Reinsurance News

$872m of premium accepted by foreign reinsurers between 2017-18: IRDA

21st January 2019

The International Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDA) says a total of $872 million in reinsurance premium was accepted by foreign reinsurance branches in 2017-18, with Swiss Re taking the largest share at $287 million. Munich Re and SCOR reported $183 million and $166 million, respectively. In the same time period, ... Read the full article

Allianz (AGCS) opens new reinsurance branch in India

21st January 2019

Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS), Allianz Group’s specialist carrier for corporate insurance business, has opened a new reinsurance branch in Mumbai, India to help it target growth in Asia Pacific. AGCS said that the branch would allow it to capitalise on opportunities in one of the fastest emerging re/insurance markets ... Read the full article

Insured weather losses across Canada reach $1.9bn in 2018: Cat IQ

21st January 2019

Severe weather across Canada resulted in approximately $1.9 billion of re/insured losses in 2018, according to data from Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. (Cat IQ). The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) noted that 2018 had the fourth-highest amount of losses on record, with ice storms, floods, windstorms and tornadoes damaging homes, ... Read the full article

Chubb pegs pre-tax Q4 cat losses at $585m

21st January 2019

Global re/insurer Chubb has released an updated Q4 catastrophe loss estimate of $585 million ($505 million after tax), a figure which includes previously reported costs incurred by the California wildfires and hurricane Michael. The Camp and Woolsey wildfires destroyed more than 20,000 structures between them after springing up in California’s ... Read the full article

Markel CATCo heads dropped after review, new execs take over

21st January 2019

Markel Corporation has announced that reinsurance executives Jed Rhoads and Andrew Barnard are to take over management of Markel CATCo following an internal review that resulted in the departure of the unit’s former heads, Anthony Belisle and Alissa Fredricks. Belisle, who was CATCo’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and Fredricks, who was ... Read the full article

Allianz, AXA & Swiss Re among brands most praised for climate actions

21st January 2019

Re/insurers Allianz, AXA and Swiss Re are among the top five companies to receive the praise from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in 2018 due to their actions on climate change. Data compiled by research consultancy SIGWATCH shows that the trio of re/insurers overtook global brands such as McDonald’s, Aldi and H&M as ... Read the full article

China & Germany agree to strengthen re/insurance coordination

21st January 2019

China and Germany have signed new agreements designed to strengthen their coordination in re/insurance, banking and finance, according to reports from Reuters. The agreements will allow German insurers to set up wholly-owned insurance holding firms in China, while Chinese insurers and reinsurers are welcome to conduct reinsurance business in Germany. The countries ... Read the full article

Sydney & NSW hail storm loss hits $871m

21st January 2019

The insurance and reinsurance industry loss expected from the December 20th severe hail storm that struck the Sydney and surrounding region of New South Wales, Australia has now reached $871 million. Kaaren Morrissey/AAP The hailstorm system struck the Sydney, Central Coast and South East Queensland regions of the country on the night ... Read the full article

Lawmakers push for NFIP to cede more risk to reinsurers

18th January 2019

U.S lawmakers have reintroduced a bill that pushes for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to cede more of its risk to the private reinsurance market. The Taxpayer Exposure Mitigation Act is one of four bills introduced by Missouri Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer that calls for improvements to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s ... Read the full article

AXA XL unit completes move to Ireland ahead of Brexit

18th January 2019

AXA XL has completed the transfer of its wholly owned subsidiary, XL Insurance Company SE (XLICSE), to Dublin, Ireland ahead of the UK’s planned departure from the European Union (EU). The insurer previously announced in October 2018 that it had received authorisation from the Central Bank of Ireland to go ... Read the full article

Allianz announces three senior promotions

18th January 2019

Insurance giant Allianz has revealed the promotions of three senior executives, starting with Birgit König, current Chief Executive Officer of Allianz Deutschland’s private health insurer Allianz Private Krankenversicherung (APKV), who will now head the international unit Allianz Digital Health (ADH). König has been CEO of Allianz Private Krankenversicherung since 2012 and ... Read the full article

U.S P&C insurers see underwriting turnaround in 9M 2018: ISO

18th January 2019

U.S property and casualty (P&C) insurers reported a $4.7 billion net underwriting gain over the first nine months of 2018, representing a sharp turnaround from the $21.0 billion loss in the previous year, according to a report from ISO, a Verisk business. The report, produced in collaboration with the American Property ... Read the full article

Record catastrophe and storm losses hit EMC’s reinsurance segment in Q4

18th January 2019

EMC Insurance Group's reinsurance segment suffered a record $18.5 million of catastrophe and storm losses in the fourth-quarter of 2018, causing the firm to announce an expected net loss for the year ending December 31st, 2018. The total catastrophe loss figure is comprised of roughly $6.5 million from the Camp wildfires, ... Read the full article

PIC completes £425mn pension buy-in with Co-op Group

18th January 2019

Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC), the specialist insurer of defined benefit pension funds, has concluded a £425 million pension buy-in deal with a trust sponsored by the Co-operative Group. The arrangement provides insurance for £425 million of pension liabilities relating to the Somerfield Pension Scheme, which has a total of around £13 ... Read the full article

“Armageddon scenario” needed to turn reinsurance pricing: Jason Howard

18th January 2019

With roughly $600 billion of capital still flowing through the reinsurance market after a succession of costly catastrophe years, large-scale hardening outside of an “armageddon scenario” seems extremely unlikely, according to the Chief Executive Officer of reinsurance brokerage Beach & Associates, Jason Howard. Addressing an audience yesterday in the Old Library ... Read the full article