Reinsurance News
Insurance news
Insurance news of relevance to the reinsurance market.
Our focus is on insurance and reinsurance news for large account, commercial and specialty lines, as well as pure reinsurance and retrocession news, analysis, insight and interviews.
Argo Surety appoints James Bluzard to Contract Surety central region vice president
11th April 2017
Specialty underwriter Argo Surety, member of re/insurer Argo Group International Holdings, has announced James Bluzard as newly appointed central region vice president for Contract Surety with immediate effect. In his new role, Bluzard will lead the development of local office teams and supervise underwriting activities. He will report directly to David Layman, ... Read the full article
Sompo International hires Sordillo from QBE to lead loss control
11th April 2017
International insurance and reinsurance company Sompo International, the brand that emerged after Sompo completed its acquisition of Bermudian insurance and reinsurance group Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd., has hired a new loss control leader. Victor Sordillo joins as Senior Vice President and Loss Control Leader of Sompo International, a role in which ... Read the full article
Diversification highlighted as key strength for Validus by A.M. Best
10th April 2017
Rating agency A.M. Best has highlighted the importance of diversification, in terms of line of business, primary insurance and reinsurance, and global locations, as a key strength of Validus Group. It's a sign of the increasing importance of diversified business models for global reinsurance firms, as the softened market requires steps ... Read the full article
MGA Ascent Underwriting appoints claims director
10th April 2017
Niche product specialist managing general agency Ascent Underwriting, which offers cyber reinsurance solutions among its range of products, has appointed Mark Bowers, previously of Tokio Marine Kiln, as its claims director. Bowers joins Ascent Underwriting with immediate effect and will take on responsibility for maintenance and development of the companies claims ... Read the full article
Conning forecasts record levels of M&A activity in 2017
10th April 2017
A record number of M&A transactions in the distribution end of the market, with tech-driven service providers and equity brokers at the forefront of the transaction boom, is predicted for 2017 in investment management firm, Conning’s, annual global insurance M&A study. Insurance brokers and private equity sponsors have been leading the ... Read the full article
$2 billion insured losses for severe U.S. weather events in March: Aon Benfield
7th April 2017
Aon Benfield’s March Global Catastrophe report reveals a month of above average payouts as an expected $2 billion hits the U.S. re/insurance industry after an extremely active severe weather season struck central and eastern parts of the country. Major damage from early March tornadoes, hail and straight-line winds in the Plains, ... Read the full article
U.S. severe weather drives Q1 2017 global insured losses: Aon Benfield
6th April 2017
2017 first quarter global catastrophe loss estimations have been set at $7.6 billion - showing an active, but below 10- year average payout season, according to reinsurance broker Aon Benfield's estimations in its newly released first quarter market trends report. Following on from last year’s insured loss records - where the ... Read the full article
Munich Re’s HSB Engineering Insurance appoints biz dev & distribution director
6th April 2017
HSB Engineering Insurance (HSB), the specialist industrial engineering and construction insurance arm of reinsurer Munich Re, has appointed a new business development and distribution director. Richard Slatter joins HSB from a Sales Director role at British Engineering Services. Prior to that he was at RSA Engineering for over 20 years and ... Read the full article
Swiss Re Corporate Solutions Brazil appoints Calheiros as CEO
6th April 2017
Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, the commercial insurance arm of global players Swiss Re, has appointed Luciano Calheiros as CEO of its new Brazilian joint-venture operations. Luciano Calheiros will become CEO of Swiss Re's new commercial insurance joint-venture in Brazil as of 1st May 2017, succeeding Joao Nogueira, who is transitioning to ... Read the full article
RMS stress tests would see leading banks’ corporate borrowers downgraded when exposed to drought risk
5th April 2017
Risk modeler RMS found the clients of leading banks across the globe would see credit rating downgrades when tested against exposure to normal drought scenarios with a sophisticated drought stress testing tool RMS recently made in collaboration with financial institutions. RMS worked with leading banks from the U.S., China, Mexico, Brazil and other ... Read the full article
Willis appoints Thorsten Querfurt to Natural Resources Global Industry Leader
5th April 2017
Willis Towers Watson has appointed Thorsten Querfurt, joining from management consulting firm Oliver Wyman, as new Global Industry Leader for Natural Resources. In his new role Querfurt will oversee the firm’s Natural Resources segment expansion - including oil, gas and chemicals, metals and mining, and power and utilities (including renewable energy and ... Read the full article
Larger losses, digitalisation & tech are reshaping liability risk landscape: Allianz
31st March 2017
Companies around the world are increasingly susceptible to larger liability losses and the advancement of technology has the potential to drive a shift in the liability risk landscape, warns Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS), a division of Allianz. After analysing 100,000 insurance claims from more than 100 countries between 2011 and ... Read the full article
Moody’s predicts manageable operational risk for insurers from Brexit
31st March 2017
For the large majority of UK insurers operational risks following the Brexit vote are expected to be manageable, and the credit impact will likely be moderate, according to Moody's Investors Service. Exactly how much of an impact the UK's vote leave the EU will have on the London market and broader ... Read the full article
Reinsurers to pick up Cyclone Debbie bill
31st March 2017
Reinsurance is likely to pick up the majority of cyclone Debbie claims which are thought likely to be around the cyclone Yasi level of AU$1.4 billion after heavy winds and torrential rains devastated the northern Queensland coastline causing the worst floods the region has seen in 50 years. As those affected ... Read the full article
Investments offset underwriting decline at Lloyd’s of London
30th March 2017
The Lloyd's of London market announced its results today, revealing a decline in its underwriting profitability as the combined ratio increased to 97.9%, but pre-tax profits were flat at £2.1 billion as investment returns jumped. The fact that underwriting has become increasingly less profitable at Lloyd's of London, on a market-wide ... Read the full article





