Comment

Dorian – the market accelerant

Aside from active live cat trading in the ILW market, most insurers and reinsurers with meaningful Florida exposure are in for a nervous wait over the long Labor Day weekend.

Ursano appointment signals more deals at Hamilton

Tony Ursano’s return to the market as Hamilton Insurance Group CFO after his recent TigerRisk exit may from the outside look a little left field. But the appointment of a deal maker suggests the Bermudian may not be done with M&A after its transformative Pembroke and Ironshore Europe transaction.

Bermuda bellwether for market again

For a small island some 800 miles off the Carolinas, Bermuda has punched above its weight to carve out a position as a key (re)insurance center over the last 35 years.

Other People’s Payback…

A veteran underwriter provided The Insurer with a succinct definition of one of those rare phenomena: a hard market.

Britain’s new Prime Minister and the cunning Lloyd’s fraudster

Boris Johnson has been appointed leader of the Conservative Party and tomorrow will meet the Queen before sweeping into 10 Downing Street as Britain’s 54th Prime Minister since Sir Robert Walpole.

Emulate not end the Pool Re golden egg…

Next week the UK will have a new Prime Minister. Whether it is current favourite Boris Johnson or his challenger Jeremy Hunt, the new First Lord of the Treasury will arrive at Ten Downing Street to inherit the failed Brexit process, a divided country and a minority in Parliament. If he pops next door to number eleven, his neighbour’s final words (before eviction) will be to remind him the nation’s coffers are still empty.

Market psychology points to sustained pricing shift

It will not come as any surprise if a strong theme of the upcoming Q2 earnings season is bullish commentary from insurers on US commercial insurance pricing.

Pool Re edges closer to closing the terrorism protection gap

News today of Britain’s state-backed terrorism reinsurer Pool Re’s £40mn ($50mn) retro placement for non-damage business interruption (NDBI) following a terrorist attack marks the latest step in the organisation’s journey towards closing the insurable gap for UK firms.

The rating agency paradox: rewarding those who cut prices…

It is a long-established paradox that the industry’s de facto global regulators – rating agencies AM Best and S&P – use premiums written rather than net exposures relative to capital as a measure of financial strength. The outcome of this approach is that if insurers cut rates in a soft market then the capital models suggest they are over-capitalised while if they increase rates and even cut net exposures this can perversely put pressure on their capital adequacy.

Choosing the right partners…

John Neal has impressed many with his first nine months at the helm. He has made a conscious effort to re-engage with brokers, has deployed a “come and let’s chat” approach at odds with predecessors who were criticised by some for aloofness. He has also created a vision and an environment to support change and acted with swift determination when necessary to protect Lloyd’s reputation, such as in the aftermath of the Bloomberg article alleging sexual discrimination and bullying in the market.

Misrepresenting the market?

It could be argued that Lloyd’s CEO John Neal has achieved more in a matter of months than his predecessor Inga Beale did over the course of her five years in the role.

New aviation entrants prepare for take-off…

News today of the launch of BGC’s new aviation broking intermediary is the latest in a series of developments for a sector which has had a busy – and at times turbulent – start to the year.

CEA seeks better balance between prevention and protection

Over the last two decades the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) has become one of the largest buyers of property cat reinsurance globally.

MMC helps London point to the positives after a year of bleak messaging…

This week sees the return of Marsh and McLennan’s (MMC) biennial gathering of talented, rising professionals who come to London from different continents for two days to hear from world class speakers on critical topics challenging the industry culminating in a show stopping gala dinner with stadium-filling superstars (such as Kaiser Chiefs and Craig David) and a legion of industry CEOs.

XL’s injunction not “sneaky” in support of arbitration clause in UK D&O Policy

In a reassuring move for London market (re)insurers, the UK’s courts are imposing a wide jurisdiction to restrain foreign proceedings under insurance contracts bound by a London arbitration provision…

Beware the consequences of the litigation genie…

In July, Judge Freedman will deliver his decision in the infamous poaching dispute between Gallagher and the Ardonagh subsidiaries in the UK High Court. It is a legal battle that has gripped observers of the London market with its revelations of a secret six-figure loan, offensive emails, clandestine meetings and feuding companies.

The technology tipping point?

This week The Financial Times ran an interesting piece which riffs on the theme of hardening attitudes amongst insurers towards their investment in insurtech projects.

Behaviour matters in Florida renewal

The commoditization of the property cat product became a recurring theme of the long soft market for reinsurance in recent years.

What happens when an ILW trigger underdelivers? A critical look at 2018…

Last year the industry was reminded of the importance of using accurate loss data triggers for ILWs. Will the lesson be learnt, asks Thomas Johansmeyer, co-head of PCS.