XL Catlin has appointed Urs Blättler as country claims manager for Switzerland, joining the company from Partner Re where he was head of claims for Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America. Michael Rüsch, country manager for Switzerland, said: “As a global leader in international programmes, claims are at the heart of what we sell. Urs’ experience in claims handling, as…
Ulrich Wallin will step down as CEO of Hannover Re next year…
Zurich Insurance will continue to shift its emphasis from commercial to retail P&C business, based on comments made by senior management during the Swiss group’s second-quarter results call…
Swiss Re’s decision to invest in its Corporate Solutions business and build a dedicated on-the-ground presence in key worldwide markets to take primary lead positions is paying off, according to the reinsurer…
The heatwaves, droughts and forest fires currently affecting swathes of Europe will cost the agriculture sector billions of dollars with entire harvests lost in some cases, Munich Re warns. According to the reinsurer, the grain harvest in Germany is likely to be down more than 10% on the long-term average as a result of the hot and dry weather. Total…
Global catastrophes made June the most active month for natural disasters this year, with insurance claims led by more than $3bn of losses from eight recorded convective storms and flash floods in the US, according to Aon’s Impact Forecasting. Large hailstones, some the size of baseballs, and winds affected parts of the Rockies, Plains, midwest, southeast and northeast in the…
Liberty Specialty Markets (LSM) will acquire the European insurance business of Ironshore Europe following a renewal rights agreement between the two companies, which are both part of Liberty Mutual. Ironshore’s European business – which includes contingency, construction, fine art and specie, liability, marine and personal accident lines – is currently written in Cologne, Zurich and Rotterdam. These offices will no…
Gallagher has acquired a 65% stake in Swiss commercial broker Hesse & Partner AG and Hesse Consulting. Based in Zurich, Hesse specialises in bespoke risk and insurance for clients in industrial, manufacturing and construction, with a niche in the waste-to-energy sector. Hesse said its top team will remain in place, including chairman and founder Guido Hesse, and CEO Tanja Jung.…
Another example of Japanese and wider Asia-based capital’s desire to access European insurance and reinsurance markets came this week as Toa Re, the sole domestic Japanese reinsurance group, announced the launch of Toa Re Europe based in Zurich, Switzerland. The Japanese group said it would use the new platform to accelerate plans to offer capacity to third-party non-Japanese customers, as…
Business resilience to risk and disruption is highest in Switzerland, followed by Luxembourg and Sweden, finds a global index of 130 countries and jurisdictions published by FM Global. However, European countries have deteriorated when it comes to cyber resilience. Myanmar, Nigeria and Madagascar were the bottom three ranked countries in the overall index. Based on 12 measures of resilience across…