Analysis

Evercore leads league table of industry fund raising

New York-headquartered Evercore has emerged as the dominant name among (re)insurers looking for an advisory firm to help them launch or scale up, an analysis by The Insurer reveals.

Hiscox now puts focus on specialty and reinsurance as “big ticket” rate hardening accelerates

Hiscox plc plans to deploy additional capital in the London market as it takes advantage of the improving pricing environment in many specialty and reinsurance classes.

Q2 organic growth rates suggest brokers will avoid worst case scenario

Second quarter organic growth rates across the major brokers has suggested a more optimistic outlook for the remainder of 2020 than presented at the end of Q1.

Is the excitement around Lemonade going flat?

During the four weeks since its IPO, Lemonade has seen its share price soar before falling more than 30 percent from its peak while observers suggest any investor disappointment over the longer term could hurt other insurtechs hoping to go public.

Lloyd’s legacy boom

Last week, this publication revealed that both Apollo Syndicate 1969 and Vibe 5678 were exploring the run-off market for legacy solutions.

Aon shares trade down as earnings call points to revenue pressures outlook

Shift in sentiment at Lloyd’s as start-ups circle Lime Street

Amid widespread acceptance that, for many classes at least, we are now in a hard market, the opportunities presented by having a Lloyd’s platform have moved sharply into focus.

Commercial market pricing dislocation paves way for profitable captives

Early indications from the flurry of second quarter results announcements have shown that the pricing environment continues to harden in the commercial insurance market, and the expectation remains that the dislocation is set to stay for the foreseeable future.

US P&C surplus dropped by $75.9bn in Q1 amid Covid-19 turmoil: ISO and APCIA

The US property casualty insurance industry suffered a record $75.9bn hit to its surplus during the first quarter of 2020 as Covid-19 pummelled stock markets around the world, although the sector is likely to have made ground back in Q2 as markets rebounded.

H1 property cat bond issuance 20% higher than all of 2019: Aon

Aon expects the busy ILS pipeline to continue after a total of $2.8bn property cat bond limit was placed in the second quarter of this year, bringing issuance year to date to $6.5bn – 20 percent higher than the issuance in the whole of 2019.

Scor sheds 4% in Euro red week as US-China tensions weigh on sentiment

Shares in Paris-headquartered Scor fell more than 4 percent in a widespread red week for European P&C stocks, fuelled by renewed fears over the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and escalating diplomatic tensions between the world’s two largest economies.

Travelers shares trade down despite Q2 direct Covid-19 losses of only $114mn

Travelers revealed on its earnings call that Q2 losses directly relating to Covid-19 totaled just $114mn, including in workers compensation – a line of business in which CEO Alan Schnitzer said pricing looks to be bottoming out.

Europe’s 15 largest insurers’ grow premiums 5.2% in 2019 driven by non-life

A ranking of the largest European insurance groups released by Mapfre reveals that non-life premium growth far outstriped that of the life segment, while Axa, Allianz and Generali continue to dominate.

Truist offers positive organic growth read-across for broking sector

Allied to a more bullish outlook from Arthur J Gallagher at its recent investor meeting and Aon’s move to end its salary cuts, Truist Insurance Holdings’ disclosure on Q2 organic growth adds to incrementally positive news from brokers about the impact of Covid-19 on their business.

Markets Review: Scor leads green week for Euro P&C stocks

European stocks rose cautiously last week with French reinsurer Scor leading the gains as European Union leaders discussed a deal on the bloc’s key coronavirus recovery package, while US cases continued to develop.

Insurers’ realised losses “not dramatic” after Covid-19 investment hit

Insurance companies went into the Covid-19 pandemic with their investment portfolios “in relatively good shape” and so the expectation is realised losses for carriers will not be “dramatic”, according to Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s (GSAM) Michael Siegel.

Focus on Covid-19 as US P&C earnings season gets underway

As the Q2 earnings season gets underway investors will be looking for more complete and consistent disclosure of Covid-19 losses from US and Bermudian carriers, and evidence of how the pandemic has directly and indirectly impacted the sector’s prospects, including pricing momentum, growth outlook and M&A.

H1 cat activity below 10-yr trends as hurricane season starts early: Aon

Preliminary natural cat losses for the first half of 2020 are below the 10-year average and median, while historical data does not indicate an early start to the Atlantic hurricane season directly correlates to higher industry losses for the season, according to Aon.

CinFin and Enstar gain despite choppy week for US P&C stocks

Cincinnati Financial saw its shares rise over 8 percent in a week full of erratic swings for US-listed P&C stocks driven by investor worries about rising coronavirus counts and cautious optimism over the country’s economic recovery.

Hyperion X remains wary of conservative Covid-19 loss estimates

A report by Hyperion X has signalled that the development of Covid-19 related losses may begin to eat into the “buffer of conservatism” carriers have included in their loss estimates and that if these losses were to develop adversely, the size of the impact could be of a magnitude akin to Katrina.