Insurance news

• Catalina confirms $410mn Arch legacy deal

  24-04-2018 18:58
  Catalina today announced it had assumed a portfolio of run-off
  US P&C liabilities from Arch Re, with net outstanding reserves
  of about $410mn.
  The Insurance Insiderfirst revealed in March that Arch had struck a legacy deal with
  the run-off acquirer on the transfer of around $400mn of reserves.The portfolio consists of discontinued program business issued
  by managing general agents across the US, written from 2002 to
  2017, as well as a book of discontinued construction defect
  business written
  
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• Asplin trial: DAS owed '10s of millions' by service firm

  24-04-2018 18:58
  Medico-legal report company MedReport ran up "tens of millions
  of pounds" of debts to Munich Re-owned insurer DAS, a court
  heard today.
  In a prosecution brought against former DAS chief executive Paul
  Asplin, former DAS UK non-executive director Leslie Perrin said he
  had raised concerns about accounting measures at the business in
  2008 after it became clear MedReport owed UK legal expenses insurer
  DAS large sums of money.
  "There were tens of millions of pounds outstanding. There
  was a number...
  
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• Do you know what to do if you get hacked?

  24-04-2018 17:34 via insuranceage.co.uk
  Learn all you need to know about cyber as the Insurance Age Hack Day takes over the website on 26 April.
  
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• IIG launches electrical contractors’ liability product

  24-04-2018 17:01 via insuranceage.co.uk
  New product added in response to requests from brokers.
  
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• Weyerhaeuser seeks $260mn formaldehyde judgment

  24-04-2018 16:19
  US timber giant Weyerhaeuser has filed a complaint at a Seattle
  court in a bid to force nine insurers to pay out up to $260mn in
  liability cover.
  The wood producer hopes to claw back money from its liability
  insurers after it set aside $290mn to remedy a poisonous coating
  used in its home construction joists.
  Weyerhaeuser initiated the legal action after its TJI joists
  were found to emit formaldehyde.
  According to a court document filed at a district court...
  
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• Two cat bonds upsize by more than 50%

  24-04-2018 16:19
  New cat bond issuances from Everest Re and Aspen Bermuda
  expanded by at least 50 percent over the course of marketing, as
  investor appetite remained strong.
  Aspen Bermuda's Kendall Re 2018-1 cat bond settled at
  $225mn, up 50 percent from an initial $150mn target. Everest
  Re's two Kilimanjaro Re cat bonds settled at $525mn, up 75
  percent on the original target size of $300mn.
  Both series of the Kilimanjaro Re notes provide Everest Re with
  annual aggregate industry loss protection...
  
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• Travelers grows core income despite $354mn Q1 cat loss

  24-04-2018 16:19
  Travelers posted a 10 percent increase in group Q1 core income
  to $678mn, despite $354mn in pre-tax losses from US storms and
  Californian mudslides.However, Q1 core income per diluted share of $2.46 missed
  analyst consensus of $2.68 per share, as compiled by MarketWatch.Underwriting income grew 22 percent to $258mn for the quarter,
  boosted by higher reserve releases year on year and what Travelers
  called a "record" level of Q1 net earned premium (NEP),
  which grew 6 percent to...
  
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• Syndicate 457 pegs rates at flat to 5% higher: Artmann

  24-04-2018 16:19
  Syndicate 457 is targeting top and bottom line growth of 10
  percent this year, aided by price increases and a rise in premium
  from recently added lines, according to Munich Re Syndicate Limited
  CEO Thomas Artmann.
  In an interview with this publication, Artmann said rates are
  currently on average between flat and up 5 percent year on year.
  Growth in the yacht and energy segments exceeds 5 percent and the
  various rate gains are already lifting the syndicate's bottom
  line,...
  
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• Reinsurance broking talent war intensifies

  24-04-2018 16:19
  Peter Stubbings and Jon Wood have become the latest in a slew of
  Guy Carpenter staff to leave the reinsurance broker for Aon
  Benfield.
  The departures continue a stream of defections that began when
  former Guy Carpenter Europe, Middle East and Africa CEO Nick
  Frankland announced his resignation in October 2016.
  Since Frankland joined Aon Benfield in April 2017 as UK CEO,
  five other senior Guy Carpenter figures have also jumped ship to
  the broker's key rival.
  Stubbings' and Wood...
  
