Reinsurance News

Hyperion’s DUAL acquires specialty underwriting agency in NZ

8th May 2020

DUAL, the underwriting arm of Hyperion Insurance Group, has announced the acquisition of a controlling interest in New Zealand specialty underwriting agency International Underwriting Agencies (IUA). “In these challenging times I’m delighted that DUAL has completed only the fourth acquisition in its long history and to welcome the IUA team,” said ... Read the full article

S&P upgrades CCR Re despite potential COVID-19 impacts

8th May 2020

S&P Global Ratings has affirmed its 'AA' long-term insurer financial strength and issuer credit ratings on state-backed CCR in France, and raised its ratings on CCR Re to 'A' from 'A-', while the outlook for both companies is stable. Over the past two years, CCR Re has reported a steady improvement ... Read the full article

Amid COVID-19, there’s an opportunity to offer “necessary” protection: L&G Re CEO, Olunloyo

7th May 2020

While it’s impossible to predict the long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the pension risk transfer (PRT) space, for expanding life re/insurer L&G, there’s an opportunity to offer necessary life-time protection during these unprecedented times. This is according to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the firm’s reinsurance hub L&G ... Read the full article

COVID-19 pandemic is not an insured event, but a reputational one: WTW

7th May 2020

Insurance and reinsurance broker Willis Towers Watson (WTW) highlights an uncertain and pressured outlook for North American commercial insurance buyers in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. In its Insurance Marketplace Realities 2020 Spring Update, WTW predicts large reductions in insurable values but notes that overall, not one line of business predicts ... Read the full article

FERMA taskforce to address BI coverage for cat risks

7th May 2020

The Federation of European Risk Management Associations (FERMA) has announced the launch of a taskforce to create proposals to address the issue of business interruption coverage for catastrophic risks. “Our aim is to support the creation of economies that are resilient in the face of systemic and catastrophe risks,” said the ... Read the full article

Ryan Specialty Group appoints Chief Revenue Officer

7th May 2020

Ryan Specialty Group (RSG) has announced the appointment of Brendan M. Mulshine as its new Chief Revenue Officer. In his expanded position, Mulshine will have responsibility for working closely with RSG’s business units, R-T Specialty, LLC and RSG Underwriting Managers, LLC to expand organic Prior to joining RSG, Mulshine held several leadership ... Read the full article

Occam Underwriting posts £1mn profit in 2019

7th May 2020

Specialty Lloyd’s of London managing general agent (MGA) Occam Underwriting has reported a £1 million profit after tax for 2019, compared to a loss after tax of £1.25 million for 2018. All three of Occam’s business units – Cyber, Energy and Space – saw strong growth over the year, allowing the ... Read the full article

PG&E facing $600mn hit from Kincade wildfire

7th May 2020

US investor-owned utility Pacific Gas and Electricity (PG&E) is staring down a possible $600 million loss if its equipment is found liable for the ignition which caused the devastating Kincade wildfire in 2019. While it’s too early to say with certainty whether PG&E will be found liable, language used in the ... Read the full article

Zurich adds new leaders for Commercial Insurance Underwriting

7th May 2020

Zurich Insurance Group (Zurich) has appointed Ralph Brand as Global Head of Casualty, Financial Lines and Cyber, and Chris Waterman as Global Head of Property, Marine and Technical Lines. The newly created roles aim to simplify the company’s underwriting function by aligning the shorter-tail first party coverages and the longer-tail third ... Read the full article

Willis Towers Watson forms specialist team for distressed organisations

7th May 2020

Re/insurance broker Willis Towers Watson has announced the formation of a Strategic Solutions Group (SSG) within its within its Financial, Executive and Professional Risks (FINEX) global practice and Mergers & Acquisitions Group. SSG will provide specialised risk services to distressed organisations, focusing in particular on risk, insurance and claim challenges faced ... Read the full article

American Overseas commutes remaining AGM reinsurance portfolio

7th May 2020

American Overseas Reinsurance Company, a division of American Overseas Group Limited, has entered into a commutation, reassumption and release agreement with Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp. (AGM). The agreement sees the company's reinsurance operating subsidiary commute the remaining $345 million outstanding par value of financial guaranty reinsurance business it had assumed from ... Read the full article

Trisura grows income, prepares for COVID-19 impact in Q2

7th May 2020

Trisura Group, an international specialty provider of surety, risk solutions, corporate insurance and reinsurance products, has grown its net income to $8.4 million for the first quarter of 2020. The result was an improvement on the $2.5 million posted in Q1 2019, driven by strong underwriting performance and investment income in ... Read the full article

Talanx reports €313mn COVID-19 related losses in Q1

7th May 2020

Hannover Re parent Talanx has announced first quarter coronavirus-related large losses of €313 million. The coronavirus crisis impacted both underwriting and investments in the first quarter of the new financial year. Large losses in primary insurance and reinsurance rose from €137 million in the same period of the previous year to €435 ... Read the full article

United Insurance falls to $12.7mn loss in Q1

7th May 2020

Property and casualty insurance holding company United Insurance Holdings has reported a $12.7 million net loss for the quarter, down from a net income of $9.5 million in the opening three months of 2019. This decrease was primarily due to unrealised losses on equity securities compared to unrealised gains in the ... Read the full article

RSA reports £25mn COVID-19 claims in Q1

7th May 2020

Multinational insurance group RSA has released its results for the first quarter of 2020, which include around £25 million of claims related to the COVID-19 pandemic, net of reinsurance. In total, the company registered 25,000 claims linked to COVID-19 that have coverage and will pay out, of which about 23,000 are ... Read the full article