Reinsurance News

IGI names new board

25th February 2020

International General Insurance Holdings Limited (IGI), the international specialist commercial insurer and reinsurer, has named the full board of directors that will be in place following its business combination with Tiberius Acquisition Corp. First announced back in October 2019, the deal priced IGI at approximately 1.26x its book value of ... Read the full article

AIG enters into $500mn share buyback with Citibank

25th February 2020

U.S. insurer and reinsurer AIG has announced that it has entered into an accelerated share repurchase (ASR) arrangement with Citibank, N.A. to repurchase $500 million of the company's common shares. In February of last year, AIG announced its existing $2 billion share repurchase authorisation, and this latest ASR is part of ... Read the full article

Stephen Postlewhite to lead QBE Re as managing director

25th February 2020

Global insurer QBE has appointed Stephen Postlewhite as managing director of its reinsurance operations. Postlewhite’s new role will take effect on April 1 and he replaces Jonathan Parry, who is set to retire in 2021. He steps into the role after two years at QBE Re, having most recently served as deputy ... Read the full article

Arch Capital acquiring 29.5% stake in trade-credit insurer Coface

25th February 2020

Arch Capital Group Ltd., the Bermuda headquartered insurance and reinsurance specialist, is acquiring a majority stake in France-based trade-credit insurance firm Coface. Arch Capital has entered into a share purchase agreement with French corporate and investment bank Natixis, which has been selling down its majority stake in Coface. The sale of shares ... Read the full article

Coronavirus impacts to be limited for EMEA & US markets: S&P

25th February 2020

The ongoing coronavirus outbreak is not expected to cause any earnings or capital shocks for insurance and global reinsurers based in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and the US, according to S&P Global Ratings. The rating agency expects these re/insurers to incur some claims from the spread of COVID-19, ... Read the full article

London Market upping tech investment to maintain relevance: survey

25th February 2020

Research from consulting and IT services provider NTT DATA UK suggests London Market investment in modernisation efforts will double over the next three years. The research surveyed 100 senior London Market syndicates, brokers and managing agents, and revealed that 60% of respondents consider business-as-usual to be unacceptable over the next three ... Read the full article

Premia Re assumes risks from two Lloyd’s syndicates in Q4

25th February 2020

Bermuda-based property & casualty re/insurance run-off group Premia Holdings assumed risks from two Lloyd’s of London syndicates in the fourth quarter of 2019. The previously undisclosed deals were acknowledged by Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA) in its recent assessment of the company, which had its financial strength rating confirmed as A-. The ... Read the full article

FEMA secures additional $400mn of reinsurance protection for NFIP

25th February 2020

The US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has successfully transferred $400 million of the National Flood Insurance Program's (NFIP) flood risk to the capital markets through the issuance of its third catastrophe bond transaction. The transaction, FloodSmart Re Ltd. (Series 2020-1), is the third time FEMA has entered into a ... Read the full article

Third Point’s Loeb urges Prudential to split PruAsia, Jackson

25th February 2020

US hedge fund Third Point has urged Prudential to split its two separately managed franchises, Prudential Corporation Asia (PruAsia) and Jackson National Life (Jackson), in order to optimise growth and drive higher valuation. In an open letter addressed to Prudential’s board, Third Point founder and activist investor Daniel Loeb said his ... Read the full article

Milliman & Enova target life insurers with advanced analytic solutions

25th February 2020

Global consulting and actuarial firm Milliman has partnered with Enova Decisions, a FinTech and analytics company, to provide the life insurance industry with advanced analytic solutions. The new strategic alliance combines Milliman's deep domain expertise and data resources with Enova's real-time analytics capabilities, providing life insurers with a platform for retaining ... Read the full article

Investment gain offsets dip in underwriting at ProSight in Q4

25th February 2020

A strong investment result in the fourth-quarter of 2019 more than offset a decline in underwriting income at ProSight Global, Inc., helping the company record an increase in net income from continuing operations to $14.7 million. The firm's net income for the quarter improved on the $13.5 million recorded for the ... Read the full article

Argo reports operating loss, unfavourable reserve development

25th February 2020

Bermuda domiciled insurer and reinsurer Argo Group International Holdings, Ltd. has reported a net loss of more than $103 million for the fourth-quarter of 2019, and a combined ratio of almost 127%. The company announced earlier this month that its fourth-quarter results were likely to include an underwriting loss, with ... Read the full article

Aon announces new COO amid United strategy push

25th February 2020

Global re/insurance broker Aon has appointed John Bruno to serve as Chief Operating Officer alongside his existing role leading development of the firm’s business services platform. Reporting to Aon Chief Executive Officer, Greg Case, Bruno will also continue as CEO of Data & Analytic Services and add the firm's technology-enabled Affinity ... Read the full article

Swiss Re reinsurance support helps elipsLife to ratings affirmation: AM Best

25th February 2020

AM Best has affirmed its credit ratings for Elips Life Insurance Company (elipsLife), which it says have been lifted by continued reinsurance and capital support from the company’s parent, Swiss Re. The rating agency upheld its financial strength rating of A (Excellent) and long-term issuer credit rating of ‘a+’ for elipsLife, ... Read the full article

Casualty risk has been underpriced for a decade: Stephen Catlin

24th February 2020

Insurers have “significantly underpriced” casualty business over the past 10 years and could now be headed towards “a crisis of catastrophic proportions,” according to Stephen Catlin, the former founder of the Catlin Group and current CEO of Convex Group. Writing in Best’s Review this month, Catlin said a casualty pricing crisis ... Read the full article