Last week, AIG CEO Brian Duperreault mused that between efforts to right its own underwriting ship and the actions of Lloyd’s to similarly clean up, the two insurance giants had moved the market.
For all the issues that dog the insurance industry, the perception among customers or the wider public that carriers are out to deny valid claims is the most damaging and, sadly, the one that most persistently raises its head.
Last week, amid the flurry of statements about the future of Lloyd’s and where the market needs to go from here, I came across some interesting footage of the Corporation from all the way back in 1961.
On their way to medals, knighthoods, eternal Olympic glory etc, British cycling giants such as Sir Bradley Wiggins, Victoria Pendleton CBE and Sir Chris Hoy were imbued with a singular driving philosophy which underwrote their path to success.
Working in and around the commercial (re)insurance industry during the festive period is a little different to how things go in other sectors, even within financial services.
If you are reading this from the UK or Europe, it is likely that your political attention the last few weeks has homed-in on certain rumblings in that peculiar part of central London where reality recently seems to have become a relative concept.
Growing up, we are constantly encouraged to build good habits into our daily routines to ensure that we get into the right way of doing things early on.
Even with the most in-depth data, those attempting to estimate the insured or economic loss from a major hurricane are always bound to be off by some degree, especially when it comes to complex events such as hurricanes hitting densely populated areas.
Shares in German reinsurer Hannover Re dropped almost 5 percent as investors appeared unimpressed with a consensus-beating EUR399.5mn ($469.3mn) operating profit in the second quarter.
Shares in US carrier AmTrust and sister company Maiden Holdings dropped today in New York, after both firms released their second quarter results late yesterday.
India's government-owned reinsurer General Insurance Corporation of India, or GIC Re, has filed for an initial public offering of shares which could raise over $1bn.
Charles Taylor InsureTech has emerged as the preferred partner in a project that will radically reshape the way coverholders pass data to London market carriers, The Insurance Insider understands.
Recently formed Lloyd's syndicate Blenheim has launched a specialty reinsurance division under the leadership of former Talbot head of treaty John Cutts.
Argenta-managed Lloyd's carrier Atrium Syndicate 609 has increased its syndicate forecasts for the 2015 year-of-account by 3.5 percentage points at the midpoint.
David Ross, the chief executive of newly rebranded Towergate owner Ardonagh Group, has said the entity could consider an IPO as early as next year, according to a report.
US specialty insurer OneBeacon has reported a Q2 underwriting loss as increased catastrophe and underlying losses pushed the combined ratio up by 4 percentage points to 106.9 percent.
(Re)insurers are set to be hit with more claims from skyscraper fires in Dubai after the Torch Tower caught fire yesterday for the second time in two years.
Underwriting profits at Fairfax Financial jumped 31.7 percent in the second quarter to $108.4mn, as the company reported diluted earnings per share of $12.67.
Florida regulators have approved the take-out of 50,000 Citizens personal residential and coastal account policies by local insurers Safepoint and Southern Oak.
AM Best has improved International General's credit outlook from stable to positive on the basis of the carrier's strong operating performance and risk management system improvements
Independent London market broker SSL has called off a sale process after it failed to agree terms with high bidder Ed, The Insurance Insider can reveal.
Commissions and fee income at Willis Towers Watson's investment, risk and reinsurance arm increased by 3 percent on an organic basis to $383mn in the second quarter as the broker undershot analyst earnings expectations
Generali reported a modest uptick in group profits in H1 as its P&C business generated an operating profit of EUR1.10bn ($1.29bn) that was 0.7 percent higher year-on-year.
Equity analysts remain bullish on the outlook for XL Group after its stock dropped 4 percent last week, despite the carrier posting consensus-beating second quarter results.
Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) has opted to establish a new office in Dublin as part of the expansion of its UK and Southern Europe division
US healthcare diagnostic firm LabCorp has initiated legal action against AIG Specialty and Liberty Mutual after the insurers refused to pay out on a $10mn policy over the company's loss of a class action suit.
A cohort of hull underwriters led by Aspen have lost their appeal to sue the banker of Turkey-based Kairos Shipping in an English court to recoup a $22mn payment for a ship that was later judged to have been scuttled.
Shares of CNA Financial climbed 5.3 percent in New York trading after the big property and casualty carrier beat Wall Street earnings estimates for the second quarter.
Shares of CNA Financial climbed 5.3 percent in New York trading after the big property and casualty carrier beat Wall Street earnings estimates for the second quarter.
Fewer and less severe catastrophe losses helped US carrier CNA Financial beat second quarter earnings forecasts, as the company reported operating earnings per share (EPS) of $0.88, equating to net operating income of $239mn.
