Intelligent Insurer News

Insurance services firm Charles Taylor has agreed to a "compelling" takeover deal by private equity firm Lovell Minnick Partners, which it hopes will deliver attractive returns to its shareholders.

Greenlight Re Innovations has acquired a stake in Coterie Applications, a digital managing general underwriter (MGU) focusing on the small and medium-sized enterprise commercial insurance market.

As the number of financial services jobs and assets being relocated from the UK eases off, EY has suggested that this shows the sector is ready for Brexit.

Broker Arthur J Gallagher has acquired Pennsylvania-based Allied Insurance Brokers and its subsidiary Ascinsure Specialty Risk.

Munich Re-backed insurtech Inshur, a provider of commercial auto insurance for private hire drivers, has strengthened its leadership team to support its market expansion plans globally. The company currently operates in New York and the UK.

Specialist insurer QBE North America has appointed Charles Cygal as head of surety.

Ratings agency AM Best has assigned a financial strength rating of A (Excellent) with a ‘stable’ outlook to Brit Reinsurance (Bermuda), a wholly-owned subsidiary of specialty re/insurer Brit, reflecting a "very strong" balance sheet.

Accounting standard IFRS 17 is more realistic and consistent than the standard it replaces, IFRS 4, and will show how lower interest rates are hurting insurers.

The US arm of Italian insurer Generali Group has launched a new specialty insurance division focused on warranty services and solutions.

AXA Liabilities Managers (AXA LM), the non-life re/insurance legacy firm, has acquired the non-life legacy portfolio of Munich Re Malaysia. The portfolio transfer will become effective on October 1, 2019.

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) has expanded its leadership team in France with the appointment of Katell Pouliquen as head of claims, Louis du Ché as head of property, and Ludovic Ruiller as head of environmental.

International General Insurance (IGI) is to focus on workplace harassment as it hosts the Dive In festival in Jordan later this month.

Markel Corporation has hired Hamilton's Brenton Slade as president of Lodgepine Capital Management, its new retrocessional insurance linked securities (ILS) fund based in Bermuda.

London-based cyber and specialty lines managing general agent Ascent Underwriting and Cove Programs, a US construction-focused MGA, has appointed Paul Western as group chief underwriting officer (CUO).

Coverys Managing Agency, the Lloyd’s managing agent of Syndicates 1975, 1991 and 3330, has appointed David Hipkin as a non-executive director.

BMS has announced the retirement of chief actuary Dave Spiegler, as it makes changes to its US reinsurance actuarial and analytics team.

US reinsurance broker Holborn Corporation has appointed Paul Hoska as senior vice president, based in Kansas, as it seeks to grow further in the midwest region.

A majority of board members and senior executives with responsibility for their organisation’s cyber risk management spent “less than a day in the last year” focusing on cyber risk issues, according to a survey from insurance broker Marsh and tech company Microsoft.

Pricing, cost reduction and other “bread and butter” issues are the top concerns for chief risk officers (CROs) within Lloyd’s managing agencies.

Reinsurance firm Trust Re, headquartered in the Kingdom of Bahrain, has strengthened its executive management team with new appointments and formed a new executive committee.