Synkronos, according to the
  German carrier's full-year report for 2017.
  As part of the deal Munich Re and Reale Mutua will continue to
  provide Synkronos with capacity...
  
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• Carlyle-backed PIB builds up board with Colosso hire

  05-04-2018 17:01
  Broker-consolidator PIB has appointed two independent non-executive
  directors three years' after its acquisition by private equity
  firm Carlyle.
  The new directors are former Howden UK CEO Adrian Colosso and
  former banker Tim Brooke, who will also act as chairman for all the
  company's regulated businesses apart from Citynet.
  Colosso led Howden UK between 2013 and 2015 and was previously
  CEO at Heath Lambert, where he worked for eight years.
  Brooke takes a seat on the board after holding executive
  
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• Axa's Blanc to replace Shaughnessy as Zurich Emea CEO

  05-04-2018 17:01
  The head of Axa's UK arm, Amanda Blanc, is set to join
  Zurich Insurance as CEO of Europe, Middle East and Africa
  (Emea).
  Blanc will replace Gary Shaughnessy, who is stepping down for
  health reasons, in the fourth quarter.
  Blanc has been CEO of Axa UK & Ireland since July 2016,
  after six months leading that region's general insurance
  operation. Before joining the Axa board in 2011, she spent a year
  as deputy CEO at broker Towergate.
  She has also...
  
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• Amanda Blanc will 'wake up' Zurich, brokers say

  05-04-2018 16:19
  Zurich’s capture of Axa UK CEO Amanda Blanc will “wake up” the insurer, brokers have said.
  
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• Amanda Blanc to leave Axa for Zurich

  05-04-2018 15:26
  She will succeed Gary Shaughnessy who is stepping down from a full-time role.
  
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• Amanda Blanc leaves Axa for Zurich

  05-04-2018 14:52
  Axa UK’s CEO Amanda Blanc is joining Zurich as CEO for Europe, Middle East & Africa, in replacement of Gary Shaughnessy.
  
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• Upstream capacity to increase in 2018: Willis Tower Watson

  05-04-2018 14:11
  Capital providers' appetite for upstream energy is likely to
  remain keen in 2018, according to Willis Tower Watson's (WTW)
  energy market review.
  The report found the pace of capacity growth had slowed in 2017
  but it noted a slight acceleration in 2018, largely because of two
  new start-ups.
  The acceleration comes despite the fact upstream energy renewals
  at 1.1 failed to achieve rate rises that were anticipated following
  the third-quarter natural catastrophes.
  Current rate rises are "gentle" and
  
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• Axa hires Leong to lead Asia Corporate Solutions unit

  05-04-2018 14:11
  Kevin Leong, head of customer, distribution and market development
  for Asia Pacific at Zurich, is to become the new Asia CEO of Axa
  Corporate Solutions, The Insurance
  Insider can reveal.
  Leong will also take on the role of chief underwriting officer
  of commercial lines for Asian markets. He will take up both
  positions on 1 June.
  Leong has worked at Zurich in its Singapore office for three
  years, with responsibility for driving profitable growth in Asia
  Pacific.
  Prior to this,...
  
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• Profile: Chris Guillaume, Open GI group CEO

  05-04-2018 13:00
  Cracking the code: Following the acquisition of Transactor last year, Open GI group CEO Chris Guillaume explains what brokers can expect from the software house’s new proposition and tells how he went from “cutting code” to cutting deals
  
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• Endeavour introduces cyber offering to protect against physical damage

  05-04-2018 12:59
  Delegated Authority Specialist and Lloyd’s Broker Endeavour has developed a cyber product to protect manufacturers against the physical damages that occur due to a breach.
  
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• Academy moves back into profit in 2017

  05-04-2018 12:48
  Chairman Dave Bard says broker is eyeing more acquisitions following its purchase of Glynwood Insurance Services last year.
  
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• Thatcham appoints Graham Gibson as chairman of its board

  05-04-2018 12:03
  Thatcham Research has appointed Graham Gibson as the new chairman of its board.
  
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• Downstream energy sector suffers worst loss in nearly a decade

  05-04-2018 12:02
  The downstream energy sector suffered its worst loss record for nearly a decade in 2017 with low rating levels exacerbated by one of the worst catastrophe loss years on record.
  
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• Gallagher poised to replace Aviva as Premiership Rugby title sponsor

  05-04-2018 11:51 via insuranceage.co.uk
  Insurer has sponsored the league since 2010.
  
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• GDPR: View our essential webinar on-demand

  05-04-2018 11:38
  The discussion on what brokers must do to meet GDPR is now available to stream.
  
