US / Americas

Topa names COO as management changes continue

Following the departure of former CEO John Donahue, now president of E&S broker MJ Hall, Topa Insurance has promoted Denise Pavlov to chief operating officer.

BMS builds ILS and E&S expertise with Kohonen hire

BMS has hired Jani Kohonen as senior vice president and Atlanta branch manager, reporting into recently appointed president and CEO of BMS Re US, Pete Chandler.

Munich Re puts $100mn capacity behind MGU’s environmental cost cap cover

Environmental cost cap (ECC) coverage has made a return to the market with MGU North Branch Global Risk (NBGR) securing Munich Re capacity to relaunch the product with $5mn to more than $100mn of limit available per policy, The Insurer can reveal.

Brewer Lane looks to build on managing partners’ track record

The managing partners of newly launched Brewer Lane Ventures are optimistic they can identify investments that will not only provide their business with successful opportunities, but also help to push the (re)insurance industry forward.

Starr names Aon’s Murphy southeast regional vice president

Starr Insurance Companies has appointed financial services insurance specialist Kathleen Murphy as regional vice president, southeast region.

Will regulators thwart insurtech’s pricing potential?

The technology for insurers to price truly at an individual level is close to becoming a reality, but concern is rising that regulators will not allow them to deploy it.

Hamilton takes PartnerRe’s Sforza for US property reinsurance leader

Bermuda-headquartered carrier Hamilton has appointed Brad Sforza as senior vice president and head of property reinsurance for its recently established US reinsurance platform.

Darag strikes another US legacy transaction

The deal-hungry legacy acquisitions company Darag has once again combined with TigerRisk in a run-off deal that sees it take on $100mn+ in US general liability reserves for an unnamed “multi-national insurance company”.

Lockton Global Re takes Finpro exec Spore from Marsh

Lockton’s expansive reinsurance intermediary platform has hired Marsh JLT Specialty US Finpro placement leader Greg Spore, The Insurer can reveal.

Social inflation to prompt “stair stepping” of reserves: Dowling

VJ Dowling has predicted that social inflation will be a huge issue in fourth quarter reporting, partly as an excuse for under-reserving in recent years.

Gemini launches crypto captive with Aon and Marsh support

Gemini has launched a Bermudian captive insurer to cover its cryptocurrency exchange platform up to a limit of $200mn, with Aon acting as the captive manager and Marsh placing the captive’s excess reinsurance into the commercial market.

Mercury General takes $36mn Q4 Cali wildfires hit

Los Angeles-based Mercury General Corporation has become the latest carrier to preannounce Q4 catastrophe losses, with a $36mn pre-tax hit primarily from California wildfires that will not trigger its cat reinsurance programme after it raised its retention at 1 July last year.

MMA adds PE expertise with Ironwood acquisition

Marsh & McLennan Agency (MMA) has acquired Ironwood Insurance Services, an Atlanta, Georgia-based independent broker with 85 employees with particular expertise in private equity.

Hanover reveals higher than expected Q4 non-cat property losses

The Hanover Insurance Group expects its fourth quarter non-catastrophe property losses to exceed expectations by $20mn before taxes.

Florida insurer Weston to buy Anchor Specialty

Florida insurer Weston Insurance has agreed a deal to buy Texas carrier Anchor Specialty Insurance and its associated MGA, The Insurer can reveal.

S&P warns of US P&C reserving complacency

S&P Global Ratings has maintained a stable outlook on the US property casualty sector but raised concerns about “worrisome” reserve increases and social inflation highlighting pricing complacency.

JMP backs a “handful” of US insurers that can weather casualty storm

JMP Securities has warned that sector investors should look to concentrate on the “handful” of US carriers that have strong return on equity potential – that “separate them from the pack” – amid an environment characterized by deteriorating casualty loss cost trends.

Puerto Rico governor pegs earthquake damages at $110mn

Puerto Rico’s governor Wanda Vazquez Garced has estimated that the recent series of earthquakes hitting the island have caused $110mn of losses.

AFG counts the cost of its enervating Lloyd’s experience

American Financial Group’s decision earlier this week to withdraw from the Lloyd’s market – taking a $50-60mn Q4 charge in the process – marks the end of a painful relationship that has cost the Cincinnati-headquartered insurance group over $500mn in entry and departure fees and underwriting losses in between, analysis by The Insurer shows.

US hit with 14 $1bn+ loss events in 2019: NOAA

Economic losses from US weather and climate disaster events totalled $45bn last year, slightly above the 40-year average of $43.9bn, according to a report from NOAA.

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