Insurance news

• Gallagher buys Houston broker that serves truckers

  10-04-2018 23:05
  AJ Gallagher acquired Integrity Transportation Insurance Agency,
  a retail property and casualty (P&C) broker serving Texas-based
  transportation clients, primarily long-haul truckers.
  The terms of the transaction were not disclosed by the
  companies.
  Houston-based Integrity Transportation Insurance Agency has
  approximately 10 employees.
  AJ Gallagher executives last month said the broker could spend
  as much as $1bn this year on buying smaller agencies, and already
  has as much as $400mn on hand
  
  Read more

• CapSpecialty launches online excess casualty platform

  10-04-2018 23:05
  US specialty insurer CapSpecialty has unveiled a cloud-based
  platform that it says vastly streamlines the end-to-end submission
  and underwriting process for buying excess casualty coverage.
  According to the carrier's head of professional liability
  and small commercial P&C, Adam Sills, the DragonX platform has
  been designed "not just for brokers but with
  brokers".
  He told The Insurance Insider that the
  initiative initially addresses frictional areas for brokers when
  they are looking to place
  
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• White Mountains shares jump on $438mn buyback plan

  10-04-2018 20:09
  Investors swarmed to buy White Mountains shares today, pushing
  the price up almost 6.7 percent in early afternoon trading after
  the company said it would spend up to $437.5mn to repurchase common
  stock.
  The financial services holding company based in Hanover, New
  Hampshire will offer stockholders between $825 and $875 per share
  under a modified Dutch auction process. The buyback began today and
  is set to end on 7 May.
  The company's shares closed at $806.17 per share on the...
  
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• Sirius gears up for $2bn+ IPO in London

  10-04-2018 20:09
  Sirius expects to undergo an ownership shake-up during 2018, with a
  planned second-half London initial public offering (IPO) set to
  follow current efforts to secure a minority buy-in from two private
  equity houses.
  In an interview with The Insurance
  Insider, Sirius CEO Allan Waters confirmed that the
  (re)insurer - which has shareholder equity of $1.92bn - was looking
  at the two different changes in its investor base.
  However, he declined to comment on persistent investment banking
  rumours that c
  
  Read more

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• Securis SPA records 180% combined ratio

  10-04-2018 17:08
  Securis-backed Special Purpose Arrangement (SPA) 6129 made a loss
  of £31.4mn ($44.2mn) in 2017 following the year's major
  catastrophe losses, as its combined ratio spiked to 180.4 percent.
  This was the highest combined ratio of the three ILS-backed
  Lloyd's syndicates and was up from 114.1 percent in the
  previous year.
  Nephila's Syndicate 2357 and the Arcus syndicate backed by
  Credit Suisse posted combined ratios of 167 percent and 111.7
  percent, respectively.
  Both the Securis vehicle and N
  
  Read more

• Rate pessimism prevails in London market

  10-04-2018 17:08
  London market executives have expressed disappointment at the
  lacklustre rate rises underwriters have been able to achieve
  following the 2017 catastrophes, as continued overcapacity has
  served to drown out hard market sentiment.
  Executives canvassed by The Insurance
  Insider have expressed frustration at the muted rate
  increases seen at the 1 April renewal, which in some instances were
  less than those achieved at 1 January.
  Many active underwriters said they were able to achieve an
  average rate i
  
  Read more

• Opinion: More pain to come?

  10-04-2018 17:08
  MS Amlin is a name which currently looms large in the minds of
  Lloyd's underwriters.
  Once the poster child of the Lloyd's market, its fall from
  grace has been spectacular.
  Its 2017 combined ratio of 137 percent was 23 points worse than
  the Lloyd's market average following a spike in catastrophe
  claims and a bout of reserve strengthening. This triggered a
  group-wide review of underperforming lines and a targeted 10
  percent reduction in full-time headcount.
  MS Amlin's annus horribilis may...
  
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• Names-backed syndicates make 9.3% return for 2015 YoA

  10-04-2018 17:08
  Lloyd's Names enjoyed an average 9.3 percent return on
  capacity from non-aligned syndicates for the 2015 year of account
  (YoA), however their run of good returns looks set to come to an
  end for the coming YoAs.
  The average result for the 2015 YoA, which
  closed on 31 December 2017, was a 2.9-point deterioration on the
  2014 result.
  For Lloyd's Names, the 2015 YoA also brought to an end a
  three-year run of cheques which were on average equivalent to...
  
