Reinsurance News
Freedom to acquire St Andrew’s Insurance from Bank of Queensland
18th April 2018
Australian life re/insurer Freedom Insurance Group has entered into an agreement with Bank of Queensland (BOQ) to purchase St Andrew’s Insurance for a total consideration of AUD $65 million (USD $50.58 million), over half of which will be supplied via reinsurance funding. The parties revealed that the transaction is comprised of a ... Read the full article
Cyber remains top enterprise risk management priority: A.M. Best
18th April 2018
A.M. Best has reported that the assessment of cyber risk continues to remain a top enterprise risk management (ERM) priority for insurers and reinsurers, as InsurTech innovations have required companies to continually expand and enhance their risk management capabilities. The report contends that, as companies try to keep up with the ... Read the full article
Marsh launches digital labs to develop new tech strategies
18th April 2018
Re/insurance broker Marsh has announced the launch of Marsh Digital Labs, an incubator focused on experimenting with emerging technologies, developing new products and business models, and engaging with clients, carriers, and InsurTech companies. Part of Marsh’s broader Digital, Data, and Analytics organisation, Marsh Digital Labs is based in San Francisco, California, ... Read the full article
London Market Group’s PPL goes live with A&H business
18th April 2018
The London Market Group’s Placing Platform Limited (PPL) went live with Accident & Health (A&H) classes of business on Monday April 16th, 2018, the PPL Board has announced. PPL, the London market’s electronic placing platform went live in July 2016, with the Board announcing in November 2017 that property and casualty lines of ... Read the full article
Law firm Cooley expands U.S. East Coast re/insurance capabilities
18th April 2018
Law firm Cooley has strengthened its U.S. East Coast insurance capabilities with the appointments of Heidi Lawson and Greg Hoffnagle as regional counsels. Both Lawson and Hoffnagle were formerly members of Mintz Levin's insurance, reinsurance, investigations and risk management practice, and Lawson joins Cooley's insurance and reinsurance practice as counsel, and ... Read the full article
Reinsurance pricing stable to positive following costly nat cat year: Moody’s
18th April 2018
Moody’s has reported that January 1 reinsurance price renewals were lower than the market expected following a year of substantial natural catastrophe losses, but still expects reinsurers’ profitability to improve modestly based on rate increases, efficiency initiatives, and slowly rising interest rates. Costly disasters in 2017 like the series of Atlantic ... Read the full article
London market must embrace tech to stay competitive, says Jon Hancock, Lloyd’s
17th April 2018
Jon Hancock, Performance Management Director at Lloyd’s of London, has asserted that re/insurers in the London market must do more to embrace innovative technology, and has outlined several key areas in which Lloyd’s is supporting tech integration. Speaking in an interview with Willis Towers Watson in the company's Energy Market Review, ... Read the full article
Munich Re Digital Partners appoints Angela Homm as Global CFO
17th April 2018
Munich Re Digital Partners, a subsidiary of global reinsurer Munich Re that invests in InsurTech start-ups, has appointed Angela Homm as Global Chief Financial Officer (CFO), and as Senior Director of Risk & Finance for its U.S team, effective April 23rd, 2018. As CFO, Homm will be responsible for Digital Partners' ... Read the full article
The Hanover Insurance Group estimates Q1 cat losses of up to $76mn
17th April 2018
The Hanover Insurance Group has announced that the estimated impact of catastrophe activity on its first quarter 2018 results is in the range of US $66 to $76 million before taxes. The Hanover announced the results in line with their recently implemented policy of releasing quarterly catastrophe loss estimates if they ... Read the full article
Monument Re acquires run-off portfolio from Ethias S.A.
17th April 2018
Monument Re has announced an agreement that will see it acquire a run-off portfolio of flexible premium retail life insurance contracts from Belgian insurer Ethias S.A., known as the First A Portfolio. The portfolio will be taken over by Laguna Life DAC, an Irish domiciled re/insurer and wholly owned subsidiary of ... Read the full article
Retroactive reinsurance huge opportunity for European players: Jefferies
17th April 2018
Jefferies Group has released a report that questions Berkshire Hathaway’s dominance of the retroactive reinsurance sector, suggesting that it represents a huge opportunity for European reinsurers to exploit. The report observes that reinsurers have been pushing for growth in traditional markets with highly competitive renewals set for April and June, but ... Read the full article
Sedgwick finalises purchase of Cunningham Lindsey
17th April 2018
Sedgwick Claims Management Services has completed its planned acquisition of Cunningham Lindsey, a global loss adjusting, claims management, and risk solutions firm. The new combined organisation, which includes the subsidiaries of Sedgwick, Vericlaim and Cunningham Lindsey, plans to operate globally under the Sedgwick brand name. The acquisition of Cunningham Lindsey and its ... Read the full article
Integrated tech contributes to broker sector growth: Moody’s
17th April 2018
Moody’s Investors Service has reported a stable 2018 sector outlook for re/insurance brokers, citing technological integration and investment as a contributing factor due to its capacity for promoting effectiveness and efficiency, and for reducing administrative and management costs. Although technology is already widely integrated in the sector, Moody’s predicts leading brokers ... Read the full article
PERILS increases windstorm Friederike loss estimate to €1.629bn
17th April 2018
PERILS AG has revealed its second loss estimate for European windstorm Friederike, placing damages at €1.629 billion (approximately US $2.0 billion), a slight increase from its original estimate of €1.465 billion ($1.8 billion). Windstorm Friederike, also known as David, caused significant damage as it swept through the British Isles, Belgium, ... Read the full article
European reinsurers prove resilient to 2017 catastrophe losses: Fitch
17th April 2018
Fitch Ratings has reported that the four major European reinsurers have proved convincingly resilient to the record-breaking catastrophe losses of 2017, with companies posting overall profits for the year and combined ratios expected to improve in 2018. With the exception of Hannover Re, the European reinsurers (SCOR, Munich Re & Swiss ... Read the full article