October 2017/1

Lloyd's posted a better combined ratio for the first half of 2017 than for the prior-year period, but this wasn't enough to prevent a drop in pre-tax profits.

A long-term decline in non-fatal workplace accidents and injuries combined with improving loss experience helped workers' compensation carriers to greater profitability last year as premiums climbed to a record $58.5bn

Uncertainty over the cost of hurricanes Irma and Maria has put the brakes on the recovery of the secondary cat bond market, which had initially rebounded.

Markel Catco has said recent catastrophe events mean its 2017 annual return could fall anywhere between up 5 percent to down by as much as 15 percent.

With the third quarter now in the books and (re)insurers obliged to quantify their losses for investors during reporting season, a number have started to pre-announce their expected share of the glut of cat losses.

Catastrophe modelling firms have failed to reach a consensus on the impact of hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, as carriers attempt to count the cost of a fast-moving claims situation

Once again, there was little joy to be found in the headline numbers of Lloyd's first half results.

Cyber has taken the prime spot as the most important emerging risk for underwriters, according to an International Underwriting Association (IUA) poll of its members

(Re)insurance stocks climbed by 3.8 percent in the third quarter to hint at investor confidence in carrier balance sheets, despite an onslaught of natural catastrophes that threaten to wipe out the year's reinsurance premium intake.

As insurers and their reinsurers continue the challenging task of assessing HIM exposures, there is anecdotal evidence that US property underwriters are beginning to demand rate increases at renewal.

Competition among InsurTech start-ups to join so-called accelerators is keen, with 10 of the market's most high-profile firms receiving more than 8,500 applications to join their programmes, according to a report from Celent and Guy Carpenter.

For a long time the traffic has been going in the other direction. Independent brokers were selling up, accepting the inevitable march of consolidation.