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• Insurance chiefs pledge to tackle 31.2% gender pay gap

  10-04-2018 17:08
  The insurance sector has significantly lagged behind other UK
  industries in its average median gender pay gap, with the specialty
  insurance sector reporting a far greater pay difference than its
  composite and retail counterparts.
  Analysis by The Insurance
  Insider shows that insurance sector's average
  median gender pay gap is 31.2 percent, worse than the financial and
  insurance sector as a whole, which pays men 22.2 percent more on a
  median hourly pay basis. The national average median pay gap fo
  
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• Heritage hires Johns as Zephyr hurricane carrier chief

  10-04-2018 17:08
  Florida's Heritage Insurance has appointed Tim Johns as
  president and CEO of Hawaiian residential hurricane insurer Zephyr
  Insurance Company.
  Johns replaces outgoing president and CEO Richard Toyama, who is
  retiring after 15 years in leadership roles at Zephyr.
  Heritage has hired Johns from health insurer Hawaii Medical
  Service Association, where he was chief consumer officer for seven
  years. Prior to this, Johns was COO of the estate of Hawaiian
  businessman and politician Samuel Mills Damon.
  He
  
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• Aspen latest reinsurer to seek cat bond cover

  10-04-2018 17:08
  Aspen Bermuda has returned to the cat bond market for the first
  time since the 2008 financial crisis, as it seeks to raise $150mn
  to cover US and European catastrophe risk, sister publication
  Trading Risk has reported.
  The deal joins a number of other ILS issuances in the pipeline
  in a busy second-quarter prelude to the hurricane season.
  Other deals currently being marketed include one for Floridian
  carrier UPC, a new Pelican Re bond for Louisiana Citizens, one from
  American...
  
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• FCA to look at dual pricing

  10-04-2018 16:33
  Regulator details the need for firms to "further improve both competition and their standards of treatment for existing customers" in its Business Plan for 2018/19.
  
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• Worldwide Facilities lands program manager Sullivan

  10-04-2018 14:13
  US wholesale insurance broker Worldwide Facilities has struck
  its second acquisition within the past week with an agreement to
  buy privately held Gerald J Sullivan.The Los Angeles-based target is an insurance program manager,
  MGA and wholesale broker, and trades as Sullivan. It was founded by
  chairman Jerry Sullivan in 1981.Worldwide Facilities said the two sides have entered into a
  letter of intent for the acquisition and expect to close the deal
  within the next 30 days.News of...
  
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• White Mountains to spend up to $438mn in stock 'self-tender'

  10-04-2018 14:13
  White Mountains plans to spend as much as $438mn buying back up to
  500,000 of common stock, the company has announced.
  The financial services holding company will offer between $825
  and $875 per share for the stock, taking the maximum possible
  outlay on the buy-back to $437.5mn.
  The company's shares closed at $806.17 per share on the New
  York Stock Exchange last night, putting the premium on offer at
  between 2.3 percent and 8.5 percent.
  The 'self-tender' will begin today...
  
  Read more

• Swiss Re: 2017 worst ever year for cat losses

  10-04-2018 14:13
  Global insured losses from catastrophes reached $144bn in 2017,
  the highest-ever recorded in a single year, according to Swiss
  Re's latest Sigma report.
  The total is a 6 percent increase on the December estimate of
  $136bn,which had not incorporated that month's Californian wildfire
  events.It is also significantly more than the previous ten-year average
  figure of $58bn, and 2016's figure of $56bn.
  Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria (HIM) accounted for $92bn in
  insured losses, making 2017 the secon
  
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• Sompo International hires Qatar Re's Cove

  10-04-2018 14:13
  Sompo International has picked the Qatar Re executive Patrick
  Cove as head of global aviation reinsurance, the company has
  said.
  Cove will take over from Tim Griffiths, who has left the
  company.
  He will work from the carrier's Zurich office.
  Cove will run the carriers global airline hull, aviation
  liability, product liability and general aviation lines and will
  report to Adrian Poxon, executive vice president of global
  speciality reinsurance.
  At Qatar Re Cox was most recently head of aviation &a
  
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• Beecher Carlson makes Siech CEO as Denton leaves

  10-04-2018 14:13
  US broker Beecher Carlson has appointed Joseph Siech as CEO and
  B. Scott Davis as COO.
  Siech takes over from Steve Denton, who was CEO for 14
  years.
  The broker said Denton has left the company to pursue other
  opportunities. Davis' role is a new one.
  Siech will be responsible for client services and growth
  initiatives, while Davis will oversee operational functions, as
  well as continuing in his former role as president of casualty and
  property.
  Davis has worked for...
  
