Zurich

The reshuffle is likely laying the foundations for the eventual succession to CEO Mario Greco.

The MGA secured a “significant strategic investment” from Zurich earlier this year.

The Swiss carrier appointed a new global energy head earlier this week.

The carrier is looking to take a lead position in energy-transition risks.

The Swiss carrier improved its P&C combined ratio by 1.2 points to 92.4%.

The cyber business will continue to operate as a standalone entity.

Plus, the latest people moves and all the top news of the week.

The (re)insurer used alternative capital in the reinsurance coverage.

Cat losses for the quarter added 3.2 points to the carrier's combined ratio.

Both Chubb and Zurich will underwrite the risks, with Nico as the sleeping partner.

Joanne Barry will be joining the team at Zurich.

The facility provides up to $100mn in claims-made excess casualty coverage.

The process for the legacy book is believed to be in the late stages.

The strategic investment supports Icen’s international ambitions.

The executive said the firm had to focus time and investment on the most meaningful projects.

The carrier pegged its California wildfire losses at $200mn pre-tax.

The appointment is a “major part” of Zurich’s global strategy, the company said.

The carrier is seen as a likely target of Lloyd’s ‘Big Game Hunting’ strategy.

The sale of the business was confirmed in June.

CEO Mario Greco said his future retirement had nothing to do with bringing the plan forward.

The company is on track to exceed its targets for 2023-25 one year ahead of schedule.

Greco will likely remain in place in the medium-term, which could mean major M&A and a Lloyd’s platform.

The carrier has pegged preliminary pre-tax Milton losses at less than $200mn.

Bradley Haimes will leave Zurich after more than a decade with the carrier.

The loss ends a spell of benign claims activity in the downstream segment.

Plus the latest people moves and all the top news of the week.

The carrier's combined ratio in P&C operations rose slightly to 93.6%.

The facility will provide coverage globally for blue and green hydrogen projects.

This publication reported yesterday that the two carriers were nearing a deal.

The disposal is the latest milestone in AIG’s work to reposition itself as a commercial lines insurer.

The executive has worked for Zurich since 2005.

The carrier reported rate increases of 5% across its P&C portfolio.

The executive worked on projects with the firm when he was an investment banker.

All three carriers also announced increased dividends.

Peer Zurich had a more stable renewal.

At the group level, Zurich reported its highest-ever return on equity.

The carrier has also hired Craig Bedford as specie underwriting manager.

The insurer says Greensill's claim "arises out of a fraudulent scheme”.

Gaughan took over the leadership of SiriusPoint’s energy underwriting operation last year.

The Global Risks Report 2024, made in partnership with Marsh and Zurich, shows that extreme weather events, misinformation and disinformation are top risk severity concerns.

The carrier has made numerous energy and power appointments in recent months.

George Quinn has worked at Zurich for a decade and will oversee the completion of Zurich’s 2023 annual results.

In the US, growth was driven by property and motor lines, while Brazil and Mexico contributed most to the Latin America region’s growth.

The (re)insurer has proposed the acquisition of a 51% stake in Kotak Mahindra General Insurance Company for $488mn.

The top five insurers on the continent maintained their ‘clear dominance’ in terms of scale.

Dirk De Nil will step into the role following the retirement of Hanno Mijer, who has been CEO of Zurich Resilience Solutions since its inception in 2021.

Plus the latest people moves and all the top news of the week.

The commercial insurance CEO said carriers must communicate on the reasons for ongoing rate increases as the market bifurcates.

The carrier's combined ratio in P&C operations rose by 1.3 percentage points over the period, to 92.9%.

The Association of British Insurers has also appointed Clare Bousfield, CEO of retail and savings at M&G, as deputy president.

Analysts claimed the relative lack of transparency will allow carriers to earn higher margins for longer.

Growth was mainly driven by rate increases, with North America accounting for 50% of P&C expansion.

The trade body is in crisis following a string of misconduct allegations, including alleged rape.

Beneva has signed up to net-zero targets as a member of the NZIA, following a period of turbulence in which Munich Re, Zurich and Hannover Re have left the alliance.

