Reinsurance News
WTW research arm renews partnership with Global Earthquake Model Foundation
29th October 2018
Willis Research Network (WRN), the research arm of the Willis Towers Watson, has renewed its partnership with the Global Earthquake Model (GEM) foundation, a company aimed at the establishment of uniform and open standards for calculating and communicating earthquake risk worldwide. Karl Jones, Head of Catastrophe Analytics, Willis Re International, stated ... Read the full article
U.S life insurers to experience long-term care reserves charges: Fitch
29th October 2018
Fitch Ratings believes that life insurers in the U.S are likely to experience material reserve charges related to long-term care (LTC) products through 2019 due to overly aggressive assumptions for statutory reserving. A report by the rating agency noted that statutory reserving across the industry continues to be based on overly ... Read the full article
Australian insurers propose new measures to support drought-affected farmers
29th October 2018
The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has lent its support to a series of proposals designed to improve the uptake of farm income and crop insurance for primary producers in Australia. Rob Whelan, Chief Executive Officer of the ICA, said that access to better data, removing unfair taxes, and introducing incentives ... Read the full article
Asia-Pacific will remain our core: Peak Re’s Chris Kershaw
26th October 2018
China is a big part of Peak Reinsurance’s current portfolio and will continue to be so, while the increasing opportunities in India have only just started to be addressed, according to the company’s Managing Director of Global Markets, Chris Kershaw. In a recent interview with Reinsurance News Kershaw laid out his ... Read the full article
Parametric insurance opportunity as German waterways face disruption
26th October 2018
Shipping companies in Germany could look to insurers for a new kind of parametric coverage following an unprecedented drop in the water levels of some rivers, caused by months of scarce rainfall and hot weather. German publication The Local reported that the docks at Cologne’s main port haven’t seen any new ... Read the full article
Civil Liability Bill savings will be quickly passed to insureds: A.M. Best
26th October 2018
While measures in the Civil Liability Bill should improve claims experience in the UK, the competitiveness of the motor segment will see savings quickly passed to insureds in the form of premium reductions, according to A.M. Best. Additionally, due to persistent issues with fraud, higher repair costs, and a growing compensation ... Read the full article
Arch adds European diversification to mortgage book with €3bn “first of its kind” deal
26th October 2018
Bermudian headquartered global insurance and reinsurance firm Arch Capital Group has added some new geographic diversification to its mortgage insurance book, entering into a EUR 3 billion transaction with ING featuring German mortgage loan risk. Arch Mortgage Insurance Company (Arch MI) said that it entered into the agreement through its Dublin, ... Read the full article
AXA XL, MS Amlin, RFIB among firms testing new insurtech platform
26th October 2018
A consortium of insurance entities including AXA XL, Neon, MS Amlin, RFIB Group, and Antares has formed to test a new platform created by London-based software company Whitespace. Whitespace has built a fully-digital mobile and desktop platform to negotiate, quote and place insurance risks. Since April this consortium have engaged with the company ... Read the full article
Brexit stockpiling leaves suppliers at risk of trade credit insurance shortfall: Marsh
26th October 2018
Suppliers of vital goods such as non-perishable food produce and medical supplies are at risk of having insufficient trade credit insurance as some British firms such as retailers and manufacturers begin stockpiling goods amid mounting concerns of a no-deal Brexit, according to Marsh. Traditionally, buyers purchase goods on credit terms before ... Read the full article
London is “insurance sector equivalent of Silicon Valley”, says Aon’s Hennessy
26th October 2018
London’s insurance market has survived multiple challenges over the past 300 years and will not be derailed by issues such as brexit, according to Chief Executive Officer of Carrier Solutions at Aon, Karl Hennessy, who went on to describe London as the “insurance sector equivalent of Silicon Valley." Speaking at the ... Read the full article
Allianz (AGCS) expands alternative risk transfer line to Asia Pacific
26th October 2018
Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE (AGCS), Allianz Group’s specialist carrier for corporate insurance business, is expanding its alternative risk transfer (ART) line of business to the Asia Pacific region. Richard Green has been appointed to lead the new unit as Regional Head of ART, Asia Pacific, with effect from 15 ... Read the full article
Emerging climate risks to drive U.S re/insurance costs: ISO
26th October 2018
A diverse range of emerging climate risks, in combination with rising asset values and population trends, are set to increase the frequency and severity of re/insured losses related to global weather events in the U.S, according to a report from ISO, a Verisk Analytics business. ISO noted that one of the ... Read the full article
London Market insurers’ profitability remains under pressure: Fitch
26th October 2018
Fitch Ratings expects London market insurers’ underwriting earnings to remain subdued in 2018 due to the difficult pricing environment, high expense ratios and limited impact from prior year reserve releases. According to Fitch, catastrophe losses in Q318 experienced by London market insurers are likely to remain within annual budgets allocated to ... Read the full article
Insurtech is the future infrastructure of insurance, says ZhongAn CEO
26th October 2018
A joint report by the recently-launched Fintech Research Institute of China’s largest online-only insurer ZhongAn and the financial advisory firm KPMG claims insurtech will enable a more efficient, compatible, balanced and humane insurance ecosystem. “We look forward to collaborating with all parties in the insurance industry through the construction of InsureTech, ... Read the full article
Aon reports 8% organic reinsurance revenue growth
26th October 2018
Insurance and reinsurance broking powerhouse Aon has reported 8% organic revenue growth for its reinsurance broking operations during the third-quarter of 2018. Aon's results show that total revenue was flat across the company at $2.3 billion, but that factors in a decrease of $117 million, or 6%, related to the FASB's ... Read the full article