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• Beazley names Munich duo as broker relations, treaty leaders

  10-04-2018 14:13
  Beazley has promoted Andreas Bergler to head broker relations in
  continental Europe, with his colleague Martin Fricke taking as over
  as head of treaty underwriting in Munich.
  Bergler joined Beazley in 2008 and was head of Beazley's
  office in Munich until March.
  He started his career at Munich Re before moving to New Re and
  later Aon Benfield.
  Bergler will report to Will Roscoe, head of broker relations for
  the UK and Europe at Beazley.
  Roscoe said: "European growth is...
  
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• SSP confirms 5.5% price increase

  10-04-2018 13:01
  Brokers angry at the rises which SSP blamed on an “unprecedented quantity” of regulatory change including GDPR.
  
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• Regional review: York

  10-04-2018 13:01
  Future industry in a historic city: York is building a vibrant new economy and, as brokers in the region tell Insurance Age, the outlook is bright
  
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• Blog: Commoditisation of cargo insurance

  10-04-2018 11:39 via insuranceage.co.uk
  Having found Angela McCluskie’s blog on marine cargo insurance interesting and thought-provoking, John Potter shares his thoughts on how the market may develop.
  
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• US Exim Bank buys $1bn reinsurance programme

  10-04-2018 11:11
  XL Catlin, Liberty Specialty Markets and Everest are the leaders
  on a $1bn reinsurance programme for the Export-Import Bank of the
  United States (Exim).
  The programme, which was brokered by Aon Benfield, provides $1bn
  of reinsurance coverage for a significant portion of Exim's
  commercial aircraft financing portfolio.
  A group of 10 other unnamed reinsurers complete the
  programme.
  The transaction is said to be the largest public-private
  risk-sharing arrangement for a US government credit agency, a
  
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• Surety carrier shares drop on PMI price cuts

  10-04-2018 11:11
  Surety carriers' shares dropped today after MGIC Investment
  Corporation said it planned a sharp cut in rates on its private
  mortgage insurance (PMI) products.
  The planned cuts prompted a selloff in MGIC shares as well as
  those of rival PMI providers, including Essent Group, Radian Group
  and NMI Holdings, with losses ranging from nearly 16 percent to
  over 22 percent in New York trading.
  Other players in the market, such as Arch Capital, were less
  affected by the news. Arch...
  
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• Selective posts cat-loss setback ahead of Q1 results

  10-04-2018 11:11
  Selective Insurance Group recorded $26mn in net pre-tax catastrophe
  losses in the first quarter, mainly from an early January blizzard
  that hit the US Northeast and several Nor'easters that struck
  the region last month.
  In addition, Selective said it had higher-than-expected non-cat
  property losses for the period because of freezing weather and a
  large number of severe fire losses. In all, the Branchville, New
  Jersey-based company said property losses were $33mn over
  expectations.
  The losses wil
  
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• RKH Specialty recruits JLT Re's Beatty as Asia CEO

  10-04-2018 11:11
  Stuart Beatty is to move to RKH Specialty as Asia Pacific CEO,
  the Hyperion-owned broker said.
  Beatty was previously Asia Pacific CEO at JLT Re. Before
  starting at JLT Re in 2011, Beatty worked as a managing director at
  Aon Benfield in Singapore.
  The role is a new one at RKH, with the broking house's
  Singapore CEO Karly Shaw previously reporting straight into
  London.
  RKH said a focus of Beatty's job will be to expand the
  firm's specialty capabilities in...
  