Aviva has said it is committed to the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance, in the wake of withdrawals from the group by Zurich, Munich Re and Hannover Re.

Hannover Re has followed Zurich and Munich Re in announcing its departure from the Net Zero Insurance Alliance, though it offered no explanation for its decision.

The loss hits a market grappling with social and economic inflation, plus increased reinsurance costs.

Zurich’s decision comes less than a week after Munich Re decided to withdraw from the UN-backed initiative.

Analysts find carriers have few investments in bank debt after Credit Suisse rescue.

The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank is creating investor fear across the global financial services sector. 

Executives noted that changes capping cat exposure via the treaty made it a less capital-intensive transaction for Zurich than in the past.

The carrier has upped its global all-perils cat coverage to $1.2bn since January last year.

Of the 8.5% quota share assumed by Farmers Re, 6.75% was retroceded to Zurich Global.

The carrier benefited from favourable rate environments across all geographies, as well as lower catastrophe and weather-related claims.

The CEO called for the formation of public-private partnerships, akin to those in place for terrorism or earthquakes, to tackle systemic cyber risks.

The pub group and bakery chain will dispute elements of judgements issued in October in UK Covid-related BI lawsuits.

Streidl will step into the role following Rob Kuchinski’s retirement at the end of the year.

Analysts said attachment points are now far behind the rate of inflation over the period.

The carrier will turn its attention to embedding sustainability across Zurich in the next three-year period.

Zurich had already planned to reduce its US cat exposure by 10%, a target that has nearly been achieved, the executive said.

The carrier’s North American business recorded the strongest GWP growth, booking a 14% increase for the year to date.

Mondelez had filed a $100mn lawsuit against the insurer over payment denial. 

Many policyholders are likely to receive larger payouts following the judgement, but a worst-case scenario has been averted.

Stonegate’s case is seen in the market as a key precedent for the aggregation of BI claims.

The bakery will be able to claim for multiple separate incidences rather than confining its losses to a single £2.5mn ($2.8mn) cap.

Penny Seach is to succeed Hayley Robinson, who has decided to step down at year end for family health reasons.

With significantly lower retentions, AIG, Assurant and Allstate are more likely to pass the cost of the hurricane onward to their reinsurers.

Offshore energy chairman Frank Streidl said margins are tight and upstream had not hardened like other insurance lines.

The willingness by legacy buyers to walk away from deals is a sign of discipline in a competitive market.

Clubs including Arsenal, Aston Villa and Leicester City are claiming against insurers.

The carrier has also hired Munich Re’s Andreas Schmitt as group cyber underwriting manager.

Zurich is ahead of schedule on its nat cat exposure reduction in the US, the company’s CFO George Quinn said during an H1 earnings call.

Zurich’s P&C business saw H1 business operating profit rise 31.8% on a year ago, with a 91.9% combined ratio for the period.

The suit is the latest in a series of Covid-19 BI legal actions hinging on aggregation brought against insurers.

The parties gave their final submissions following a legal hearing that has lasted over two weeks.

The insurers also claimed that Stonegate’s desired treatment of furlough payments would lead to it being ‘over-indemnified’.

The pub company is looking for a payout at every one of its 760 premises, whilst insurers claim it is entitled to a single limit.

The bakery chain is suing Zurich over losses during the lockdown, one of several high-profile BI legal disputes to have emerged.

The pub chain has claimed in court that it is entitled to separate payouts for each of its 760 venues.

Aggregation is the main issue in the landmark case brought against MS Amlin, Zurich and Liberty Mutual.

The commercial insurance CEO said that the industry should act now before the cat market reached a point of implosion.

Insurers and brokers have been cutting their ties with Russia following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Plus the latest company results, people moves and all the top news of the week.

CFO George Quinn said he did not foresee any classical inflation scenario impacting the carrier’s P&C book.

The carrier’s P&C divisions in North America and Latin America both reported 17% year-on-year increases in GWP.

Conditions for SPAC D&O are likely to remain turbulent, amid the heightened SEC scrutiny and uncertainty concerning claims resolution.

The Zurich chairman previously spent over four decades at Swiss Re, including as CEO between 2012 and 2016.

