July 2016/2

Later this year Liberty Mutual will consolidate its outwards casualty reinsurance into a single global treaty, further eroding cessions that have already been dramatically reduced in recent years, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

Did I speak too soon last week when I wrote about how a UK departure from the EU meant that the loss of (re)insurance passporting rights into the European Economic Area and Switzerland was a political inevitability?

American International Group (AIG) has confounded expectations in some quarters that it would increase a quota share cover to protect its upstream energy book at 1 July, The Insurance Insider understands.

Reinsurers will face a loss figure in the billions of dollars from the wildfires that tore through northern Alberta in May, which have been named the costliest insured natural disaster in Canadian history.

Hard-pressed reinsurers in the brokered North American market will soon have to compete with Berkshire Hathaway's Gen Re, which has signalled a willingness to write as much as or even more business than current top-10 player TransRe.

Harrington Re will allow Axis to bring additional capacity to reinsurance buyers at a time when many see meaningful line size as a key differentiator in the sector.

Tullow, the biggest joint venture partner on the loss-hit Jubilee oil field, has flagged potential losses and additional costs of up to $345mn from damage to the turret on the Kwame Nkrumah floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel.

Two London-based cyber carriers have signed up to Aon Carrier Link for Lloyd's in a bid to grow their books outside of the City, The Insurance Insider understands.

The aviation market experienced a slowdown in rate reductions during the second quarter as underwriters began to adopt a more selective underwriting approach and focus on limiting portfolio losses in response to seemingly perpetual rate softening.

Fairfax acquires Zurich South Africa; Swiss Re Corporate Solutions names China head; French insurance trade bodies merge; Comparethemarket owner prepares IPO; ARC names CEO; Markel enters marine equipment market; Talbot names Australian underwriting head; Lancashire names NED; Heritage withdraws rate rise request; Prime Risk acquires ONI; Axa to divest Serbian business; Worst Q1 for US P&C since 2011: AM Best; AM Best affirms AmTrust ratings; Aran subsidiary named Lloyd's coverholder; Marsh names vi

Placing Platform Limited (PPL) has today (11 July) gone live with its electronic placing technology for terrorism risks in the London market.

Berkley Re UK has hired casualty treaty reinsurance underwriter Ivonne Staisch from Aspen, The Insurance Insider understands.

Tom Nichols, CFO of Enstar's US operations, has left the company, The Insurance Insider understands.

Regulatory demands and the influence of Brexit dominated the sector conference for managing general agents (MGAs) last week, as delegates debated the market's future direction.

Validus leapfrogged Nephila to become the largest reinsurance provider for Florida Citizens Property Insurance in 2016, as the state-backed carrier restructured its traditional programme.

Lane Financial has said that ILS rates rose 1.6 percent during the second quarter, but maintained that pricing movements after the hurricane season will give a better reflection of the overall direction of the market.

More than a dozen insurers are facing a $300mn claim from a Canadian bank that was implicated in a massive Ponzi scheme.

A joint venture between two contractors has accused Aon of negligence in its placement of a wrap-up insurance policy for a 20,000-seat stadium just outside Las Vegas.

The first week of July saw European (re)insurers record share price decreases that dragged The Insider 30 composite down 0.8 percent into the red.

Share price data on The Insurance Insider's universe of P&C (re)insurers

Total return reinsurers' struggle to achieve profit on both underwriting and investment continued from 2015 into the first quarter of 2016, with only one carrier generating profits on both sides of the balance sheet.