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• PRA funding needs to ease in current financial year

  10-04-2018 11:11
  The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) said its annual funding
  requirement will fall by 9 percent to £244.6mn ($344.5mn) in
  its 2018/2019 financial year as an end to the regulator's own
  set-up costs more than offsets an increase in Brexit-related
  expenses.
  EU withdrawal fees will cost £8.3mn, up by 54 percent
  year-on-year, while transition costs related to the establishment
  of the PRA will be zero, compared with £14.7mn last year.
  In a consultation on fees and levies release
  
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• Opinion: Leader of the pack

  10-04-2018 11:11
  Chubb chairman and CEO Evan Greenberg is known for not pulling
  punches in his annual letter to shareholders.
  In 2016, he put carriers in his cross-hairs, accusing his peers
  of"simply gambling" on the benign loss environment to
  make money.
  Last year he berated brokers for exhibiting"abusive behaviour", accusing them of enriching
  themselves through excessive commissions at the expense of their
  customers and underwriters.
  This year, alongside giving theNational Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) a kick
  
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• Neon formalises contingency offer with Cooke hire

  10-04-2018 11:11
  Neon has solidified its contingency market offering by
  recruiting Jeremy Cooke, the head of contingency at Barents Re
  Reinsurance Company, to write the line.
  Neon previously wrote contingency business on an ad hoc
  basis.
  Neon chief underwriting officer Darren Lednor said: "We
  have made strong progress in consolidating our existing portfolio
  and this has given us an excellent platform from which to expand
  into new lines."
  Before leading the Barents Re contingency team, Cooke held
  underwriting rol
  
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• Former Zurich UK casualty head Kitchen moves to RSA

  10-04-2018 11:11
  Nick Kitchen, who heads small and medium-sized enterprise and
  package insurance for Zurich in the UK, has stepped down from the
  carrier to join RSA, The Insurance
  Insider understands.
  Kitchen has held his current position at Zurich since June, and
  before that was leader of commercial broker casualty, specialty and
  underwriting business partner operations within the Swiss
  carrier's general insurance business in London.
  He took that role after moving from Birmingham, where he was
  head of commercia
  
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• Former R&Q CEO-designate Booth to take helm at Darag

  10-04-2018 11:11
  Tom Booth, former CFO at Randall & Quilter (R&Q), has
  been lined up to become the next CEO of Darag, according to
  sources.
  He is understood to be on gardening leave at R&Q until the
  end of June.
  Booth had been CFO and CEO-designate of R&Q before he
  resigned
  as a director in January.
  Deputy chairman Alan Quilter returned to the finance role, but no
  successor has been named for Ken Randall, from whom Booth had been
  slated to take...
  
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• FCA expects annual cost of Brexit work to double to £5mn

  10-04-2018 11:11
  The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) pegged its annual funding
  requirement (AFR) at £543.9mn ($766.1mn) as it announced its
  business plan for the2018 to 2019 financial year.The AFR is 3.2 percent higher than last year and comes amid an
  anticipated doubling of the cost of the regulator's
  Brexit-related work to £5mn.
  In the report FCA CEO Andrew Bailey said the regulator's
  Brexit workload has affected how much it can take on elsewhere and
  made those other priority areas subject...
  
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• FCA eases wholesale broking report timeframe

  10-04-2018 11:11
  The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has indicated the interim
  findings of its wholesale broking review may come later than
  expected.
  The regulator had in November said it would publish the findings
  in the autumn, but in its business plan for the 2018/19 financial
  year today it promised to deliver these by the end of the year.
  It added: "This report will set out our analysis and
  preliminary conclusions, and any potential solutions to address
  identified concerns."
  The potential delay comes...
  
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• Energy market braced for Papua New Guinea loss

  10-04-2018 11:11
  The downstream energy market is staring down the barrel of a
  loss that could run to hundreds of millions of dollars after an
  earthquake in Papua New Guinea impacted a major energy project,
  The Insurance Insider understands.
  Sources have talked about an economic loss to the project of as
  much as $1bn from the quake, with the QBE-led commercial market
  cover set to be impacted along with ExxonMobil's captive
  insurer.
  The news comes after The Insurance
  Insiderreported last week...
  
