Mario Greco, group chief executive officer of Zurich Insurance Group, appears to be in a race with AIG’s Brian Duperreault to see who can deliver the most impressive and quickest turnaround, as the Switzerland-based group reported its best first-half results in a decade. Business operating profit for the first half of 2019 was up 16% to reach $2.8bn, partly built…
Swiss Re Corporate Solutions (SRCS), the industrial insurance arm of Swiss Re, reported a net loss of $403m and a combined ratio of 132.8% in the first six months of 2019, but has been handed a $600m capital boost to help turn the struggling business around. The half-year loss was largely driven by a second-quarter reserve strengthening of $328m.The result…
Severe weather events across Europe last month caused at least €1.42bn of economic damage, with insurance expected to cover about €1.24bn of the losses, according to Aon. In its latest Global Catastrophe Recap report, the broker says that weather between 10 June and 12 June resulted in large hail, strong gusts of wind and intense rainfall across multiple countries in central…
Zurich Insurance Group is accelerating its policy to further reduce the use of carbon fossil fuels, which will see the insurer underwrite fewer risks that contribute to climate change. Zurich said its new commitments plan to reduce carbon emissions within its own business, at those of its clients and the companies in which it invests. The move is in line…
European countries dominate FM Global’s 2019 Resilience Index, taking nine of the top ten positions, led by Norway as the most resilient business environment. FM Global said the top ten was “reshuffled” for 2019, with Norway up from fourth place in 2018. Demark came second, with Switzerland – last year’s most risk-resilient country – in third. The UK was a…
Ping An is the world’s strongest and most valuable insurance brand, according to the latest report by Brand Finance, the brand valuation consultancy. Ping An retained its leading position and saw its brand value increase 93% to $50.5bn in 2019. Brand Finance said Ping An is seeing its investment in technology begin to pay off and reap benefits. “To attract…
Chubb has appointed Karine Paul and Brigitte Vorrath as global client executives within its major accounts team for continental Europe. In the newly created roles, Ms Paul will manage France and the Nordic region, in addition to international accounts in the UAE and India. Ms Vorrath will manage accounts in Germany, Austria, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and Russia. Switzerland will…
Zurich is on track to meet turnaround targets for its P&C business this year, as it delivered a 4% boost to gross written premiums during Q1 to $9.2bn on like-for-like sales, and average rate increases of 2%. Zurich said it is ahead of targets set for the 2017-2019 period as part of a three-year plan to pull the insurer out…
Swiss Re Corporate Solutions (SRCS) posted another disappointing set of results for the first quarter of this year, following big losses in 2018 and 2017. Group CEO Christian Mumenthaler confirmed that new SRCS CEO Andreas Berger is carrying out a “thorough review” of the business that will lead to “decisive action” and be completed by the end of the second quarter…
Thomas Brazil is to become chief executive officer of SI Insurance (Europe), a subsidiary of Bermuda-based Sompo International Holdings and the company’s platform for European Economic Area (EEA) insurance business. He will relocate from Zurich, Switzerland to SI Insurance (Europe)’s headquarters in Luxembourg…