Insurer News – Page 205
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NewsHyperion's DUAL names Hudson as CFO
DUAL, the underwriting arm of Hyperion Insurance, said it has appointed Mark Hudson as chief financial officer, from September. Hudson joins DUAL from Novae Group, where he served on its executive committee and has been finance director of its managing agency subsidiary, Novae Syndicates, since 1999. ...
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NewsActivist Icahn raises AIG stake to 4%
Activist investor Carl Icahn has raised his stake in AIG to 4%, putting further pressure on the insurer’s board to heed his radical agenda. Icahn raised his holding in the company by one-fifth and now owns 44.4 million shares in AIG, according to regulatory filings. ...
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NewsAllianz’s Dye: AGF run-off sale will free up resources
Allianz’s recent sale of a book of UK run-off employers’ liability business will free up resources that can be deployed elsewhere, according to Allianz UK chief executive Jon Dye. It emerged in March that Allianz had agreed to sell subsidiary AGF Holdings (UK), which went into ...
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AgendaQBE targets Latin American growth with Miami hire
QBE Europe has hired Alfonso De Mares (pictured) as business development manager for Latin America. De Mares will be based in Miami and report to director of overseas business development Tim Harris. Before joining QBE, De Mares was a senior vice-president at reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter ...
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NewsMarkerstudy joins SSP’s Keychoice panel
Markerstudy has joined the insurer panel of Keychoice, the insurance distribution business owned by software house SSP. Under the deal, Keychoice member brokers can access Zenith Insurance and Zenith Marque private car and commercial vehicle products at exclusive preferential rates. Keychoice general manager Liz Mitchell said: ...
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NewsMarkerstudy’s Zenith cuts Irish motor exposure with agency exit
Markerstudy’s Gibraltar-based insurer Zenith has reduced its exposure to the Irish motor market by exiting a deal with a local underwriting agency. The Irish Times reported that Zenith will stop writing business through ARB Underwriting on June 23. Zenith will continue to honour all existing policies, ...
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NewsAllianz UK reports 89.9% commercial COR but 101.2% in personal
Allianz UK reported a commercial lines combined operating ratio (COR) of 89.9% for the first quarter of 2016, which chief executive Jon Dye hailed as the unit’s “most profitable quarter for some years.” The commercial lines COR was a 6.9 percentage point improvement over the 96.8% ...
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NewsLloyd’s calls for end to US government-backed flood cover
Lloyd’s insurers have called for the US government to stop providing flood damage, the Financial Times reports. In the US, the National Flood Insurance Programme (NFIP), which has 5.2 million policyholders, pays for flood damage. But Lloyd’s insurers argue that state payment of flood risks has ...
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NewsMacquarie downgrades RSA stock over pension risk
Investment bank Macquarie has downgraded its rating on RSA’s shares to ‘underperform’ from ‘neutral’ because of the risk from the insurer’s pension scheme. In a research note, the bank also warned that it expects RSA’s UK commercial business to face pricing pressure. Macquarie has downgraded its ...
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NewsAviva gathers cast of celebrities to promote safer driving
Aviva has teamed up with Channel 4 and celebrities including rap star Tinchy Stryder and entertainers the Chuckle Brothers (pictured) for a series of short videos promoting safer driving. Also starring in the videos are Made in Chelsea’s Louise Thompson, musician Martin Kemp, Radio 1’s Chris ...
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NewsBluefin adds former commercial boss to GRP/Bruce court battle
A judge has given Bluefin the go-ahead to take legal action against Neil Thornton, the former head of its commercial division. The broker has accused Thornton of conspiring with ex-chief executive Mike Bruce, two Bluefin branch directors and Thornton’s new employer Global Risk Partners (GRP) to ...
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NewsLegal action against Neil Thornton ‘necessary’ to protect business – Bluefin
Bluefin said its legal action against former commercial director Neil Thornton was necessary to protect its business, clients and staff from individuals it suspects have breached their obligations to Bluefin. Following a hearing today at the High Court, a judge has given Bluefin the go-ahead to ...
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NewsResults show Zurich ‘is not broken’ – analyst
Zurich’s first quarter results show that the Swiss insurance group “is not broken”, according to a research note by Macquarie analyst Andy Hughes. Yesterday Zurich reported a group profit of $875m (£605m) and a general insurance operating profit of $542m for the first quarter of 2016. ...
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NewsPwC warns of weak casualty reserves in London market
Casualty claims reserves being set by London market (re)insurers for business written in 2015 are weaker than in previous years, according to a review by accounting firm PwC. The review found that London market (re)insurance casualty reserves are, on average, 3% weaker than for business written ...
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NewsChaucer grows political risk team with former XL Catlin exec
Lloyd’s insurer Chaucer has hired former XL Catlin underwriter Jonathan Bint as political risk underwriter and analyst. Bint was part of the credit and political risk underwriting team at XL Catlin. Chaucer said it hired Bint to help drive the expansion of its political risk and ...
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NewsAllianz’s McGinn: Insurers more wary of hiking commissions
Insurers are now more cautious about paying brokers increased commissions without seeing something in return, according to Allianz commercial and personal general manager Simon McGinn. Speaking to Insurance Times at Biba’s annual conference in Manchester, McGinn said: “Insurers are just a little bit more wise about ...
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NewsZurich UK GI profit falls 51%
Zurich’s UK general insurance (GI) business made an operating profit of £23m in the first quarter of 2016, down 51% on the £47m profit it made in last year’s first quarter. The division’s combined operating ratio (COR) deteriorated by 6.2 percentage points to 99.7% (Q1 2015: ...
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NewsLV= Broker gains chartered status
LV= Broker has been awarded chartered insurer status by the Chartered Institute of Insurers (CII), LV= Broker handles general insurance business that comes to LV= through brokers. The insurer said the new status recognised its professional attitude, skills and knowledge as well as the service it ...
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NewsZurich group GI profit drops 23% in first quarter
Zurich’s global general insurance (GI) business made an operating profit of $542m (£375m) in the first quarter of 2016, down 23% on the $706m it made in last year’s first quarter. But while the result was down on 2015’s first quarter, Zurich said the performance was ...
