Reinsurance News
Life business a competitive boost for European reinsurers: Fitch
18th February 2020
Analysts at Fitch Ratings have said that the largest European reinsurers – Munich Re, Swiss Re, Hannover Re, and SCOR – benefit from a competitive advantage thanks to their leading positions in the life and health markets. Fitch noted that the life and health reinsurance market is characterised by an oligopolistic ... Read the full article
Insurtech Concirrus secures further $20mn of funding
18th February 2020
London-based marine and automotive insurtech firm Concirrus has secured $20 million in a Series B funding round led by AlbionVC. The funding also included participation from current investors IQ Capital, EOS Venture Partners and several angel investors. The investment will help to support the continued development of Concirrus’ behavioural-based underwriting platform, Quest. Quest ... Read the full article
Bulgaria’s EIG Re seeks regulatory approval for new policies
18th February 2020
Bulgarian reinsurance company EIG Re, a subsidiary of Euroins Insurance Group (EIG), is seeking regulatory approval to offer new types of insurance policies. The Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) said in a recent statement that EIG Re had requested an extension of its licence to allow it to expand its offering. In response, ... Read the full article
Aspen appoints former VIBE Re CEO Milner, adds new head of MEA
17th February 2020
Former Chief Executive Officer of VIBE Reinsurance, Richard Milner, is set to join the reinsurance arm of Aspen Insurance as senior managing director, Aspen Re International. Milner brings over 20 years’ experience and prior to his tenure at VIBE spent over a decade at AXIS Re, where he eventually served as ... Read the full article
Chinese province to subsidise coronavirus cover for businesses
17th February 2020
Hainan, an island province in the southernmost region of China, has launched an insurance product designed to cover business losses relating to the coronavirus outbreak, according to reports from Reuters. The scheme has been co-launched by 12 re/insurers, including PICC, China Pacific Insurance Co, and Ping An Insurance Group. The Hainan government ... Read the full article
“Significant degree of continuity” between PartnerRe, Covéa: Moody’s
17th February 2020
Moody’s analysts see a “significant degree of continuity” between PartnerRe’s senior management and underwriting teams and its overall corporate strategy following a potential $9 billion acquisition by French insurance group Covéa. Already rumoured, parent company Exor SpA has confirmed that PartnerRe is the subject of sale talks. Should such a transaction ... Read the full article
HCI’s Homeowners Choice agrees policy replacement deal with Anchor
17th February 2020
Homeowners Choice Property & Casualty Insurance Company, Inc., a subsidiary of HCI Group, Inc., has entered into a definitive policy replacement agreement with Anchor Property & Casualty Insurance Company. It was announced in mid-January that Homeowners Choice was to acquire the insurance policies of Florida-based Anchor for an undisclosed purchase ... Read the full article
Extreme pandemic could exhaust 12% of US life capital: S&P
17th February 2020
Analysts at S&P Global Ratings have estimated that an extreme pandemic event could result in $52 billion of excess net mortality claims for US life re/insurers, or about 12% of aggregate industry capital. This hypothetical stress test was conducted against the backdrop of the coronavirus outbreak, which has infected 71,442 people ... Read the full article
PERILS estimates peak industry bushfire losses at AU $1.6bn
17th February 2020
Catastrophe loss data aggregator PERILS has estimated that insurance industry losses resulting from the recent bushfire outbreak in southeast Australia will amount to AU $1.568 billion (US $1.05 billion). The figure is well below the AU $1.9 billion estimated released by the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) last week, but ... Read the full article
New Dawn Risk hires Senior Treaty Broker from Barbican
17th February 2020
New Dawn Risk Group Limited, an independent specialist intermediary for non-marine liability and specialty insurance and reinsurance, has announced the appointment of Rachel Cohen as a Senior Treaty Broker. Cohen joins the company from Barbican Syndicate at Lloyd’s 1955 where she most recently served as a Class Underwriter of International Casualty ... Read the full article
Berkshire (BHSI) expands European team with Swiss Re CorSo hire
17th February 2020
Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) has expanded its European team and named Daniel Weinmann as head of customer and broker engagement in Germany. Weinmann joins from Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, having most recently served as head of sales for Germany. He brings over 20 years’ experience to the role and will be ... Read the full article
Free coronavirus cover offered by insurtech WeSure
17th February 2020
WeSure, the insurance platform launched by Chinese multinational conglomerate Tencent in 2017, says over 100,000 medical professionals across the country signed up to its free coronavirus cover. The company has been active in establishing partnerships and products designed to tackle Covid-19, with one plan advertising up to £65,000 of protection for ... Read the full article
AM Best revises Qatar General outlook to negative
17th February 2020
AM Best has noted a decline in The Qatar General Insurance and Reinsurance Company’s (QGIRCO) operating performance and revised its outlook from stable to negative. The ratings agency also affirmed QGIRCO’s Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a-”. The group’s operating performance generated a five-year ... Read the full article
QBE’s combined operating ratio rises on US crop losses
17th February 2020
QBE Insurance Group Limited has reported that the impacts of adverse weather conditions on its US crop insurance business, combined with the significant level of claims from the Australian bushfires, pushed its full year 2019 combined operating ratio above the target range. The Australian insurer announced in December that it ... Read the full article
Arch Re eyes Asia Pacific growth with PMAP acquisition
17th February 2020
The reinsurance arm of Arch Capital Group, Arch Reinsurance (Arch Re), has announced that it plans to obtain a majority stake in Precision Marketing Asia Pacific (PMAP). PMAP is an Australian company that provides marketing solutions to banks, insurance companies, retailers and health care organisations across the Asia Pacific region. The transaction ... Read the full article