Insurance news

• Hackers focus on cloud-based email systems: Beazley

  16-04-2018 23:27
  Cyber criminals increasingly target cloud-based email systems
  used by businesses, especially Microsoft's Outlook, to gain
  access to sensitive data, according to specialist insurer
  Beazley.
  A "large majority" of hacked email cases the Beazley
  Breach Response (BBR) group worked on in this year's first
  quarter involved Microsoft's Office 365, a cloud-based service
  which includes the Outlook email system, London-based insurer said
  today in a report.
  Beazley reported a "sharp increase" in attacks aga
  
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• China's Xiang charged with taking bribes: Reports

  16-04-2018 23:27
  China's former top insurance regulator Xiang Junbo faces
  charges of corruption and bribery, according to reports from
  Beijing.
  Authorities in China ousted Xiang as head of the former China
  Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) a year ago. Last month, the
  agency was merged with the national banking regulator.
  Xiang was subsequently ejected from the ruling Communist Party
  last year and became a focal point of President Xi Jinping's
  campaign against corruption that included new restrictions on
  ove
  
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• USAIG on risk for $50mn NYC helicopter crash

  16-04-2018 20:20
  Berkshire Hathaway-backed aviation pool United States Aircraft
  Insurance Group (USAIG) leads the insurance policy for the
  helicopter that crashed into New York's East River last month,
  killing five passengers, The Insurance
  Insider can reveal.
  The aviation policy set to pay out for hull and liability
  damages arising from the crash is held by Liberty Helicopters and
  has a $50mn limit, this publication understands.
  Multiple underwriting sources said the policy would be totalled
  and warned costs co
  
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• HWI International mints Hong Kong MGA

  16-04-2018 20:20
  HWI International Group has launched a Hong Kong MGA with former
  Nexus Asia CEO Jeremy Austen at the helm.
  The group said the new business, NuVu Underwriting Hong Kong,
  will go live on 1 July, subject to regulatory approval. It will
  focus on property, marine, specie, fine art, personal accident and
  terrorism within Asia.
  The move comes after HWI International set up an MGA in Madrid
  under the NuVu brand. The parent company said the launches were
  "part of plans...
  
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• Allianz sells 33% of China unit to JD.com for $85mn

  16-04-2018 20:20
  Allianz SE has sold a 33 percent stake in its Allianz China unit
  to e-commerce giant JD.com, according to news reports.
  The 536.6mn yuan ($85.6mn) investment remains subject to
  approval from the China Banking Regulatory Commission, Reuters said
  today.
  If approved and completed, the deal will make JD.com the second
  largest shareholder in Allianz China as the two companies prepare
  to create a joint venture focused on digital insurance in China,
  S&P Global said, citing a regulatory filing.
  JD.c
  
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• Lockton names Taiym chief digital officer

  16-04-2018 16:46
  Lockton has hired Said Taiym as executive vice president and
  chief digital officer, The Insurance
  Insider can reveal.
  The Kansas City, Missouri-based retail broker said Taiym will
  focus on digital innovation and new technologies to help the firm
  and its associates deliver "best-in-class" strategic risk
  solutions to clients.
  The chief digital officer position is a new global role and
  Taiym will report to president and CEO Ron Lockton.
  Taiym was most recently senior vice president and chief
  inform
  
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• Liberty Specialty Markets taps AIG for France manager

  16-04-2018 16:46
  Liberty Specialty Markets (LSM) has appointed Richard Deguettes
  as general manager for France in the latest of a series of
  appointments in Paris.
  Deguettes was deputy director general at AIG France for the past
  two years and has 25 years' experience in insurance. He will
  report to head of Europe Kadidja Sinz when he joins LSM next
  month.
  The appointment is the latest development in LSM's plan to
  build up its continental European workforce. Deguettes will lead a
  staff of...
  
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• Cyber underwriter Envelop Risk launches

  16-04-2018 16:46
  Envelop Risk, a data analytics-led underwriting platform for
  cyber (re)insurance products, has launched today under the
  leadership of Jonathan Spry.
  The start-up uses an MGA-type model but will also partner with
  cyber security firms to create products which fill gaps in
  currently available cyber coverage.
  Envelop Risk, which has closed an initial seed funding round,
  said it has a proprietary, artificial intelligence-based simulation
  model that allows it to better evaluate cyber exposure and make
  
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• Axis launches cyber centre of excellence

