Reinsurance News

Swiss Re Corporate Solutions appoints Delavy to senior distribution role

15th April 2020

Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, the commercial insurance arm of reinsurance giant Swiss Re Group, has appointed Claudine Delavy as Head Distribution Management, Europe, Middle East & Africa. Delavy will be responsible for advancing the company’s distribution strategy, representing all Swiss Re Corporate Solutions’ products and solutions to commercial insurance brokers, and ... Read the full article

Liberty Specialty Markets expands marine team

15th April 2020

Liberty Specialty Markets (LSM), part of Liberty Mutual Insurance Group, has promoted Rachel Watkinson to Head of Underwriting, Marine Transportation and Logistics. At the same time, Alex Becker has joined the division and will lead the Hull account as Underwriting Manager for Marine Hull, reporting to Watkinson. In her new role, Watkinson ... Read the full article

Insurers in California told to refund premiums amid coronavirus outbreak

14th April 2020

Ricardo Lara, the Insurance Commissioner of California, has told insurers to refund certain premiums to customers and businesses impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. In a bulletin to all property and casualty insurers and workers compensation insurers, Insurance Commissioner Lara underlined the unprecedented challenge for the region's residents and businesses ... Read the full article

Markel International adds Bo Yu as Claims Lead for Asia

14th April 2020

Specialist insurer Markel International has announced the appointment of Bo Yu as Claims Lead for Asia. Bo joins with close to ten years’ experience and will be the first point of contact for all claims arising through Markel’s offices in Singapore, Hong Kong, India and Labuan. He will work closely with the ... Read the full article

Bermuda’s re/insurers show “operational resilience” amid COVID-19 crisis: ABIR

14th April 2020

Despite the challenges and impacts of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, Bermudian insurers and reinsurers continue to meet the needs of clients and have shown "operational resilience" during the crisis, reports the Association of Bermuda Insurers & Reinsurers (ABIR). With social distancing measures in place across much of the world, the ABI ... Read the full article

1347 PIH warns of Q1 net loss as value of FedNat investment declines

14th April 2020

1347 Property Insurance Holdings, Inc. (1347 PIH) has announced that it expects to report a net loss of $8.6 million for the first-quarter of 2020, primarily driven by non-cash losses related to the change in fair value of its investment in FedNat Holding Company. FedNat completed the acquisition of 1347 ... Read the full article

Mark Watson proposes government reinsurance backstop for pandemic

14th April 2020

Attempts to stimulate the US economy amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic will not work without the introduction of a government reinsurance backstop for pandemic, according to Mark Watson, founder and principal of Aquila Capital Partners and former CEO of Argo Group. Writing as part of an article in Morning Consult, Watson ... Read the full article

Mid-year renewals expected to be on-time: Priebe, Guy Carpenter

14th April 2020

The mid-year reinsurance renewals at June and July 1st 2020 are expected to proceed without any major issues due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as the industry prepares to negotiate via video conference, David Priebe, Chairman of Guy Carpenter told us. Speaking with Reinsurance News, the Chairman of reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter ... Read the full article

Todd Germano named MD of Optio Insurance Services NA

14th April 2020

Optio Group, a house of insurance companies, has appointed Todd Germano as Managing Director of Optio Insurance Services North America, effective immediately. Optio is comprised of MGAs Ascent Underwriting, Cove Programs, and brokerage Bay Risk Services. The company notes that this appointment coincides with the development of its U.S. platform as ... Read the full article

JP Morgan reduces income estimates on COVID-19 exposure

14th April 2020

JP Morgan has reduced its net income estimates for the largest four European reinsurers, due to the significant claims that could arise from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. On the P&C side, analysts see event cancellation as the most immediate source of claims, where the outcome for reinsurers should be known fairly ... Read the full article

Moody’s revises Japan life outlook to negative

14th April 2020

Moody's Japan has changed its outlook for Japan's life insurance industry to negative from stable, citing challenges to capitalisation and profitability due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Analysts noted that the virus outbreak has already caused significant disruption to the domestic and global capital markets, and could put strain on insurers’ ... Read the full article

Everest Re adds Poracchia as CFO of Global Markets division

14th April 2020

Bermuda-based re/insurer Everest Re Group has appointed Alex Poracchia as international chief actuary and Chief Financial Officer of its Global Markets division. Prior to joining Everest, Poracchia spent nearly eight years at Deloitte UK as a partner within the firm’s Actuarial, Reward and Analytics practice predominantly supporting international clients' Audits, M&A ... Read the full article

Ed appoints AJG’s Niraj Perera as Head of Transactional Risk

14th April 2020

Global reinsurance brokerage Ed has launched its transactional risk team with the appointment of Niraj Perera as Head of Transactional Risk within its professional and executive risk division. Perera joins the firm from brokerage Arthur J. Gallagher and brings more than two decades of insurance industry experience to the role, having ... Read the full article

Swiss Re makes $5.2mn contribution to support global COVID-19 relief efforts

14th April 2020

Global reinsurance giant Swiss Re, through the Swiss Re Foundation, has donated CHF 5 million (USD 5.2 million) to support global COVID-19 relief efforts. The pledge has been made through the reinsurer's non-profit grant foundation, which will distribute the funds to organisations tackling the current crisis, particularly in emerging countries. Specifically, the ... Read the full article

QBE buys more cat reinsurance amid COVID-19 capital raise

14th April 2020

Australian re/insurer QBE has announced that it plans to purchase additional catastrophe reinsurance as part of a new capital plan to withstand the impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In response to the “unprecedented economic and investment market uncertainty” caused by COVID-19, QBE has said that it will pre-emptively lift regulatory ... Read the full article