Reinsurance News
Apollo hires Rob Johnston as head of marine
28th January 2021
Specialist re/insurer and Lloyd's syndicate Apollo has appointed Rob Johnston as head of marine and energy liability at Apollo Syndicate 1969. He’s set to join Apollo in April and will report to Simon Mason, head of marine and energy. Johnston joins Apollo from MS Amlin, where he managed several portfolios since 2014 ... Read the full article
Insurtech Foxquilt partners with Munich Re subsidiary
28th January 2021
Insurtech Foxquilt has partnered with Munich Re subsidiary Digital Partners on end-to-end insurance products and programs for small businesses. This Digital Partners collaboration provides the Foxquilt team with the autonomy and capabilities to design products and underwriting and rating algorithms. Foxquilt's Foxden underwriting platform is comprised of data-layered, micro-service architecture. Each of its ... Read the full article
ACORD adds five to Board of Directors
28th January 2021
International standards body ACORD has announced that its Board of Directors will be chaired by Kirk Behrens with Robert Bernard Kelly serving as Vice-Chair, along with five new Directors. Stephen Barnham, Chief Information Officer at MetLife Asia has been added to the board. He joined MetLife in June 2017 as the ... Read the full article
Swiss Re’s Mumenthaler confident in 2050 net zero target
27th January 2021
Swiss Re CEO Christian Mumenthaler has said he has “high hopes” that companies in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders can reach their target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Speaking in an interview with CNBC, Mumenthaler explained that the hardest challenge of the net zero ... Read the full article
Ryan Specialty names Tom Clark EVP
27th January 2021
International specialty insurer Ryan Specialty Group has announced the appointment of Tom Clark as an executive vice president. Clark joins with over 33 years' of industry experience having recently served as president of Nationwide E&S / Specialty. He will now work to develop Ryan Speciality's trading relationships with both retail brokers and ... Read the full article
Olympics cancellation loss could be “mind-blowingly large”, say reports
27th January 2021
Global insurers and reinsurers are facing a loss of up to as much as $3 billion if the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics are cancelled, according to reports. At a loss of between $2 billion - $3 billion, cancellation of the event would drive the largest ever claim in the global event cancellation ... Read the full article
Aon / WTW unveil new Executive Committee for combined entity
27th January 2021
Ahead of the proposed combination of global insurance and reinsurance brokerages, Aon and Willis Towers Watson (WTW), the companies have announced the new leadership team, led by Greg Case as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). It was confirmed in March of 2020 that the pair had reached an agreement to combine ... Read the full article
December cat losses below average, says Jefferies
27th January 2021
Analysts at Jefferies have estimated that re/insurance industry losses from catastrophes were 16% below the long-term average in December 2020. Amongst these losses, winter weather and severe storms featured as the most prominent perils, accounting for 71% of the total insured losses. Relative to prior years, December wildfire losses were lower, especially ... Read the full article
Insurers paid out, reserved $7.7bn in Louisiana from Laura, Delta & Zeta
27th January 2021
Hurricanes Laura, Delta and Zeta promoted insurers to pay or reserve $7.7 billion on claims in Louisiana throughout 2020, according to the state’s insurance commissioner Jim Donelon. Policyholders are reported to have filed 290,847 claims of all types from the three storms. Of those, 56% were closed with payment as of December ... Read the full article
Old Mutual to finalise BI claims
27th January 2021
South African financial services group Old Mutual has announced to its shareholders that it will proceed in the finalisation of all outstanding valid claims for business interruption for affected customers. Old Mutual offers a broad spectrum of financial solutions to retail and corporate customers across market segments in 14 countries. Whether or ... Read the full article
Strategic Risk Solutions expands into Switzerland
27th January 2021
Strategic Risk Solutions, a provider of insurance management and consulting services, has expanded into Switzerland with the appointment of three Managing Directors for the country. Markus Beck, Georg Balint and Maria Sandoval have all been appointed to key positions in the company's Swiss office, which will be located in Zurich. Beck joins ... Read the full article
Allstate agrees to sell life insurance arm to Blackstone for $2.8bn
27th January 2021
U.S. primary insurance carrier, The Allstate Corporation, has reached an agreement to sell Allstate Life Insurance Company (ALIC) and certain subsidiaries to entities managed by private equity investment giant, Blackstone, for $2.8 billion. Currently, ALIC holds around 80%, or $23 billion of Allstate's life and annuity reserves and in 2019, generated ... Read the full article
Howden records organic growth of 6% in 2020
27th January 2021
International insurance broker Howden has recorded revenue of £777 million in 2020, representing an increase of 7% compared with the previous year, or 6% on an organic growth basis. Howden attributed the growth to strong performance across all of its business units, despite the “extraordinary market conditions” that the industry faced ... Read the full article
W. R. Berkley posts strong Q4, net income hits $312mn
27th January 2021
Insurance holding firm W. R. Berkley recorded an all-time record net income of $312.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, driven by a 9% growth in gross premiums written. Net investment income grew 32%, despite a defensive position in fixed-maturity securities, where the company maintains a relatively short duration and ... Read the full article
RenRe falls to Q4 operating loss; expects increased profitability
27th January 2021
Bermuda-based reinsurance company, RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (RenRe), has reported an operating and underwriting loss for the fourth-quarter of 2020 amid losses from both weather-related events and the COVID-19 pandemic. For the final quarter of 2020, RenRe has reported net income of $189.9 million, compared to $33.8 million for the same period ... Read the full article