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• Pressure builds in lead excess layers of US casualty

  24-04-2018 16:19
  There was further evidence at the RIMS conference in San Antonio
  last week of a transitional market emerging in US casualty
  insurance, with upwards pressure on rates starting to spread beyond
  headline hard pockets.
  Brokers and underwriters highlighted movement in the lead excess
  layers of general liability placements, particularly for large risk
  management accounts.
  Tony DeFelice, managing director for national casualty at Aon
  Risk Solutions, told The Insurance Insider that primary casualty
  laye
  
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• PPL extends to political risk

  24-04-2018 16:19
  The London market has placed the first political risk policy
  through electronic placement system Placing Platform Limited
  (PPL).
  Insurer XL Catlin said it had bound the risk, which was brokered
  by BPL Global.
  Paul Greensmith, UK country leader and director at XL
  Catlin's London market wholesale unit, said the launch of the
  platform was a "key step" in digitalising the London
  market.
  Last week accident and health (A&H) became thelatest class of business to go live on the platform....
  
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• Parry: ILS capital may be lost, not trapped

  24-04-2018 16:19
  Trapped ILS capital may turn out to be lost capital as claims from
  last year develop, according to QBE Re chief underwriting officer
  Jonathan Parry.
  The executive was among a group of industry experts discussing
  the retro market's reaction to 2017 losses at sister title
  Trading Risk's London ILS event.
  Kinesis CEO Darren Redhead noted that losses at some retro funds
  were already significantly higher than initial projections issued
  to investors last year.
  But in spite of extensive losses, success
  
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• Opinion: The robots are coming

  24-04-2018 16:19
  Have you watched the TV series Billions yet? If not, I
  urge you in the strongest terms to do so.
  The American television drama stars Paul Giamatti and Damian
  Lewis in a story loosely based on crusading federal prosecutor
  Preet Bharara and his legal battles in New York with hedge fund
  manager Steve Cohen of SAC Capital Advisors.
  It's a great insight into how the buy-side works - deftly
  showing the immense pressure and lavish wealth of that world.
  It...
  
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• Munich Re hires Arch to weigh mortgage risks

  24-04-2018 16:19
  Munich Re has retained Arch Credit Risk Services to help it
  evaluate mortgage credit and underwriting advisory services in
  connection with the Munich-based carrier's involvement in
  programs run by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
  The two government sponsored enterprises are among the largest
  guarantors of residential mortgages in the US.
  Arch Credit Risk is a Washington-based unit of Arch Capital that
  was set up last year. It takes advantage of mortgage underwriting
  and analytical expertise Arch gain
  
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• Lloyd's launches Brussels recruitment drive

  24-04-2018 16:19
  Lloyd's has begun to hire new staff for
  its new Brussels subsidiary.
  In a statement the market said it was
  seeking to fill finance, operations, compliance, human resources
  and underwriting positions.CFO John Parry said last year that the market would seek to
  employ "tens rather than hundreds" of staff in Brussels
  and that the headcount would include 60 staff currently employed
  across Europe via Lloyd's branches.
  Lloyd's Brussels, whose formal name is
  Lloyds Insurance Company SA, will have 19...
  
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• Leadenhall: ILS sector not fully tested in 2017

  24-04-2018 16:19
  While 2017 was a challenging year for the ILS market, it may not
  have been the year of "the great test", according to
  Leadenhall CEO Luca Albertini.
  Other major tests for the ILS market would be a $100bn single
  loss event, or a loss that was very close to a renewal date, he
  said last week at sister publication Trading
  Risk's ILS conference in London.
  However, Albertini suggested that reloading in the event of a
  single major loss would be...
  
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• Insurance CIOs remain bearish for 2018: GSAM

  24-04-2018 16:19
  Insurers are sceptical about the current investment outlook, with
  half of those polled by Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM)
  believing investment opportunities will get worse in the next 12
  months.
  In its seventh annual survey, GSAM quizzed 300 chief investment
  officers or equivalent across Asia Pacific, the Americas, and
  Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) in March this year. Of
  these, 118 came from a P&C carrier and 15 from reinsurers.
  Another 33 came from multi-line carriers, wit
  
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• Inflation worries rise among insurers: Goldman Sachs

  24-04-2018 16:19
  Insurers in the US have become more risk-averse when investing
  and now fear a 3 percent to 3.5 percent inflation rate, according
  to a study by Goldman Sachs' insurance asset management
  arm.
  "We definitely see a move towards conservatism," said
  Michael Siegel, the managing director of global insurance asset
  management for Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM).
  Siegel noted that the 300 insurance chief investment officers
  (CIOs) and chief financial officers surveyed were concerned about
  inflation,
  
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• How long can the legacy moment last?