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• Zurich Insurance confirms Liès as chairman

  05-04-2018 11:24
  Shareholders elected Zurich former Swiss Re CEO Michel Liès
  as its next chairman yesterday for an initial one-year term. The
  voteconfirms a nomination which was announced in July.Liès replaces Tom de Swaan, who is retiring. De Swaan
  served for five years as chairman and 12 years on Zurich's
  board. All members of the board standing for re-election were
  re-elected for another one-year term of office.
  Liès worked at Swiss Re for 38 years, which culminated in a
  stint...
  
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• Opinion: Downsizing

  05-04-2018 11:24
  If telecoms and internet group SoftBank's potential purchase
  of a large minority stake in the 155-year-old bastion of
  Switzerland AG always looked unlikely, yesterday's
  investors' day at Swiss Re put the transaction parameters on a
  more realistic footing.
  Swiss Re CEO Christian Mumenthaler made clear that Masayoshi
  Son's behemoth would takeno more than 10 percent of the (re)insurer's existing
  equity.
  CFO John Dacey even suggested that the terms of the deal would
  be a matter for the Japanese hold
  
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• Navigators lands workers' comp deal with Protective

  05-04-2018 11:24
  Navigators has struck an underwriting partnership with
  Protective Insurance, through which the Baldwin & Lyons-owned
  firm will provide workers' compensation coverage to
  Navigators' insureds.
  Under the deal, workers' compensation will now be available
  as a coverage option in Navigators' portfolio of
  industry-specific multiline products.
  Navigators' multiline policies are currently available for
  the media, arts and entertainment, life sciences, allied health
  care, technology and manufacturing
  
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• Alliant acquires hospitality risk brokerage

  05-04-2018 11:24
  Expansive broker Alliant has acquired Los Angeles-based
  Dumortier Risk Management, the firm announced yesterday.
  No terms were disclosed.
  Dumortier, led by president Chris Chang, specialises in
  hospitality risk management. The firm was founded in 2002 and works
  with more than 200 hotel owners and developers.
  Chang will join Alliant as executive vice president as part of
  the deal.
  Dumortier also has strong links to Taiwan and China, which
  Alliant said would help its real estate practice grow in A
  
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• Regional review: Jersey

  05-04-2018 09:32
  The largest of the British Channel Islands, Jersey is located 100 miles from the south of England and 14 miles off the French coast. Covering 45 square miles, the island offers one of the world’s major international finance centres. For the island's insurance sector, business is booming.
  
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• Hurricane outlook expected to emerge from Colorado

  05-04-2018 03:29
  Hurricane activity forecasts during the coming Atlantic storm
  season will take centre stage tomorrow as meteorologists at
  Colorado State University unveil their widely followed
  predictions.
  Earlier this week, AccuWeather suggested a normal to slightly
  above normal season was on the way with 12 to 15 named tropical
  storms forming in the Atlantic, with as many as six to eight
  growing to hurricane strength. The private forecaster said three to
  five would become major hurricanes.
  Three or four named
  
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• Bermuda insurance CUOs Adanio and Boylan leave Markel

  05-04-2018 03:29
  Markel and the CUOs of its property and casualty units in
  Bermuda have parted company, The Insurance
  Insider can reveal.
  According to sources, Lou Adanio has left his position as
  executive vice president and CUO for property.
  Meanwhile John Boylan departed his role as Markel's
  executive vice president and CUO for casualty on the island at the
  end of February.
  Reasons for the exits are not known at this stage, but sources
  suggested that the Virginia-based specialty insurer remains
  committed...
  
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• Judge revives Insurers' 9/11 lawsuit v Saudi Arabia

  05-04-2018 00:32
  A multi-billion dollar legal action pursued by insurers and
  victims of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks has been revived
  by a federal judge in New York.
  US District Judge George Daniels cited the 2016 Justice Against
  Sponsors of Terrorism Act in rejecting a request from the
  government of Saudi Arabia to dismiss the cases based on its
  sovereign immunity, in a ruling last week. Some of the cases have
  been pending for over 15 years.
  Daniels said the plaintiffs,...
  
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• Allianz adds Marsh aviation expert Pooley in New York

  05-04-2018 00:32
  Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) has picked up
  aviation specialist Nicholas Pooley from Marsh, naming him the
  aviation major risks product lead for North America.
  In addition to leading development of new products in the
  segment, New York-based Pooley leads a team of senior underwriters
  in serving the aviation segment, including airlines and the
  aerospace industry, AGCS said today. He reports to David Warfel,
  regional head of aviation, North America.
  At Marsh, Pooley was a senior
  
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