November 2015/3

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

AmTrust saw its share price fall by more than 13 percent last week after announcing plans to raise $383mn through the placement of 5 million common shares.

The plane crash in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on 31 October could be a game changer in terms of the types of terrorism risks the insurance industry is up against, Pool Re CEO Julian Enoizi said last week (10 November).

The New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) is considering potential new regulations to improve cyber security within the financial sector.

There is room for insurance-linked securities (ILS) capacity to grow even without expanding the size of the catastrophe reinsurance market, Aon Securities CEO Paul Schultz said at the ILS Bermuda Convergence 2015 conference last week (11 November).

Nephila Capital has added two years to the term of its exclusive tie-up with fronting provider State National, extending the arrangement until 2019.

Everest Re is set to close its largest cat bond issuance to date through the $625mn Kilimanjaro Re 2015 transaction, sister publication Trading Risk reported last week.

The global reinsurers reported weaker underwriting results in the third quarter as Tianjin losses and higher expenses more than cancelled out an uptick in reserve releases.

Despite emerging pressures in the Florida homeowners’ market, its quintet of publicly traded carriers continued to demonstrate strong top-line growth in third quarter earnings releases, in part driven by expansion beyond state borders.

The weakening of the euro has allowed global reinsurers to post their biggest increase in Q3 top line since 2012, analysis from The Insurance Insider shows.

Trade body Insurance Europe has called for the European Commission to reconsider how it implements its simple, transparent and standardised (STS) framework for securitisations.

AM Best has affirmed its A- rating on Kelvin Re as it confirmed the Credit Suisse-managed carrier had written more than $120mn of gross premium during the first nine months of 2015.

RSG acquires M&A specialist; Women turned off insurance; Climate change threatens income; Advent Solutions hires chair; Central Bank probe into Quinn; Ace leads mining loss; Southwest Risk hires O'Connor; XL Catlin expands US excess casualty unit; Endurance strikes deal with aviation MGU; Profit forecast for TMK Syndicate 510 improves; Grandisson seen as Iordanou successor at Arch; Talanx reports Q3 profit growth; UK minister enacts Flood Re; Aspen raids LIU; LMA committee will examine CRO requireme

Munich Re board member Torsten Jeworrek has questioned the (re)insurance industry's ability to tackle the systemic nature of cyber attacks, adding that state-backed pools are "not the answer" to address the growing threat.

Lloyd's latest push for syndicates to measure their cyber risk exposures could spur growth in the standalone cyber insurance market, the Corporation's director of performance management Tom Bolt told The Insurance Insider.

The merger between (re)insurance broker Willis and professional services firm Towers Watson is "unlikely" to go through under the current terms, according to Janney analyst Robert Glasspiegel.

The two major initiatives announced by Aon last week have sparked fears of job losses in the professional services firm's London operations.

Lloyd's support of the Aon Client Treaty represents a turnaround on its view of broker facilities, following its strong opposition to both the Aon-Berkshire Hathaway Sidecar and Willis Global 360 just two years ago.

The way that the Aon Client Treaty is set to operate could see a number of the leadership positions on the global broker's London book change hands, The Insurance Insider understands.

Lloyd's insurers Hiscox and Barbican have both welcomed the Aon Carrier Link initiative as a move that could potentially increase market access and deliver new premiums into Lloyd's.

Brokers are always quick to inflate the importance of any initiative that they bring to market. Even the smallest tweak to the status quo can be characterised as "game-changing" or "transformative".

Stated insured losses from the Tianjin explosions have continued to trickle in, with the reported industry loss now exceeding the $1.5bn mark.

Members' agent Hampden Group has become the latest player to enter the crowded market to write gearing Funds at Lloyd's quota shares for 2016, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

Premium growth in Latin America hit 2.2 percent in 2014 despite challenging market conditions, according to Spanish carrier Mapfre.