Selective’s Q3 UW gain narrows by 83% to $4mn as cat losses surge to $149mn

WR Berkley Q3 CR ticks up to 90.9%, gross premiums grow 8.4%

Hannover Re targets 7-8% growth over cycle but remains cautious over primary cyber softening

Munich Re takes hardline stance on 1.1 renewals with further adjustments needed to address loss creep

Arch parts ways with cyber product leader Saeed

Rob Berkley: Regulatory “pinch point” likely to drive more business to E&S market

WR Berkley’s leader has said that staffing issues at insurance departments, as well as politics “creeping in”, will continue to drive business to the excess and surplus lines market, with the executive also highlighting that auto continues to lead the insurer’s rate increases.

RLI in earnings beat as operating profit more than doubles to $60.4mn

RLI Corp reported third quarter operating earnings that jumped from $28.3mn to $64.1mn, including favourable development on prior years’ loss reserves that resulted in a net increase in underwriting profit of $18.1mn.

Latest Articles

Rob Berkley: Regulatory “pinch point” likely to drive more business to E&S market

RLI in earnings beat as operating profit more than doubles to $60.4mn

Selective’s Q3 UW gain narrows by 83% to $4mn as cat losses surge to $149mn

CNA expects $143mn Q3 cat losses, $25mn-$55mn Q4 Milton losses

WR Berkley Q3 CR ticks up to 90.9%, gross premiums grow 8.4%

Cyber insurance lawyer Selby launches Selby Strategies

CAC launches CyberPeril Pro solution for energy and utility sectors

Very often, we tend to lose the bigger picture. What is the value that we bring to society? Take education, health, identity – in the name of those values, a number of economic stakeholders are ready to step up and accept some risk at the economic price. I just hope that in Baden-Baden we will have good negotiations.

Guy Carpenter’s CEO of EMEA and global capital solutions, Laurent Rousseau, on the value of the (re)insurance industry

Analysis

US insurance composite hits all-time high as Travelers surges 12.2%

Risk modellers’ Milton estimates range from $17bn to $50bn

Coastal insurers and reinsurers kept US insurance composite flat last week as S&P 500 reached new record

Wide range on Milton insured loss muddies 1.1 US cat outlook

Hurricane Milton leaves complex loss picture for industry to unravel

Risk modellers agree Helene at least a $6bn privately insured loss

More News

Relation hires Lasher as HNW director from Hylant

Vantage adds Skyward programs head Burke as property VP

Captives and parametrics to play a more important role in property risk: Ferma global survey

AM Best: US residual market policy count up 98% since 2018

Miller hires Marsh’s Watanabe to bolster Japanese team

Swiss Re’s Berger calls for improved data exchange to help tackle loss creep concerns

Casualty concerns, property trajectory and talent influx among top TM topics

Former Icat CEO Butler linked with Helix for potential US launch

Aurenity hits $100mn of in-force premium and eyes further portfolio diversification

How to build an insurance brand? Stop talking about insurance

How efficient is capital allocation in insurance?

Patient capital: how should tomorrow’s insurers be funded?

Drowning in data: The high costs of poor data management

Baked in: how a computer scientist anticipated the MGA boom

Baden-Baden 2024

Baden-Baden Symposium: Calmer renewals to shift focus to data-sharing frameworks

Spenner: Reinsurers maintain increased appetite for European wind perils ahead of 1.1

German severe weather losses to drive price and T&C improvements at 1.1: E+S Rück

All eyes on Berger’s next move as Swiss Re addresses casualty reserving challenge…

Middle East escalation clauses under spotlight ahead of war, political violence and terrorism renewals

Russia-Ukraine lessor disputes overshadow otherwise stable aviation renewals

Cyber Risk Insurer

Arch parts ways with cyber product leader Saeed

Arch Capital Group has parted ways with its vice president and cyber product leader Shiraz Saeed, a well-known cyber underwriting veteran and regular speaker at industry events, Cyber Risk Insurer can reveal.

CAC launches CyberPeril Pro solution for energy and utility sectors

US broker CAC Group has launched CyberPeril Pro, a cyber insurance solution designed to address coverage gaps within the energy and utility industries.

Cyber insurance lawyer Selby launches Selby Strategies

Former Kennedys partner and well-known cyber insurance lawyer Judy Selby has launched Selby Strategies to offer performance coaching.

Extreme malware attack would not exhaust deployed limit in cyber market: study

The cyber insurance market could withstand a “plausible yet remote” malware event, according to the calculations of three cyber realistic disaster scenario models by Beazley, Munich Re and Gallagher Re.