The insurer has teamed up with several carbon-removal suppliers to help it achieve its new goal.

Zurich is set to remove its Z logo temporarily from social media and possibly dropping the logo entirely since the letter became a pro-Russian war symbol following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

The trio join WTW, Aon, Marsh McLennan, Hannover Re and Generali in shunning Russia over the Ukraine invasion.

Since 2017, the carrier has also phased out insurance relationships equating with $38mn in GWP.

The business made a steep underwriting loss in 2020.

The carrier also increased its levels of co-participation on the upper layers of the cover.

The carrier increased P&C pricing by 7% in 2021.

AlphaChat’s technology will be deployed across all of Zurich’s business channels.

The carrier said it would no longer support greenfield oil exploration and plans a full phase-out of thermal coal from its underwriting portfolio by 2040.

Zurich has exhausted its $450mn aggregate reinsurance cover after booking around $450mn in losses from Hurricane Ida and $150mn-$200mn from Storm Bernd.

Zurich’s gross written premium (GWP) in its property and casualty segment rose 11% to just over $31bn during the first nine months of the year, driven particularly by North American growth.

Disputes over coverage and aggregation have continued since the Supreme Court gave its test case verdict in January.

The carrier said the portfolios ‘no longer support’ its core strategy.

Nine (re)insurance firms in London took part in the programme for career-break women, organised by diversity and inclusion firm Inclusivity and supported by the Insurance Families Network.

The move is part of a new package of climate-related measures.

The executive joined Lloyd’s more than seven years ago and has been a mainstay of the performance management team.

Paolo Mantero replaces Giovanni Giuliani, who is to become Zurich Italy CEO.

The executive will take on a leading role in all aspects of the carrier’s data management.

The executive said it was too early to read the trend of loss cost inflation as US courts began to reopen.

The carrier posted a strong turnaround after suffering heavy Covid-19 claims last year.

Richard Gordon began his new role as head of construction UK last month, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Insurers MS Amlin, Liberty Mutual and Zurich claim that the BI policy has a maximum limit of £17.5mn.

Urban Angehrn was appointed CEO of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority earlier today.

The carriers insuring VW’s D&O policies have agreed to pay out claims due to damage inflicted by previous executives in the emissions scandal.

The growth was driven by higher premium rates, particularly in commercial insurance.

The former Zurich Ireland CUO will take on the role from July and report to UK & Lloyd’s market CUO Luis Prato.

The former UK CUO will move to Zurich in a reshuffle that follows Signorelli’s promotion to commercial insurance CEO.

The former financial lines CUO will start at the end of the month and be based in Switzerland.

The carrier says it remains in a strong financial position after a year of financial market volatility and heightened claims.

The AmTrust-owned MGA will be able to offer policy limits of EUR40mn per transaction.

The Swiss carrier denies signing off dangerous new-builds without full inspections.

Maxine Goddard and Rachael Dobie will be senior vice president and assistant vice president respectively.

The resilience solutions operation joins advisory segments focused on climate change, cyber security and supply chain risk.

QBE is said to be a fourth potential bidder.

The ratings agency said Zurich Insurance’s financial performance was “sustainably improved” and gave the rating a stable outlook.

More customers and investees are in dialogue with the carrier over sustainable energy concerns.

The four major developments of the week include:

The new commercial lines chief joined Zurich from AIG in 2017.

Dirk De Nil succeeds David Haak, who moves internally.

The executive will replace incoming Lloyd’s chief of markets Patrick Tiernan.

The CFO said that commercial lines business was improving faster than retail, reversing previous trends.

The carrier reports strong pricing momentum, with commercial premiums rates up 17% in North America.

The new European underwriting chief moves to the role from the post of Hong Kong general insurance CEO.

The Principles for Responsible Investment were launched in 2006, with Hannover Re, Liberty and Everest Re among other signatories.

Katie Small, Nick Gavin Powell and Michelle Suckling are set to join the business in the second quarter of this year.

The Zurich UK chief leaves as she prepares to take up a new role at the helm of the carrier's Asia Pacific arm.

The Zurich-owned carrier retains a financial strength rating of A2 and a surplus note rating of Baa2.