Fosun International chairman Guo Guangchang has thrown his weight behind an "essential and timely" push for stricter oversight of overseas M&A deals by Chinese authorities, according to a report.
Pre-tax profits at London market carrier Hiscox fell almost 50 percent year-on-year in the first half to £102.6mn ($134.7mn), with the result dented by a currency loss for the period but nevertheless beating forecasts.
Oak Hill Capital Partners has acquired a controlling stake in US retail P&C intermediary Epic Insurance Brokers from fellow private equity house The Carlyle Group in a transaction that sets the firm's worth at nearly $1bn.
Standard & Poor's (S&P) has lowered Markel's corporate rating by one step from BBB+ to BBB following the company's announcements yesterday that it would acquire State National for $919mn in cash and an industrial farm based in Miami for an estimated $255mn
Revenues at Marsh & McLennan Companies (MMC) reinsurance arm Guy Carpenter rose 4 percent year-on-year in the second quarter to $293mn as group earnings per share met forecasts.
Market behaviour in recent renewals suggests Bermudian carrier RenaissanceRe's greatest growth is behind it "for the foreseeable future", according to the company's chief executive Kevin O'Donnell.
Travelers has launched legal action against Singapore-based InsurTech start-up PolicyPal over the company's use of an umbrella for its logo, in at least the second such case brought by the US carrier this year.
India's first private market reinsurer ITI Re is considering the possibility of surrendering its licence due to regulatory issues in the country, including credit rating stipulations and obligatory cession rules.
US bellwether carrier Travelers undershot analyst predictions in the second quarter as operating profit per share dropped to $1.92 against consensus expectations of $2.11
Munich Re has struck a deal to cover the life insurance book of Iranian carrier Saman Insurance as the company seeks to re-establish a presence in the country following the end of sanctions last year
Funding for InsurTech start-ups rose by 148 percent in the second quarter to $985mn, according to a new report by Willis Re and Willis Towers Watson Securities.
Talanx has agreed to a EUR30.0mn ($34.6mn)) deal to acquire Generali’s majority stake in it two Colombian units as the Italian carrier continues to divest non-core assets.
Lloyd's has set out a series of measures to aid recovery after a market-turning event (MTE), which are designed to maintain its solvency and ability to pay claims
The London market should treat Brexit as a "catalyst to rethink where the future is" and pivot towards emerging markets, according to Marsh specialties CEO Roy White.
The total level of InsurTech funding fell by almost two-thirds in the first quarter of the year, interrupting a general upward trend in the sector, according to PwC and Startupbootcamp.
Blockchain-based InsurTech start-up InsureX abruptly halted its initial coin offering (ICO) last week amid concerns that the process had come under attack from fraudsters.
A majority of insurers on the $500mn limit primary layer of SBM Offshore's construction all risks policy have settled with the Dutch-based offshore energy specialist for $247mn after a long-running legal battle
Marsh & McLennan Companies (MMC)'s reinsurance arm Guy Carpenter has appointed Tom Hettinger to lead its capital, structured risk, growth and rating agency operations in the US and Canada.
Shares in US insurance services provider Patriot National jumped almost 12 percent today as investors reacted positively to the departure of company founder and CEO Steven Mariano.
Insurance technology and outsourcing provider Patriot National’s founder and CEO Steven Mariano, who is also the company’s majority shareholder, has stepped down from his operational roles and was replaced by the head of the company’s underwriting unit, John Rearer.
Insurer CNA has hired Robert Thomas from The Hartford to become its first senior vice president for claims analytics, finance and operations with the global property and casualty (P&C) division.
Growth in the MGA and program market outpaced the broader property and casualty (P&C) market by 1.2 percentage points last year, according to data from Conning.
Canadian carrier Trisura Group has received a licence to write specialty business from the Oklahoma Insurance Department, weeks after completing a $110mn spin-off from controlling shareholder Brookfield Asset Management.
The head of Chinese insurer Ping An’s $1bn Global Voyager investment fund plans to acquire technology and related knowledge to benefit its mainland business by deploying its assets in the US, Israel and Singapore, according to a report from Hong Kong.
Catastrophe data provider Perils hiked its estimate of losses stemming from the Egon windstorm that swept over Europe in January to EUR275mn ($314mn), up from a previous figure of EUR234mn.
London market carrier Beazley has been granted authorisation by the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) to convert its pre-existing reinsurance entity in the country into an EU base for its insurance operation.
Chubb is setting up a standalone cyber division under commercial cyber risk specialist Bill Stewart, who will lead its global practice in the segment across property and casualty (P&C) lines.
Claims adjusting firm Cunningham Lindsey has brought on three professionals to set up a team dedicated to the wind energy industry and based in the Netherlands.
