Intelligent Insurer News

A lot happened quickly in the first half of 2017, but should that define the market for the quarters and years yet to come? Tom Johansmeyer of Verisk Insurance Solutions investigates.

Ascot, Lloyd’s of London syndicate and a specialty insurance underwriter, has appointed Greg Wolyniec as head of global strategy.

Professional services firm Marsh & McLennan Companies increased revenue across its risk and insurance services in the second quarter of 2017, including reinsurance arm Guy Carpenter which grew 4 percent.

Private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners has acquired a "controlling equity position" in EPIC, a US retail property/casualty insurance brokerage and employee benefits consulting firm, from The Carlyle Group.

Arthur J Gallagher's revenue for the brokerage segment in the second quarter was $998.1 million, an increase from $939.1 million year-on-year.

Ratings agency S&P Global has lowered its long-term counterparty credit and senior unsecured debt ratings on Markel Corporation to 'BBB' from 'BBB+' following its recent M&A activity. The outlook is stable.

The Reinsurance Group of America’s (RGA) EMEA and Asia-Pacific segments had a favourable second quarter, although the group’s overall net income has slightly dipped compared with the prior-year quarter.

Bermuda-based Validus Holdings has reported net income for the second quarter of 2017 of $101.1 million, an increase on the $95 million it made in the second quarter of 2016.

Commercial property insurer FM Global has made key changes to its management team, moving leaders within the company into new roles in Europe and Asia.

PartnerRe’s second quarter 2017 income came to $191 million, a substantial increase on the $137 million it made over the same period of 2016.

Arch Capital Group has reported that its second quarter 2017 net income came to $173.8 million, a fall of 16 percent on the $205.6 million that it made over the same period of 2016.

AXIS Capital saw its income for the first six months of 2017 decline by almost half, blaming the fall on the impact of the Ogden rate change in the UK, as well as property losses.

Aspen’s second quarter 2017 results showed that the company made a profit of $75.8 million for the period, up on the $64.9 million it made in the same quarter of 2016.

Lancashire Holdings has announced that it made a net operating profit of $30.9 million over the second quarter of 2017, an improvement over the $25.6 million it made in the same period of 2016.

JLT grew both its risk and insurance business and employee benefits business in the first half of 2017, in spite of challenging trading and economic conditions.

Mapfre reported substantial increases in both its direct insurance and accepted reinsurance in the second quarter of 2017, which it attributes to the performance of its Latin American businesses.

With London’s insurance-linked securities hub set for an autumn launch, Guernsey Finance chief executive Dominic Wheatley, who before joining the island’s promotional agency was chief marketing officer of the Willis Global Captive Practice and managing director of its Guernsey business, shares his thoughts on what to expect.

The pipeline of ILS products hit a record high at the midpoint of the year, according to Paul Schultz, CEO of Aon Securities.

As the size of its economy grows, Russia is increasingly vulnerable to the devastating effects of a big catastrophe hitting the country. To manage these growing risks, the country’s governments and insurers should consider the many advantages of using insurance-linked securities, say Kirill Savrassov of Phoenix CRetro, Clive O’Connell of McCarthy Denning, and Rom Aviv of IBI ILS Partners.

XL Group has announced that its second quarter 2017 income came to $301.6 million, a rise of 588.5 percent from the $43.8 percent it reported for the same period of 2017.