November 2016/5

Back in the old days London underwriters didn't used to bother getting out much.

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

Panama-headquartered reinsurer Barents Re has set up a new capitalised entity in Luxembourg as it prepares to write business from London at 1 January.

The Insider 30 was up 1.1 percent last week on average, buoyed by the good stock performance of the US carriers in the group.

Capital management remained firmly on the agenda for US specialty carriers during the third quarter as profitable growth opportunities continued to be limited by market conditions.

Bermudian carriers handed back less capital during the third quarter of 2016 than in the prior-year period, as the re-emergence of M&A activity stifled share repurchases.

The average price per £1 of Lloyd's capacity fell in the 2016 auctions as the amount tendered by Names rocketed year-on-year.

The Lloyd's segments of listed P&C (re)insurers reported mixed results for the third quarter of the year, both on top line and in terms of underwriting performance.

Asbestos losses for US property and casualty insurers may climb to $100bn or even higher as a result of increases from "evolving" litigation and longevity gains, according to AM Best.

The UK should prepare itself for the unavoidable economic turbulence that the decision to leave the European Union (EU) will begin to bring in 2017.

Lloyd's CEO Inga Beale has rejected the idea of mandatory cyber insurance for businesses, describing it as a "blunt instrument" for increasing cyber penetration.

Holmes resurfaces at Elseco; TMK underwriting chair retires; Major resigns from Zurich; Lloyd\'s Brexit plan ready for Q1; Draft UK ILS regulations; Sompo Canopius CEO departs; Generali to leave up to 15 markets; XL Catlin hires M&A insurance chief; NIIT hires CSC digital head; ERS underwriting director; Chinese reinsurance collateral rules; Nine Merchants Re confirms launch; Mitsui offers bitcoin cover; Perils raises quake estimate; MGA Fiducia launches; Price Forbes COO named; Islamic insurance d

The New Zealand Super Fund's reinsurance allocation remained stable at about $200mn in 2016.

Generali is seeking EUR180mn ($192mn) of cat bond cover for its motor third-party liability book through a Dublin-based special purpose vehicle called Horse Capital I DAC, sources told sister publication Trading Risk. ‎

The London market ILS framework needs to introduce clearer terminology on the requirement for transaction structures to be "fully funded" to avoid uncertainty, according to Clifford Chance, legal advisers to London Market Group (LMG)'s ILS working group.

When the global specialty and reinsurance markets think of inbound investment from Asia, it is usually Japan and China which spring to mind.

Korean Re's plans to launch a full Lloyd's syndicate are a further step in its ambitions to "dominate" the global reinsurance market.

What will the reinsurance broker of the future look like? That is the question that I would be asking if I were sitting in Peter Hearn's chair now as he determines the strategic direction that he wants to take Guy Carpenter in.

CEO Peter Hearn is expected to attempt to make efficiency savings at Guy Carpenter as he looks to reallocate resources away from transactional broking and towards higher-end consultancy and analytics.

At the interface of technological innovation and traditional underwriting it can be difficult to separate the initiatives that will bring genuine change to the industry from those that promise much, but deliver little.

Hamilton USA is in talks with a number of programme partners as it looks to exit its current portfolio and reposition itself for growth in the middle market segment under new CEO Seraina Macia, The Insurance Insider can reveal.