Verisk analytics-owned P&C data provider ISO is offering a cyber insurance programme for carriers which includes advisory ratings on risk pricing, long a difficult challenge for insurers – even for those that offer the cover.
Hedge fund-backed reinsurer Greenlight Re has agreed to provide $1.1bn in multi-year quota share cover for Florida and Texas personal lines carrier Windhaven Insurance.
Specialty carrier Assurant has placed a $1.36bn property catastrophe reinsurance programme with a 5 percent year-on-year reduction in premiums to about $125.6mn.
Alibaba-backed Chinese InsurTech start-up Zhong An has struggled to maintain its profit margin despite substantial and sustained top line growth since 2014, according to IPO documents.
Specialty carrier Assurant has sealed a $1.36bn property cat reinsurance programme with a 5 percent year-on-year reduction in premiums to about $125.6mn.
Marsh has hired Sastry Durvasula from American Express naming him chief digital officer and chief data and analytics officer, a newly created position.
TigerRisk is acting as intermediary for parametric electronic (re)insurance placements on Xchanging’s X-gRm platform for catastrophe and windstorm software-based carrier New Paradigm Underwriters.
Chicago-based Ryan Specialty Group (RSG) has hired Pascal Alvarez to lead a new Latin American financial-lines focussed managing general underwriter (MGU), the company announced today.
Neptune Investment Management has sold the majority of its stake in Novae hours after it told this publication that Axis Capital's offer to acquire the company could have been "materially higher"
Significant Novae shareholders appear divided on the value of Axis Capital's 700 pence per share acquisition offer after its single largest investor said the offer could be "materially higher"
Norwegian general insurer Protector Forsikring has issued a £50.0mn ($64.6mn) preliminary estimate for its gross claims stemming from the Grenfell tower tragedy, indicating it expects a total loss to the policy
Axis shares have fallen just under 3 percent in morning trading in New York as investors react to the carrier's acquisition of London-listed Novae, announced late yesterday evening.
Newly appointed AIG chief operating officer Peter Zaffino is set to receive a one-off $15mn sign-on bonus from his new employer in lieu of compensation he has foregone from Marsh.
Fairfax has completed its $4.9bn takeover of Allied World after its share exchange offer to the Switzerland-headquartered carrier's investors closed yesterday
The EU's existing framework for recognising third-country regulatory regimes should be used for UK financial services groups seeking to do European business after Brexit, according to Financial Conduct Authority CEO Andrew Bailey.
The UK Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has said it expects all firms operating under the Solvency II regime to give "specific consideration" to their management of "silent" cyber exposures
Lower growth in major developed markets has hampered primary non-life premium growth despite an overall increase of 2.3 percent last year, according to Swiss Re
The Insider 50 index of global (re)insurance carriers edged up only marginally last week as gains at US specialty companies were largely offset by share price declines at UK and European firms
Surplus capacity caused by "blatant over investment" by capital providers is to blame for the persistent rate reductions in the upstream energy market, according to JLT
Gibraltar-based motor insurance specialist Markerstudy ran a £109.0mn ($141.2mn) solvency capital ratio (SCR) deficit in 2016, prompting the insurer to take action to cover the shortfall.
Schroders, Coral Rock Investments and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Pension Plan are among the investors that bought AmTrust's 11.5 percent stake in affiliate National General Holdings last month, according to a regulatory filing.
The New Zealand regulator has pushed back the date of its final decision on Suncorp-owned Vero's acquisition of Tower to 26 July, citing competition concerns about the deal.
Randall & Quilter (R&Q) co-founders Kenneth Randall and Alan Quilter have sold a combined £7.4mn ($8.4mn) of the company's shares in separate transactions
And there we have it. After a long and at times turbulent process Matt Fairfield's Exin has won the race for Greek state-owned insurer Ethniki, beating out stiff competition from a determined cohort of Chinese rivals
The London market needs to scrutinise how the benefits of broker facilities are distributed throughout the (re)insurance value chain, according to Beazley CEO Andrew Horton
AIG has piloted a multinational blockchain-based policy for Standard Chartered Bank in the first major use of the much-vaunted technology in the global (re)insurance industry.
Several Lloyd's and US (re)insurers have launched a $49mn legal action against Norwegian weather data provider StormGeo alleging defective read-outs from its system contributed to the sinking of the El Faro in 2015, according to court documents.
Israeli energy conglomerate Delek Group's 2.2bn shekel ($610mn) sale of local insurer Phoenix Holdings to Chinese conglomerate Yango Investments has collapsed after both parties agreed to walk away from the deal
(Re)insurers' recent emphasis on developing new technologies and tackling the threat of disruption is "navel gazing" which distracts from more pertinent issues, according to Shore Capital director Eamonn Flanagan
Neon-owned cyber venture Tarian has recruited Heather Marsden as legal officer and Dan Wall as assistant underwriter as the start-up continues to build out its team
Chaucer has received clearance to establish a Dublin-based subsidiary to write international specialty (re)insurance business as it safeguards its access to the EU after Brexit.
