Reinsurance News
Sale of German life back book would be positive for Zurich: Berenberg
17th December 2021
The potential sale of global insurer Zurich's German life back book would be positive for the company as it would lower capital allocated to capital intensive traditional life business and potentially result in buybacks, reports Berenberg. Citing reports this morning from Versicherungsmonitor, analysts at Berenberg have discussed the potential sale of ... Read the full article
Global M&A activity in 2021 leads to a record number of notifications: Howden
17th December 2021
International M&A insurance broker, Howden M&A has released its annual M&A Insurance Claims Report, analysing the key trends that emerged across the UK and Europe over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic. An increase of deal activity and use of M&A insurance has led to a record rise in the number ... Read the full article
Catastrophe claims 48% above average by end of November: Jefferies
17th December 2021
Analysts at Jefferies have reported that insured natural catastrophe losses are running 48% higher than the long-term average, as of the end of November, and 34% above the 10-year average. It now appears certain that insured catastrophe losses will be far higher than the annual totals for the past three years, ... Read the full article
Brexit to drive expansion of European specialty MGAs: New Dawn Risk’s Grima
17th December 2021
Uncertainties driven by the UK's vote to leave the European Union (EU) saw numerous intermediaries establish offices in the EU and according to Elizabeth Grima, Senior Executive Manager of New Dawn Risk (Europe), 2022 will see an expansion of European specialty MGAs to the detriment of the London market. As part ... Read the full article
Covéa’s $9bn acquisition of PartnerRe from Exor progresses
17th December 2021
EXOR, the Agnelli family owned investment and holding company and Covéa, a French mutual insurer, have now signed a definitive agreement for the sale of reinsurer PartnerRe to Covéa for $9 billion. It was announced in late October that renewed talks between the parties had led to a Memorandum of ... Read the full article
Allianz to leverage AI-driven risk processing from insurtech Cytora
17th December 2021
Allianz SE has announced an agreement with London-based insurtech Cytora that will see the former integrate AI-based digital risk processing solutions into its commercial insurance business. It's hoped the move will improve Allianz' margins by enabling better risk selection. “This is great news for our customers, intermediaries and underwriters," said Jörg Hipp, ... Read the full article
Claims inflation up 6.1% for UK motor insurers: WTW
17th December 2021
According to latest data from Claim Metrics, the claims benchmarking service from re/insurance broker Willis Towers Watson (WTW), claims inflation increased by 6.1% for UK motor insurers during first half of 2021. Whilst lockdowns up to the beginning of Q1 2021 led to a drop in motor claim volumes, including unprecedented ... Read the full article
Solid rate increases for most reinsurance lines in 2022, KBW says
16th December 2021
KBW analysts predict constrained capacity (particularly for aggregate retrocessional protection) and rising demand to drive solid, margin-expanding rate increases for most reinsurance lines. Property catastrophe reinsurance is singled out as a line set for particularly notable increases. During a virtual Bermuda tour, KBW say executives made repeated reference to diminished ILS capacity, ... Read the full article
Zurich agrees to acquire AlphaChat
16th December 2021
Zurich Insurance Group (Zurich) has agreed to acquire Estonia-based company AlphaChat, which provides conversational artificial intelligence (AI) technology for customer service automation, to further enhance the Group’s digital capabilities. Founded in 2017, AlphaChat has built a messaging automation product capable of understanding natural language, authenticating users, providing personalised responses and executing ... Read the full article
Aon bolsters Reinsurance Solutions’ US Treaty team
16th December 2021
Aon has announced the appointment of Ashley Irl to its Reinsurance Solutions' US Treaty team. Based in New York, Irl reports to Greggory Clark and Randy Stanco, who co-lead Aon’s New York/New Jersey Reinsurance Solutions office. This new role sees her take responsibility for the structuring and placement of reinsurance for several ... Read the full article
Risk managers believe climate will make certain risks uninsurable: AXA
16th December 2021
Results from a new study by AXA show that 60% of risk managers fear that certain geographies or activities will become uninsurable in future due to the impact of climate change. AXA says that its 2021 AMRAE Climate Commitment Barometer shows the growing importance of taking into account and understanding climate ... Read the full article
Industry braced for $5bn+ US tornado bill, survey data suggests
16th December 2021
An approach of over 1,000 re/insurance industry participants has found an expectation for costs to run above $5 billion after multiple US states were swarmed unexpectedly by tornados. 53% of respondents to our survey said the industry should expect a bill higher than $5 billion, with 37% predicting a ... Read the full article
Generali outlines new three-year strategy
16th December 2021
Italian insurer Generali has outlined a new three-year strategy to deliver sustainable growth across its core and emerging business lines, enhance its earnings profile, and drive innovation. Under the plan, Generali will enhance its earnings profile, increase the profitability of its Life business, invest € 1.1 billion in technology and digital ... Read the full article
Fairfax offloads 10% of Odyssey in $900mn deal
16th December 2021
Fairfax Financial has successfully sold a 4.995% slice of its subsidiary Odyssey Group to both CPPIB Credit Investments and OMERS, the defined benefit pension plan. Each will acquire a 4.995% interest in Odyssey through a new class of securities, for an aggregate cash purchase price of $900 million. CPPIB is a wholly-owned ... Read the full article
Aon names Chief Broking Officer for Commercial Risk UK
16th December 2021
Aon has announced the appointment of Angela James as Chief Broking Officer for Commercial Risk in the UK. James will join the business in June 2022 and report to James Baum, Head of Commercial Risk, UK. In the newly created role, which will cover Commercial Risk in the Global Broking Centre (GBC) ... Read the full article
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