  16-04-2018 16:46
  Axis has unveiled a cyber "centre of excellence" aimed
  at bringing greater clarity and understanding of the exposure and
  where it is included or excluded across the multiple lines of
  business the carrier underwrites.
  Led by the Bermudian's global head of cyber, Dan Trueman,
  the unit will provide a broad range of commercial insurance
  protection and mitigation solutions for tangible and intangible
  assets in relation to cyber threats and attacks.
  It will also give insurance buyers access to risk as
  
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• InsurTech Konsileo raises £2.7mn in VC funding

  16-04-2018 13:07
  Commercial insurance broker Konsileo has raised £2.7mn
  ($3.9mn) in a fundraising round led by Committed Capital.
  Konsileo uses proprietary software that allows brokers to place
  commercial lines business from any location, with reduced
  administrative costs.
  The broker said the investment will be used to expand its
  workforce.
  Committed Capital CEO Steve Harris said: "We believe that
  the commercial insurance market is ripe for disruption.
  "Konsileo's plan to use technology to transform the
  ec
  
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• Alternative reinsurance capital rose 10% in 2017: Aon Benfield

  16-04-2018 13:07
  Alternative capital in the global reinsurance market increased
  by 10 percent in 2017, according to Aon Benfield's latest
  market outlook report.
  Capital markets showed a strong appetite for insurance risk
  despite natural catastrophe losses for the year of $136bn.
  Alternative capital in the sector increased to $89bn, up from
  $81bn in 2016, driving a slight 1.7 percent uptick in total
  reinsurance capital.
  Meanwhile, traditional capital backing for the sector increased
  by a marginal 0.4 percent to $
  
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• Business leaders ‘turning their backs on Europe’

  16-04-2018 13:04
  UK business leaders have turned their backs on Europe as political uncertainty and regulatory concerns see decision-makers’ focus on the domestic market, according to survey findings.
  
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• SEIB posts profit and revenue growth for 2017

  16-04-2018 13:00
  Firm saw commission income rise in all areas.
  
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• Car insurance prices fall for first time since 2014 amid whiplash crackdown

  16-04-2018 12:37
  UK average in the first three months of 2018 was £768, with men still paying more than womenCar insurance prices in the UK have recorded their first year-on-year fall since 2014, following reforms to whiplash payouts and a review of compensation paid to victims of motor accidents.According to comparison site Confused.com, the average premium in the first three months of 2018 was £768, down by 2%, or £13, on the same period last year. It said prices peaked in the last quarter of
  
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• SSP confirms system disruption in texts to brokers

  16-04-2018 11:19
  Problems follow the news that the software provider has increased its fees by 5.5%.
  
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• Spring storms buffet central US

  16-04-2018 10:35
  The central US was hit by a slew of bad weather over the
  weekend, with record snowstorms and tornadoes leaving thousands
  without power and disrupting air travel.
  Tornadoes struck in Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri and Texas,
  according to local media reports. In Arkansas a tornado damaged 160
  buildings and injured four people, NBC news said.
  Michigan and Wisconsin reported record snowfall. About 310,000
  homes and businesses were left without power in Michigan after ice
  storms and high winds pulled
  
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• Opinion: The Hanover's $1bn

  16-04-2018 10:35
  What would you do with $1bn?
  It sounds like a fanciful question from a very generous game
  show host, but it's actually a pressing one for The Hanover at
  the moment.
  Often with M&A deals, the rationale for the deal and the
  seller's plans for the proceeds are pretty obvious. But this
  isn't really the case for The Hanover's pending circa $1bn
  sale of its Lloyd's business Chaucer.
  As we have written before, it's a great time
  to be a...
  
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• Analytics specialist PGM opens Asia branch

  16-04-2018 10:35
  Analytics consulting firm PGM Solutions is to expand into Asia
  after hiring Simon Hermant, The Insurance
  Insider can reveal.
  Set up by actuaries and tech developers in Paris in 2016, the
  risk management specialist currently provides cat modelling,
  pricing and actuarial products for insurers across Europe.
  The firm is now looking to develop in the Asian market, and has
  recently set up a representative office in Hong Kong to be led by
  Hermant. He joins co-founders William Jouot and Nicolas...
  
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• Car insurance premiums fall for third quarter in a row

  16-04-2018 10:14
  Research reveals prices now lower than a year ago.
  
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• Insurtech start-up Konsileo secures £2.7m in funding

  16-04-2018 09:00
  John Warburton's InsurTech start-up Konsileo is targeting 25 brokers after receiving funding.
  
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• Analysis: Leisure market - At your leisure

  16-04-2018 07:00
  Brexit may raise the prospect of more expensive holidays abroad and longer waits at borders. If fewer European city breaks beckon, could there also be an upside in spending more time in England’s green and pleasant land?
  
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