Issues

Specialty insurer Neon is considering setting up an insurance-linked securities fund that would help support its growing property catastrophe book, sister publication Trading Risk reported last week.

Operating returns on equity (RoEs) declined in the first quarter for US specialty insurers, as one-off Ogden impacts and increased core loss ratios eroded bottom lines.

Combined ratios were up across the board for US specialty insurers in the first quarter, as loss ratios inflated due to lower reserve releases and weaker underlying performances.

The pace of top line growth among the listed US specialty carriers slowed to 4.3 percent in the first quarter of the year.

WannaCry Hack; AmTrust fee business; Aviation rates; Miles Smith backer; Zurich legacy sale; Catalina strategic process; Grossman at Sovag and AG broker sale.

Brexit, regulation and promising Rhode Island legislation dominated the agenda of the annual Insurance and Reinsurance Legacy Association Congress (Irla) last week.

Today's soft market is the norm rather than the exception, according to BB&T Insurance chairman and CEO John Howard, who sees it as a key force in industry consolidation.

Reinsurers that embrace the wave of InsurTech initiatives could see significant growth opportunities, according to panellists at The Insurance Insider's InsiderScope event last week.

Small commercial and lower mid-market insurance will be the segments most impacted by InsurTech initiatives, according to senior executives speaking in New York last week.

While everyone is agreed that there's no end in sight for UK broker consolidation - there are still 3,000 of them all after all - the days of 13x-15x Ebitda could be numbered.

Rising regulatory requirements, succession issues and pressures on margins are driving the recent consolidation wave in UK broking businesses, according to sources.

Under the unforgiving light of quarterly reporting it is sometimes difficult for management to express the long-term goals and needs of a company.