Hong Kong-based reinsurer Peak Re has unveiled what it claims is the first reinsurance sidecar transaction in Asia, in news that underlines investor appetite for insurance-based risk as a source of alternative capital. The deal was made via newly formed and Bermuda-based special purpose insurer Lion Rock, which will provide collateralised retrocession for Peak Re’s global property reinsurance risk portfolio…
Liberty Specialty Markets (LSM) has appointed Florence Bidard as head of liability for France with immediate effect. The move will help develop LSM’s general civil, professional civil and environmental liability books, the firm said. Ms Bidard will be based in Paris and report to Richard Deguettes, LSM’s general manager of France. Mr Deguettes said: “Our suite of liability solutions is…
Liberty Mutual is integrating its Ironshore Bermuda businesses into a single brand and unit called Liberty Specialty Markets Bermuda, in a bid partly designed to offer clients a wider range of solutions. Ironshore in Bermuda previously comprised two businesses. These were: Ironshore Bermuda, which opened in 2007 writing, property, energy and specialty r(e)insurance; and Iron-Starr Excess Agency, which began in 2009…
Chubb expects Californian wildfire losses to cost $225m pre-tax in Q4, with AIG on the hook for up to $175m. The news follows an estimate from AIR Worldwide that the Woolsey Fire in southern California will total at least $2.5bn across the insurance industry…
Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty has extended its partnership with insurtech firm and analytics specialist Praedicat, in a move that it said will mitigate product liability risk for manufacturers
Fears of cyberattack and data breach have overtaken regulation as the top risk for senior management in the latest Annual D&O Survey from Willis Towers Watson and Allen & Overy
Global commercial insurance rates were up 1.4% in Q3 2018, according to Marsh’s latest update, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of rises. However, average commercial rates in Europe were down 1.5% – more than any other region…
A year of natural disasters has left Japan’s top three property and casualty (P&C) insurers with a bill expected to top JPY1trn ($8.7bn) by the end of the fiscal year, raising the prospect of a hike in premiums for the first time in years. The payments are likely to total more than $3.51bn from MS&AD Insurance and $2.63bn from Tokio…
American International Group (AIG) is shuttering all underwriting activity in Iran due to the reimposition of US sanctions by the Trump administration. The majority of the US insurer’s Iranian activities were inherited from its acquisition of Bermuda-based reinsurer Validus Holdings for $5.56bn in July. Validus’s non-US subsidiaries provide marine hull, war and cargo insurance to shipping companies that transport cargo…
Mutual insurance association Standard Club Asia, managed by Charles Taylor Mutual Management, has teamed up with China’s Ping An Property & Casualty Insurance to jointly offer professional and indemnity (P&I) cover for Chinese shipowners. China is currently ranked as the world’s second-largest shipowning country, behind Greece, and has the largest share of general cargo ships. The partnership will focus on…