March 2017/3

Much of the talk around InsurTech seems to fall into two distinct categories.

InsurTech firms are targeting distribution in their first wave of disruption, and the polite, gentlemanly nature of their entry into insurance is unlikely to last long, speakers warned at The Insurance Insider's inaugural InsiderTech event.

Property direct and facultative (D&F) rates appear to be bottoming out at the 1 April renewals, as carriers reach a point where they cannot afford to concede further reductions.

Outgoing CEO Peter Hancock will receive a lump sum of more than $14.5mn upon leaving AIG, in addition to his base salary and potential bonuses for 2017.

Hard market pockets are emerging in the US trucking and transportation reinsurance market as deteriorating underlying results lead treaty underwriters to take a tougher stance on new and renewal business, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

Heritage Insurance Holdings has expressed a strong appetite for further M&A but indicated that smaller Floridian carriers, widely identified as ripe for consolidation, will not be on its hit list.

The number of Florida insurers looking to lower their use of reinsurance from the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (FHCF) has dropped notably in the run-up to this year's 1 June renewal.

Florida's smaller homeowners' carriers have averted the immediate threat to their critical A-range ratings.

Demotech's reprieve of the thinly capitalised Florida homeowners' sector may only be temporary, as the rating agency warned that without "meaningful improvement" in the assignment of benefits (AOB) situation, carriers in the state will likely face future downgrades.

Japanese mutual insurer Zenkyoren will secure only a marginal improvement on terms for its 2017/18 cat placement, as the world's biggest buyer prioritised an increase in the limit it purchased to almost $14bn.

Sometimes being so embedded in our industry can be a disadvantage for The Insurance Insider.

Rates on most Japanese property catastrophe excess-of-loss (XoL) treaties look set to slide by around 5 percent when they renew on 1 April, as reinsurers continue to offer concessions to buyers to defend their renewal books.