Reinsurance News

Syndicates forecast deteriorating Lloyd’s results for 2017/2018

19th February 2020

A number of Lloyd's of London syndicates have been reporting updated forecasts for their results on the 2017 and 2018 years of account in recent days and there are signs of some deterioration. The performance of Lloyd's syndicates has been a focus over the last year, of course, as the market ... Read the full article

Singapore government extends tax incentives for re/insurance

19th February 2020

In its 2020 budget announcement yesterday, the Singapore government revealed the extension of numerous tax benefits, two of which apply to insurance and reinsurance operations. Both the Insurance Business Development (IBD) umbrella scheme and the IBD-Captive Insurance scheme were set to expire on March 31st, 2020 and have now been extended ... Read the full article

Vincent Lepez to join Pacific Life Re Europe as Managing Director

19th February 2020

Pacific Life Re has announced that the Managing Director of its Europe operation, Darren Spriggs, has decided to step down from the company and will be replaced by SCOR's Vincent Lepez. Spriggs has been with the company for almost four years and has helped Pacific Life Re Europe make important steps ... Read the full article

TWIA raises 2020 reinsurance target to $2.1 billion

19th February 2020

The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) has increased its target amount of reinsurance protection for the 2020 catastrophe year to $2.1 billion, with the Board directing TWIA staff to place a mix of traditional reinsurance and catastrophe bond protection. In December of last year, TWIA said that it expects to ... Read the full article

Bermuda returns to EU’s fully cooperative tax list

19th February 2020

Bermuda has been returned to the European Union’s (EU) ‘white list’ of fully cooperative tax jurisdictions, having previously been blacklisted in March 2019. The island nation and global re/insurance hub was removed from the blacklist in May after implementing commitments to address concerns about its tax transparency. But until now ... Read the full article

Marc Sullivan joins IGI as Class Underwriter for Downstream Energy

19th February 2020

International General Insurance Holdings Limited (IGI), the international specialist commercial insurer and reinsurer, has appointed Marc Sullivan as Class Underwriter, Downstream Energy, based in its London office. Sullivan joins the company from Barbican Insurance Group, where he also served as Class Underwriter for Downstream Energy. Prior to Barbican, he spent eight years ... Read the full article

Consensus around “significant” price movement at Japan renewals: JMP

19th February 2020

Following meetings with insurers, reinsurers and brokers JMP Securities analysts are anticipating significant positive pricing change in Japan’s upcoming April 1 renewals, roughly twice the magnitude seen in 2019. JMP notes that, while pricing changes will vary substantially by both layer of a program and by individual cedant, a surprising amount ... Read the full article

Argo names new CEO, chairman

19th February 2020

Specialty reinsurer Argo has named Kevin Rehnberg as its new Chief Executive Officer following the messy departure of former-boss Mark Watson. The appointment marks the culmination of an ongoing dispute that stretches back to February 2019 when activist investor Voce accused Watson of perpetuating “shockingly high and shockingly inappropriate” corporate ... Read the full article

Chubb appoints Xavier Florit as regional head of corporate, A&H

19th February 2020

Global insurer Chubb has appointed Xavier Florit as regional head of corporate, accident and health for Continental Europe. Florit has been with the company since 2016, having previously served as head of A&H for France. Before that he held several roles within the insurance industry working for both brokers and insurers. He will ... Read the full article

Chubb exploring merger deal for Saudi Arabian division

19th February 2020

Chubb Arabia Cooperative Insurance Company, the Saudi Arabian arm of global re/insurer Chubb, has said that it plans to enter into talks with Al Ahli Takaful Company about the possibility of a merger. If a merger discussion is agreed, both companies will sign a non-binding memorandum of understanding to evaluate a ... Read the full article

Aspen names Swiss Re’s Crystal Ottaviano as Group Chief Risk Officer

19th February 2020

Bermuda domiciled insurer and reinsurer, Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited, has appointed Swiss Re's Crystal Ottaviano as its new Group Chief Risk Officer (CRO), effective March 2nd, 2020. In her new role, Ottaviano will report to Mark Cloutier, Executive Chairman and Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Aspen. She joins the firm from ... Read the full article

Questions remain over Lloyd’s modernisation initiatives, says UK regulator

19th February 2020

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has said that “questions remain” about whether the modernisation initiatives at Lloyd’s of London do enough to address underlying issues in the market. The regulator noted that the London Market’s operational expense ratio is 9% higher than similar global re/insurance centres, highlighting an urgent need ... Read the full article

State-backed re/insurers not supportive of lower premiums: ACCC

19th February 2020

A report from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s northern Australia Insurance Inquiry claims that government reinsurance pools and government-backed insurers are not well-suited to lowering insurance premiums. "We do not consider government reinsurance pools and government insurers well-suited to addressing affordability concerns in a targeted way,” the ACCC said. "They have ... Read the full article

Swiss Re announces completion of 2019 public share buyback programme

18th February 2020

Global reinsurance giant Swiss Re has announced the completion of the 2019 public share buyback programme of up to CHF 1.0 billion purchase value. The 2019 public share buyback programme was authorised by the Annual General Meeting on April 17th, 2019 and launched on May 6th, 2019. The reinsurer notes that since ... Read the full article

Athene posts improved $432m Q4 net income

18th February 2020

Retirement services firm Athene has posted a $432 million net income for the fourth quarter of 2019, up from a $104 million net loss incurred in the prior year quarter. This increase was driven by higher adjusted operating income, as well as a favorable net change in fixed indexed annuity derivatives ... Read the full article