Opinion

Last week, AIG CEO Brian Duperreault mused that between efforts to right its own underwriting ship and the actions of Lloyd’s to similarly clean up, the two insurance giants had moved the market.

If a trophy buyer existed – someone easy on the eye, with plenty of cash and infinite patience – a Canadian fund manager would surely fit the bill.

A changing market brings a new dimension for underwriters.

It wasn’t the huge fund management acquisition that Allianz executives had been doing their level best to downplay in recent weeks.

You will doubtless have seen the amazing but terrifying picture of a throng of climbers lining up patiently to make their ascent of the peak of Mount Everest doing the rounds of social media over the past few weeks.

Over the weekend, a law banning letting agencies from charging tenancy fees came into effect in the UK.

Now that InsurTech funding seems to be on a distinctly downward trajectory, where will the backing for innovation come from in the future?

A London market broker made a very interesting point to me the other day.

If I told you that it was possible to underwrite a cyber policy with one single piece of data, I’d wager that you’d either laugh in my face or tell me I was mad.

For all the issues that dog the insurance industry, the perception among customers or the wider public that carriers are out to deny valid claims is the most damaging and, sadly, the one that most persistently raises its head.

We journalists are always being told we are too subjective and prone to bias.

Peddler of death sticks boil and bake, fossil-fuelled power group in the cake; fast-fashion firm with supply chain woes, arms maker in the cauldron goes.