  24-04-2018 16:19
  The legacy sector has seen surging deal volumes of late, but the
  major inflows of capital into the space look set to choke off
  returns, with the live market's depressed returns a cautionary
  tale for run-off acquirers.
  Zurich'slatest proposed disposal - a £1.6bn ($2.24bn) UK
  employers' liability portfolio - continues the deal momentum
  which has gathered pace in the legacy market in the last 18
  months.
  Since the end of June 2017, the running tally compiled by
  The Insurance...
  
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• Hive Aero MGA launched with $50mn capacity

  24-04-2018 16:19
  Hive Aero, the MGA specialising in aviation war business led by
  Bruce Carman, has launched with $50mn for any one aircraft.
  Capacity comes from Beazley, Arch, Chaucer and Dale. Hive was
  awarded coverholder status in December.
  Asfirst reported by The Insurance Insider ,
  former Atrium and Cathedral underwriter Carman will lead the MGA as
  chief underwriting officer. He is now recruiting for additional
  roles at the MGA.
  Carman is considered a veteran of aviation war business, having
  worked at...
  
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• Cat bond pipeline shows no sign of slowing down

  24-04-2018 16:19
  Cat bond launches are showing no sign of slowing down, with a
  further three deals with an initial combined size of $675mn being
  launched in the past week.
  Favourable pricing conditions in the cat bond market means the
  cover is becoming increasingly attractive to sponsors, sources told
  sister publication Trading Risk.
  Cat bond regulars Nationwide Mutual, Florida Citizens and USAA
  have all launched new cat bonds.
  Nationwide Mutual is seeking $300mn for its new Caelus Re cat
  bond, which will...
  
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• Brown & Brown beats on tax cuts and accounting changes

  24-04-2018 16:19
  Brown & Brown surpassed market expectations with adjusted
  first quarter earnings of $0.33 per share and a 5.7 percent organic
  revenue growth rate.
  But much of the gain stemmed from changes in accounting
  standards that the company adopted in the quarter, as well as the
  benefits of federal tax reforms that took effect this year. Without
  the accounting changes, the broker said late today that net income
  was $0.29 per share - in line with Wall Street expectations.
  Analysts had...
  
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• Argo moves shares to NYSE

  24-04-2018 16:19
  Argo Group is to transfer its listing to
  the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) from the Nasdaq Global Select
  Market.
  CEO Mark Watson said the move would allow
  the Bermudian-headquartered (re)insurer to reach a broader base of
  investors and build shareholder value.
  The transferral of the company's stock
  is expected to be effective on 7 May, and until it is complete Argo
  will continue to trade under its current ticker symbol AGII.
  Argo's subsidiary Argo Group US is also
  transferring...
  
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• AmTrust CEO Zyskind takes a 60% pay cut

  24-04-2018 16:19
  Embattled AmTrust hacked CEO Barry Zyskind's pay by more
  than half last year, reducing the value of the executive's
  total compensation to $1.98mn.
  By comparison, he received $13.94mn just two years earlier, in
  2015, the New York-based specialty insurer said late today in a
  regulatory filing. That included a $9.9mn cash incentive bonus.
  Zyskind, whose annual base salary has remained at $975,000 since
  2010, received no profit-based bonus after the carrier reported a
  pre-tax loss for last year, and
  
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• Is the talent pool drying up?

  24-04-2018 12:24
  Recruitment expert Stuart McKenna of HRC Recruitment explores the dearth of account handlers available to brokers.
  
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• The ABI credit hire GTA needs to better reflect today's vehicle technology

  24-04-2018 11:35
  Insurers and credit hire organisations need to work together to create a new general terms of agreement to better reflect today’s engines. That is the view of Europcar UK business development director James Roberts, who adds all parties will benefit if a gap can be bridged between the Association of British Insurers and today’s motoring technology.
  
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• Lloyd’s starts hiring for Brussels subsidiary

  24-04-2018 11:31
  Lloyd’s has started hiring staff for its Brussels subsidiary.
  
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• Aggregators eating into SME business – GlobalData

  24-04-2018 10:38
  Research shows brokers are adapting to digital changes.
  
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• Primassure moves from SSP and Open GI to Applied

  24-04-2018 10:05
  The Southend broker made the move following an acquisition which left it running on two systems.
  
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• Roundtable: Where next for personal injury reform?

  24-04-2018 07:00
  Discount rate and whiplash reforms are going through parliament. Will the outcome be beneficial to all?
  
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