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• D&O pricing still lags behind claims trends: AM Best

  10-04-2018 11:11
  Claims frequency involving directors-and-officers (D&O)
  liability coverage rose in 2017, but that trend has not led to
  firming prices, according to AM Best.
  While direct premiums written for D&O came in flat, the
  direct loss and defense and cost-containment ratio (DCC)
  deteriorated 11.6 points - to 77.2 from 65.6 - the largest decay
  experienced by US property and casualty carriers since the D&O
  supplement was first filed in 2011, AM Best said in a report.
  Citing broker Arthur J Galla
  
  Read more

• Cost of terrorism coverage will likely rise: Marsh

  10-04-2018 11:11
  Even though capacity remains strong, pricing for terrorism
  insurance may jump as the cost of coverage in general will increase
  because of catastrophe losses last year, predicts a study issued
  today by Marsh.
  The broker noted in its report that year-over-year pricing
  changes in January for a majority of reinsurance program renewals
  that included terrorism coverage "averaged flat to an increase
  of 10 percent on a risk-adjusted basis".
  The report was compiled by Marsh's property practice along
  with
  
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• Charman gains Sompo retail reins

  10-04-2018 11:11
  Sompo Holdings has handed all its international retail
  operations to John Charman's Sompo International, the Japanese
  parent company said today.
  The Sompo International chairman and CEO will lead a new retail
  executive team that will oversee all retail businesses outside
  Japan.
  The other executives appointed to the Sompo International retail
  committee include Nigel Frudd, chief strategy officer of the
  Bermudian insurer and Recai Dalas, CEO of Sompo Japan Sigora, a
  Turkish Sompo subsidiary.
  Group
  
  Read more

• Beazley's Horton to replace Aubert as LMG chair

  10-04-2018 11:11
  Beazley CEO Andrew Horton is to take over as chairman of the
  London Market Group (LMG) in May, replacing Willis Towers Watson
  Great Britain head Nicolas Aubert.
  The trade association brings together representatives of the
  Lloyd's market, the London company market and the insurance
  broking community.
  The body has a crucial role coordinating the London market
  modernisation effort, known as the Target Operating Model
  (Tom).
  Aubert's departure will be followed by that of LMG CEO
  Christopher Beazley,
  
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• AmTrust International hires Garner as CFO

  10-04-2018 11:11
  Scot Garner, head of strategy and innovation for Genworth
  Financial's mortgage insurance business in Australia, has
  agreed to join AmTrust International as CFO.
  Garner replaces Janice Hamilton, who The Insurance
  Insider revealed wasleaving the firm in January.While at Genworth Financial, Garner led a major change
  initiative to drive execution against the company's business
  strategy and to help deliver an enhanced product offering.
  Before Garner's effort in that regard he was the CFO and
  director
  
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• AmTrust committee sought 43% sweetener on first offer

  10-04-2018 11:11
  A special committee established to assess the Stone Point
  Capital-backed management buyout offer for AmTrust had argued for a
  price as much as 43 percent higher than the bidders'
  $12.25-per-share January proposal before the parties settled on a
  sweetener of roughly 10 percent.
  The move was revealed in a proxy statement AmTrust filed today
  with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
  The committee was formed after AmTrust chairman and CEO, Barry
  Zyskind, and other members of the Karfunkel-Zyskind
  
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• AIR teams with RenRe to build extreme liability model

  10-04-2018 11:11
  Catastrophe modeller AIR Worldwide and RenaissanceRe have joined
  forces to develop a probabilistic model for extreme liability
  events and enhance the understanding of long-tail risks.
  AIR will build portfolio-specific casualty loss predictions
  based on its exposure management application called Arium.
  Arium uses a scenario-based loss assessment framework to
  estimate loss potential based on both historic events and emerging
  risks under simulated scenarios.
  "Incorporating third-party expertise fro
  
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• AFL appoints JLT's Bines as chief commercial officer

  10-04-2018 11:11
  AFL, a broker backed by former Cooper Gay CEO Toby Esser, has
  recruited Jonathan Bines as chief commercial officer.
  Bines joins from JLT, where he was a specialty property &
  casualty senior partner.
  Bines previously worked at Marsh and Integro, where he was head
  of its UK multinational practice.
  In a statement Esser said Bines will "assist across all
  operations at AFL, with a focus on broking production, strategy and
  efficiency".
  AFL CEO Bob Finch added: "As one of the...
  
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• Index Ventures backs French health insurance start-up

  10-04-2018 07:30
  Venture capital firm leads €23m fundraising round for Alan
  
  Read more

• Blog: Not taking hands off the wheel just yet

  10-04-2018 07:00
  UK laws, roads and infrastructure are getting ready for self-driving cars but motorists remain reluctant to adopt this technology, points out Simon Walker, group CEO of First Central.
  
  Read more

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