Reinsurance News
Barbican hires property treaty underwriter Watson from CNA Hardy
4th December 2018
Barbican Insurance Group has announced the hire of Emma Watson a property treaty focused re/insurance underwriter who joins the firm from CNA Hardy. Watson joins specialty insurance and reinsurance underwriter Barbican with immediate effect and will report to Tom Gwynn, underwriting manager for property treaty at the firm. A technical underwriter, Watson ... Read the full article
Re/insurers shouldn’t fear replacement by technology: Beazley CEO Horton
3rd December 2018
The re/insurance industry is facing a major disruption by technology, but new capabilities such as automation will ultimately complement, rather than replace, the work done by re/insurers, according to Andrew Horton, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Beazley and Chairman of the London Market Group (LMG). “We’re definitely facing a disruption by ... Read the full article
ArgoGlobal adds Aspen’s Chief Actuary Paul Lucas
3rd December 2018
Lloyd’s insurer and member of Argo Group, ArgoGlobal, has appointed Paul Lucas as Chief Actuary, International. Lucas takes up his role immediately and will report to Bob Katzman, Chief Actuary at Argo Group. Lucas brings 17 years' industry experience to ArgoGlobal and joins from Aspen, where he served as Global Insurance Chief ... Read the full article
Verisk to acquire Rulebook for $87mn
3rd December 2018
Data analytics provider Verisk has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Rulebook, a provider of business intelligence and software solutions for the London Insurance Market. The reported purchase price is $87 million in cash, funded through cash on hand and existing bank facilities, with the deal expected to close in the ... Read the full article
Bermudian insurers using more reinsurance for cat exposures, finds BMA
3rd December 2018
The Bermudian re/insurance market continues to prove resilient to potential major catastrophe losses, according to the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA), partly due to its increasing use of reinsurance and retrocession. The BMA found that, on average, insurers ceded around 50.0% of their gross losses to reinsurers over 2017, which was an ... Read the full article
Arthur J. Gallagher acquires IBS Re Singapore, takes stake in Indonesian broker
3rd December 2018
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., the U.S. global insurance brokerage and risk management services firm, has acquired 100% of reinsurance broker IBS Re Singapore, in addition to taking a 40% stake in Indonesian broker PT IBS Insurance Broking Service. Based in Jakarta, PT IBS Insurance Broking Service has revenues of over ... Read the full article
Marriott data breach to be tracked as PCS Global Cyber loss
3rd December 2018
As details continue to emerge from last week’s announcement of a major cyber hack and resulting data breach of one of the Marriott hotel chain’s reservation systems, expectations of a significant cyber insurance and possibly reinsurance market loss has prompted Property Claim Services (PCS) to designate the event. Reinsurance News ... Read the full article
PI premiums to rise as construction market hardens, warns JLT Specialty
3rd December 2018
JLT Specialty, the specialist insurance broker and risk consultant, has warned that contractors could face a significant increase in professional indemnity (PI) premiums as the construction market begins to harden. Greater regulatory scrutiny and uncertainty regarding cladding systems following the Grenfell fire has led many insurers to scale back on capacity ... Read the full article
Re/insurers anticipating moderate losses from Alaska earthquake
3rd December 2018
Re/insurers are anticipating moderate losses to result from the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that hit the city of Anchorage in Alaska on Friday morning. The earthquake, which struck around 12km north of Anchorage, has caused widespread disruption and damage to infrastructure, affecting thousands of structures and destroying many roads. However, there have been ... Read the full article
$2.5 billion industry hit from Woolsey wildfire: AIR
3rd December 2018
Catastrophe risk modeller AIR Worldwide has estimated the insured loss from the Woolsey fire, which tore through Southern California for 13 days last month, at $2.5 billion. This estimate is based on the assumption of nearly 100% take-up rates as damage from fire, including wildfire, is included in standard homeowners' policies ... Read the full article
Solvency II review a missed opportunity for CMU progress: Insurance Europe
3rd December 2018
While progress has been made on the European Commission’s Capital Markets Union (CMU) project, several important points remain unaddressed, according to the Deputy Director General of Insurance Europe, Olav Jones. One of the aims of the CMU is to address regulatory barriers to investment, including prudential issues under Solvency II that ... Read the full article
Generali’s new strategic plan is credit positive, says Moody’s
3rd December 2018
The new 3-year strategic plan from Italian insurance giant Generali is broadly credit positive, according to analysts at Moody’s Investors Service, as it targets debt reduction and greater earnings diversification. The insurer announced its ‘Generali 2021’ growth plan last week alongside claims that it was on track to hit all ... Read the full article
Insurtech helps Swiss Re make client relationships stickier, says CEO
30th November 2018
New technological capabilities and InsurTech partnerships are allowing Swiss Re to create stickier and more flexible relationships with its clients, according to the company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Christian Mumenthaler. Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg TV, Mumenthaler noted that a lot of money has been poured into InsurTech over the ... Read the full article
AIG’s new European post-Brexit carriers receive stable ratings
30th November 2018
Moody’s has assigned A2 insurance financial strength (IFS) ratings and stable outlooks to American International Group’s (AIG) new post-Brexit European carriers, AIG UK Limited and Luxembourg-based AIG Europe S.A. (AESA). AIG recently formed these units in order to ensure continuity of service for it its European policyholders and business partners once ... Read the full article
Allianz to address silent cyber with updated policy wordings
30th November 2018
Insurance giant Allianz is stepping up efforts to provide more comprehensive cyber protection by implementing more specific and relevant wordings to the commercial, corporate, and specialty insurance policies of its property & casualty (P&C) companies. Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS), as its corporate insurance carrier, will be one of the ... Read the full article