July 2015/4

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

The Insider 30 index remained essentially flat last week, falling a mere 0.07 percent, as the second quarter reporting season begun.

The UK Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is considering imposing fixed-fee recoveries for claimant solicitors pursuing noise-induced hearing loss claims against insurers.

The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA)'s stress test for insurers doesn't go far enough in showing how carriers will cope with extreme scenarios, according to Hiscox chairman Robert Childs.

The long-awaited UK Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) Act 2010 could finally be ready to come into force after years of delays, The Insurance Insider understands.

A ship owner has appealed a court decision that allowed 10 Lloyd's insurers to allege that it deliberately scuttled its own ship.

A UK court has allowed motor syndicate ERS to amend a policy after rival insurer Axa tried to claim it should have been liable for a £4.6mn car crash.

International broker Arthur J Gallagher is suing one of its former employees and his new employer Portsoken after data was allegedly stolen and passed on to the rival intermediary.

Average rates for US commercial directors' and officers' (D&O) insurance across total programmes were down 3.9 percent in the second quarter, according to broker Marsh.

The softening market for US commercial property insurance "accelerated dramatically" after 1 April, according to Marsh's US property practice leader Duncan Ellis.

Although Marsh suggested it is too early to evaluate the impact of the proposed Ace acquisition of Chubb on the US casualty market, the firm did highlight specific areas likely to be affected, including workers' compensation.

The US casualty insurance has continued to soften in the second quarter of 2015, with previously challenging risks increasingly easy to place, according to Steve Kempsey of Marsh.

Industry bellwethers have produced further evidence that price increases in the US commercial P&C sector are slowing while striking different notes on the impact this is likely to have on margin in the second half of the year.

Potential cat bond sponsors could benefit from investor demand for diversifying perils, new exotic risks and higher risk-return transactions, Munich Re said in its latest insurance-linked securities (ILS) market report.

The Turkish Catastrophe Insurance Pool (TCIP) has launched its second Bosphorus cat bond, sister publication Trading Risk reported last week.

Assets under management at the top 10 insurance-linked securities (ILS) fund managers increased by just under 2 percent during the first half of 2015, according to data published by sister title Trading Risk.

London-listed Lloyd's insurer Beazley won plaudits from equity analysts after it unveiled a healthy start to 2015 with its half-year results.

Matthew Giddings, a transactional liability underwriter in Beazley's London office, is to join CFC Underwriting, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

The Lloyd's managing agency of Brian Duperreault's Hamilton Insurance Group has turned its Solvency II traffic light green after an extended period on red, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

The specie insurance market is expected to avoid a claim after a bag containing NZ$1mn was left on the tarmac of Hong Kong International airport earlier this month, The Insurance Insider understands.

Enstar executive vice president and group head of life Cormac Treanor has left the company less than a year after joining, The Insurance Insider has learned. Normal 0 false

StanCorp under review; Aon appoints China head; Syndicate 33 profit hike; RGA's profits dip; Ace-Chubb vote slated; Peak Re expands; Integro Re hires; JLT Re builds out; Allied World profits slide; US property price falls

As part of its "no" recommendation, ISS suggested that there may have been a lack of alignment between PartnerRe's board and its shareholders, raising doubts as to whether the board negotiated the best possible deal for investors.

ISS has raised significant doubts over Axis and PartnerRe's assertions that the combined entity might achieve a price-to tangible book multiple of 1.3x. Normal 0 false fal

With the PartnerRe deal on course to break down, Axis will be forced to revaluate its future, with its status as a potential M&A target increasing.

PartnerRe's future seems to have become a lot clearer after influential shareholder proxy firms ISS and Glass Lewis recommended that the reinsurer's shareholders vote against the proposed sale to Axis. Normal 0 false

The decision of nascent Chinese conglomerate China Minsheng Investment (CMI) to acquire White Mountains' reinsurance arm Sirius in a $2.2bn+ deal lends further credence to the view that a swathe of reinsurers will come to be owned by long-term investment groups.

Conditions in the London specialty insurance market are reminiscent of the late 1990s, according to senior executives at blue-chip Lloyd's insurer Hiscox plc. Normal 0 false

The board and management of Lloyd's (re)insurer Amlin are open to a sale if an acquirer can be persuaded to pay a control premium on top of its already full trading multiple, The Insurance Insider understands.

Analysts highlighted a "rough quarter" for Allied World as a combination of cat losses and large non-cat losses combined with a period when reserve releases fell short of expectations

Jim Franson has resigned from Arch and is expected to re-emerge at Validus as head of a new US reinsurance operation, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

Summer can bring even the most sheltered characters outside. Normal 0 &l-->

Changes in AIR Worldwide's latest US hurricane model could provide much-needed support to property cat underwriters in the lead-up to the key 1 January renewal, The Insurance Insider can reveal.