The Indian insurance regulator is reportedly set to review the rule that grants state-owned Indian reinsurer GIC Re the right of first refusal on all treaty business in the country
Shares in QBE plunged over 10 percent today after the Australian carrier said high claims activity in its emerging markets business would inflate combined ratios.
London market broker Ed has made five new appointments to its professional and executive risks team, four of which have joined from Willis Towers Watson.
London market broker Tysers reported a 12.8 percent increase in Ebitda profit to £10.6mn ($13.7mn) and a flat Ebitda margin of 20 percent for the full-year 2016
Asia Capital Re (ACR) has brought in Bobby Heerasing as deputy CEO as it nears the completion of its long-trailed sale, The Insurance Insider can reveal
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has launched a review into the professional indemnity (PI) market as part of a drive to improve coverage for advise
A trend towards protectionism in developed markets is the biggest threat facing the marine cargo insurance industry, according to Lloyd's CEO Inga Beale
The financial services sector stands to gain from the volatility caused by Brexit and needs to be alive to opportunities arising from uncertainty, according to Europe Economics executive director Andrew Lilico.
Brit Insurance’s marine liability head Richard Mander and UK property leader David Hancock have both left the business, The Insurance Insider can reveal
A trend towards protectionism in developed markets is the biggest threat facing the marine cargo insurance industry, according to Lloyd's CEO Inga Beale.
The financial services sector stands to gain from the volatility caused by Brexit and needs to be alive to opportunities arising from uncertainty, according to Europe Economics executive director Andrew Lilico.
Matt Fairfield’s start-up Exin has been awarded exclusivity with Greek state-owned insurer Ethniki as its Calamos Asset Management-backed bid looks set to win the race to acquire the carrier, The Insurance Insider understands
Matt Fairfield's start-up Exin has been awarded exclusivity with Greek state-owned insurer Ethniki as its Calamos Asset Management-backed bid looks set to win the race to acquire the carrier, The Insurance Insider understands.
Marsh has formally announced the formation of the Aircraft Finance Insurance Consortium (AFIC) alongside aircraft manufacturer Boeing, which The Insurance Insider originally revealed in April
Marsh has formally announced the formation of the Aircraft Finance Insurance Consortium (AFIC) alongside aircraft manufacturer Boeing, which The Insurance Insider originally revealed in April.
Willis Towers Watson has issued a strong rebuttal to an Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) recommendation to vote against CEO John Haley’s remuneration package for 2016 by saying the advisory firm had “overstated” the value of the compensation
Willis Towers Watson has issued a strong rebuttal to an Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) recommendation to vote against CEO John Haley's remuneration package for 2016 by saying the advisory firm had "overstated" the value of the compensation
Cyber risks lend themselves to automated underwriting due to the need for stringent management of the policy and the global nature of the product, according to Moore Stephens Consulting
Shares in James River fell 5.7 percent on Nasdaq today after the company late yesterday disclosed that funds run by DE Shaw plan to sell a 14.5 percent equity stake as they continue to cut their holdings.
The board of outsourced (re)insurance services provider Patriot National has announced a strategic review of the company nearly two months after it missed an extended deadline to file its 2016 results.
A combination of desperately low rates, major losses and the struggles of its clientele have forced a number of Lloyd's carriers to draw back meaningfully from the cargo market.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has predicted that the Atlantic will experience above-average activity in the forthcoming hurricane season, with a significant likelihood of several major hurricanes.
The European insurance watchdog intends to publish guidelines for national regulators to prevent them from pursuing a regulatory race to the bottom to attract firms leaving the UK post-Brexit
Matt Fairfield's start-up Exin and backer Calamos Asset Management now look the likeliest acquirer of Greek insurer Ethniki after lodging a circa EUR850mn ($951mn) bid that topped the offers submitted by a trio of Chinese firms, The Insurance Insider understands.
Asta-managed Lloyd's syndicate Dale Underwriting Partners has secured a commitment from its key capital backer ProAssurance to extend its $200mn capacity through to the 2022 year of account (YoA)
Expectations of a "bonfire of regulations" following the UK's exit from the EU are likely to prove unfounded given the country's already taut oversight regime, according to a group of senior industry executives
The California Department of Insurance (CDI) has received a $12mn settlement from WR Berkley Corporation after one of its subsidiaries was found to be operating as a surplus lines carrier in the state without the required licences