Reinsurance News
Acacia hires Lawrence Cheng as CUO
24th May 2021
Acacia Holdings, the specialist reinsurance and retrocession investment company backed by Oaktree Capital Management, has appointed Lawrence Cheng as Chief Underwriting Officer. Cheng previously served as Managing Director and Head of Property & Casualty at Peak Re, where he was also a founding member of its leadership team. He led the firm’s ... Read the full article
Trust Re hires Yassir Albaharna as Managing Director and CEO
24th May 2021
Trust International Insurance and Reinsurance Company (Trust Re) has appointed Yassir Albaharna as Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer. With over 34 years of industry experience, Albaharna was previously Chief Executive Officer of Arab Insurance Group and has served as Vice Chairman of Trust Re since 2019. Trust Re Board Chairman ... Read the full article
Demand for digital services could displace $280bn of premiums: Accenture
24th May 2021
Analysts at Accenture have reported that rising demand for digital insurance premiums and their online distribution could displace $280 billion of current insurance revenues by 2025, challenging current customer retention levels. In a new report, Accenture analysed how the insurance industry’s revenues will be affected by new customer, demographic and technology ... Read the full article
Asia’s general and life insurance markets expected to grow by 2025: GlobalData
24th May 2021
Analysts at data and analytics firm GlobalData have revealed that Asia's position within the global general and life insurance markets is expected to grow by 2025, providing high growth opportunity for reinsurers in the region. Asia accounts for 16.9% of the global general insurance market and 33.4% of life insurance which ... Read the full article
ICMR launches ‘first of its kind’ Re/insurance Specialty Equity Index
24th May 2021
Specialist analytics and consulting firm, Insurance Capital Markets Research (ICMR), has launched a first of its kind equity index called the ICMR (Re)Insurance Specialty Equity Index (RISX), and appointed Moorgate Benchmarks as its calculator and administrator. The innovative new equity index focuses solely on the publicly listed global insurance and reinsurance ... Read the full article
Thailand’s non-life insurance market expands to $8.3bn: AM Best
24th May 2021
According to a new report by rating agency AM Best, Thailand’s non-life insurance market was able to expand by 3.5% to THB 253 billion (USD 8.3 billion) in terms of direct premium written (DPW), despite COVID-19. The non-life market has grown steadily in recent years, and posted a 44% expansion in ... Read the full article
Optimism for sustained reinsurance rate increases at mid-year renewals: KBW
21st May 2021
Bermuda and Florida re/insurance market executives are optimistic about sustained rate increases at the upcoming June 1st, 2021 renewals, although lower year-on-year rises are expected as a result of reduced COVID-19-related fears and abundant insurance-linked securities (ILS) capacity, according to analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW). With the June and ... Read the full article
Climate change could impact US corn yields by 40%: AIR
21st May 2021
In collaboration with data analytics provider Verisk, David Victor and experts from AXIS Capital, explored how climate change may affect agricultural risk in the United States, specifically looking at the impact on corn yield. Verisk’s extreme event modelling business unit, AIR Worldwide (AIR), conducted the research to isolate effects of variation ... Read the full article
Randall & Quilter announces new Group Head of Data Strategy and Technology
21st May 2021
Randall & Quilter Investment Holdings has appointed Robert Thomas as Group Head of Data Strategy and Technology. With his appointment taking place next month, Thomas will report directly to Executive Chairman William Spiegel. He will be responsible for leading and developing R&Q's data strategy, automation strategy as well as overseeing the Group's ... Read the full article
‘Class of 2020’ re/insurers opt for AIR as modeller of choice
21st May 2021
Catastrophe modelling firm AIR Worldwide has said that it ranked as the modeller of choice among newly established international insurance and reinsurance companies from the so-called ‘Class of 2020.’ Recently formed re/insurers including Conduit Re, Core Specialty, Inigo Ltd, Integral ILS Ltd, and Vantage Risk have all opted for services from ... Read the full article
Fitch revises US life to negative off COVID-19 concerns
21st May 2021
Fitch Ratings has revised its rating outlook for the US life insurance industry to stable from negative, citing the economic impact of COVID-19 and its effect on credit quality . Analysts note how that, when uncertainty about the implications of the coronavirus pandemic peaked in 2020, almost 30% of ratings assigned ... Read the full article
AFG’s annuity business sale gets regulatory nod
21st May 2021
The Ohio Department of Insurance has approved American Financial Group’s previously-announced sale of certain annuity businesses. The deal consists of Great American Life Insurance Company and its two insurance subsidiaries, Annuity Investors Life Insurance Company and Manhattan National Life Insurance Company. MassMutuals is the acquirer and this deal is expected to close ... Read the full article
ICA welcomes $517mn Victorian bushfire funding
21st May 2021
The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has approved of the Victorian Government’s Budget announcement of $517 million which will be allocated across several bushfire risk reduction projects. However, ICA noted that the projected growth in taxes on insurance were unsustainable and meant that the public would continue to be underinsured or ... Read the full article
Castel transforms Square Pegs e-trading platform into standalone cell
21st May 2021
Castel Underwriting Agencies, the club-style MGA formation platform, has announced the transformation of its Square Pegs SME e-trading solution into a standalone underwriting cell. The move is in response to strong profitable business growth since launching as part of Castel’s specialty division in 2019. Square Pegs enables brokers to obtain coverage for ... Read the full article
CNA paid $40mn ransom to resolve March cyber attack
21st May 2021
US insurer CNA is reported to have paid a $40 million ransom last March as the company attempted to regain control over its network and meet the demands of a highly organised cybercrime syndicate. The hackers had been successful in infecting CNA’s network with a type of malware known as ransomware, ... Read the full article