Insured natural catastrophe losses of $53bn last year trailed the $65bn average of the past nine years and were 34% lower than 2018, according to analysis by Willis Re. The insured loss is the lowest since 2016, with heavy consecutive years of 2017 and 2018 sandwiched in between. Willis Re’s figures confirm those from other sources. Swiss Re has placed…
Microsoft has confirmed that a data breach of its customer service records exposed the details of 250 million logs between Microsoft support staff and customers across the globe. Comparitech said its security team, led by Bob Diachenko, uncovered the breach on 29 December 2019 and notified Microsoft, which closed down the vulnerability over several days on 30 and 31 December.…
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) must use this year’s Solvency II review to recognise that national supervisors have so far failed to apply the principle of proportionality (PoP) to captives and force the issue by issuing clear guidelines, according to risk management federation Ferma and ECIROA, the captive owners body. Ferma’s approach provides a framework for national…
US risk managers saw their average salary fall by 1.7% during the past two years to $118,000, with their Canadian counterparts’ pay down 4% to $101,000, according to the biennial RIMS compensation survey. More senior positions, however, recorded an increase. In analysis of 1,000 risk professional positions across all industries and locations, RIMS said chief risk officer salaries recorded a…
Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) has appointed Henning Haagen as chief underwriting officer of specialty. Mr Haagen, who is currently regional head of specialty and northeast zone executive for AGCS North America, will take on the role from March 2020. AGCS said it will announce his replacement at a later date. Mr Haagen will relocate from New York to…
Private and government-backed insured natural disaster losses totalled $71bn last year, 6% above this century’s average but significantly lower than the previous two years, according to Aon. The costliest insured peril was severe weather, which caused $27bn of losses, followed by tropical cyclone on $22bn and flooding on $13bn. All perils except severe weather, tropical cyclone and flooding generated insured…
The insurance industry can play a bigger role in boosting cyber risk management by ensuring it rewards organisations that take the issue seriously and setting minimum security standards, attendees at the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual Davos meeting were told this week. The call to arms was made by Pascal Millaire, CEO of cyber risk analytics firm CyberCube, as he…
US private equity firm Lovell Minnick Partners has acquired adjusting and technology solutions firm Charles Taylor. Lovell Minnick, which has made other investments in the global financial services industry, said it will support Charles Taylor’s growth strategy after it increased revenue by 115% during the past five years and tripled staff numbers to 3,100. The two companies said they will…
FM Global will now include industrial control system (ICS) evaluations in clients’ cyber risk reviews to reduce potential risk blindspots. The firm said many ICS, which control critical equipment, were put in place years before safety and efficiency gains, with no view of today’s cybersecurity issues. “Our goal is to help clients minimise industrial equipment failure due to computer malfunction,…
The British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) is lobbying its government to reduce the regulatory burden on UK brokers, which it argues face unnecessarily high regulatory costs despite posing no systemic risk. Launching its manifesto for 2020 to ministers in the UK Houses of Parliament, BIBA said brokers pose low risk and regulation should be proportionate. Steve White, CEO of BIBA,…