Bermuda

S&P rewards Fidelis for strong five years with A- rating

Fidelis has been assigned A- financial strength and BBB issuer credit ratings by S&P, with the ratings agency noting the credible position built in five years of operation.

Ed bolsters Bermuda office with Marsh Finpro hire

London market wholesaler Ed Broking has appointed Mark Simons as head of business development and production in its newly opened Bermuda office.

Fitch drops Sirius’ ratings outlook to negative

Sirius International Group has had its ratings outlook changed to negative from stable by Fitch Ratings just three weeks after a similar move by AM Best.

Five Argo directors targeted by Voce to retire, including chair Woods

Argo shares were trading up 3.7 percent at lunchtime in New York today after the Bermudian’s board announced that five directors targeted for removal by activist investor Voce Capital Management will retire as of the company’s 2020 annual general meeting.

NAIC grants Bermuda, Japan and Switzerland reciprocal jurisdiction status

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has granted Bermuda, Japan and Switzerland reciprocal jurisdiction status – a new designation that was introduced this year.

Axis COO Strachan to depart in early 2020

Axis Capital’s chief operations officer Richard Strachan will leave the company early in 2020 after almost 18 years with the business.

Warwicker joins Chubb Bermuda to head excess liability

Chubb Bermuda has hired industry veteran Michael Warwicker as senior vice president and head of excess liability.

RenRe engages TigerRisk and Morgan Stanley to sell UK legacy book

RenaissanceRe has appointed TigerRisk and Morgan Stanley to find a buyer for its £396mn ($514.6mn) UK legacy book which the (re)insurer inherited through its $1.5bn acquisition of Bermudian neighbour Tokio Millennium Re.

Tysers names Allen Bermuda director

Integro-owned broker Tysers has appointed Christina Allen as a director in Bermuda.

Starr Companies considering whole account quota share

Starr Insurance Companies is looking to do a whole account quota share with reinsurers that would sit across an estimated $3bn+ underlying book of business that is seeing significant growth in the hardening market, The Insurer can reveal.

Neon cites retro crunch as it shuts down Bermuda and exits cat reinsurance

Lloyd’s (re)insurer Neon will cease writing property treaty reinsurance and intends to close its Bermuda platform as a result of hardening in the retro market, The Insurer can reveal.

S&P revises Argo US outlook to negative, questions governance

S&P Global has revised the outlook of Argo Group US to negative from stable, having only revised the outlook from positive last month.

Bermuda says no to US cannabis insurance

The Bermuda Monetary Authority has given permission for BMA-supervised firms to insure companies that operate legally in the cannabis sector under the federal laws of their country, but explicitly excluded the US where cannabis is legal at state level only.

Chard Re engages Aon Securities and begins fundraising for 1.1 start

Markel Corp-backed Chard Re has begun fundraising and anticipates raising “hundreds of millions of dollars” of fresh capital to write reinsurance/retro business at 1.1, The Insurer can reveal.

GC confirms senior Aon Bermuda hires in island restructuring

Guy Carpenter has confirmed the hire of Aon’s Robert Johnston and Peter Komposch in Bermuda, a move first revealed by The Insurer in May.

Sirius searching for deal to ease shareholder concentration amid CMI sale reports

Sirius International Insurance Group is still actively working to find a solution to resolve its stock’s “unique illiquidity situation” and shareholder concentration, according to president and CEO Kip Oberting.

“Time is antidote” for AM Best’s negative outlook: Third Point Re’s Malloy

Third Point Re’s CEO is confident the actions taken in the past year will lead AM Best to revise its negative outlook, despite the Bermuda reinsurer setting back its target of a sub-100 combined ratio until next year.

Third Point Re eyes retro XoL opportunities for 2020

Bermudian total return (re)insurer Third Point Re is ready to seize the opportunity to grow a book of excess-of-loss retro business in what are expected to be attractive market conditions at 1.1 and beyond, CEO Dan Malloy has told The Insurer.

Enstar’s live operations report Q3 underwriting losses

Bermudian live-to-legacy player Enstar has reported an operating profit in the third quarter, turning around a loss in the prior period, despite underwriting losses at Atrium and StarStone.