French cyber MGA Stoïk raises €25mn with Munich Re and TMHCC among investors

Stoïk has secured €25mn in a Series B funding round led by French venture investment firm Alven, with the Paris-based insurtech planning to use the proceeds to bolster its position in the European cyber SME space.

Coalition: Ransomware and aggregation risk dominate H1 cyber insurance claims

Increased ransomware activity in the first half of 2024 drove a rebound in related claims severity, with aggregation issues remaining front of mind for cyber insurance providers, according to new research by Coalition.

DeNexus closes $17.5mn Series A funding round, adds Axa XL CUO as board observer

Cyber risk quantification and modelling firm DeNexus has secured $17.5mn in a Series A funding round that included participation from Axa XL.

Parametric news

Axa Climate renews parametric marine restoration policies in Mexico and the Philippines

Land Bank Insurance and CelsiusPro to pilot parametric drought cover in South Africa

Swiss Re CorSo parametric claims expected from Milton after recent payouts

Ferma calls on European Commission to set up consultative body on climate protection gaps

Munich Re and ARC back new shock-resilient loans for West African countries

Parametric insurer Paratus covers jet fuel price risk for Southeast Asian airline

The Insurer TV

Comment

All eyes on Berger’s next move as Swiss Re addresses casualty reserving challenge…

CIAB ILF 2024: The calm and then the storm

Milton could bring back the fear…

Disabling the enablers…

Bridging the gap…

African Risk Capacity’s Diong to lead loss and damage fund

Program Manager

Casualty concerns, property trajectory and talent influx among top TM topics

Continuing casualty concerns and the potential for a stabilization or even rehardening of the property market in the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton will be top of mind as attendees arrive in Scottsdale for the Target Markets Program Administrators Association’s Annual Summit.

Former Icat CEO Butler linked with Helix for potential US launch

Expansive Bermuda-based (re)insurance MGA Helix is preparing to launch a US platform to write a portfolio of property business, with former Icat CEO Greg Butler linked with the initiative, Program Manager can reveal.

Aurenity hits $100mn of in-force premium and eyes further portfolio diversification

Aurenity has surpassed $100mn of in-force premium across its four programs in the casualty space and is considering adding to its product suite in short-tail lines including property as well as targeted areas of professional liability, Program Manager can reveal.

Gillingham: Record TMPAA attendance “speaks very highly” of programs market

More than 1,600 delegates are registered for this year’s Target Markets Program Administrators Association Annual Summit, with the record attendance highlighting the ongoing strength of the specialist market the event serves, according to Tom Gillingham.

RB Jones’ Engel: New and existing products driving MGU’s growth

It is now just over five years since RB Jones was rebooted under Mark Engel’s leadership. The historically marine-focused MGU has already extended into new lines, and is now looking to further build on its existing programs and enter additional classes like transportation.

Vantage adds Skyward programs head Burke as property VP

Vantage Risk has hired Ryan Burke as vice president, property underwriting, a move that follows him being promoted to head of programs at Skyward Specialty in April last year.

Casualty concerns, Helene-Milton and M&A on the agenda at Target Markets

More than 1,600 senior professionals from the programs sector head to Scottsdale, Arizona this weekend for the Target Markets 24 th Annual Summit to discuss the US casualty market, impact on property cat conditions from Helene and Milton, and M&A, among many other topics.

Amynta dispute with ClearView sellers over alleged “Ponzi scheme” set for January hearing

A January Delaware court hearing has been scheduled to consider a motion to dismiss filed by the sellers of ClearView Risk in response to allegations made by Amynta’s TAG Agency Holdings of fraudulent misrepresentation of the finances of the acquired MGA, including inflated earnings that led it to overpay for the business.

Doxa’s Chatham gets C&F capacity for new medical XoL program

Doxa Insurance’s Chatham Insurance Services has secured capacity from Crum & Forster subsidiary United States Fire Insurance Company to underwrite a new excess of loss coverage designed to help ease the financial volatility caused by catastrophic medical claims.

Trucking insurtech Nirvana boosts capacity with MS Transverse partnership

San Francisco-based Nirvana Insurance has agreed a partnership with hybrid fronting carrier MS Transverse Insurance Company that the commercial trucking insurtech said provides a “boost in capacity”.

AM Specialty secures strategic capital partnership with Veritex Bank

Dallas-based E&S provider AM Specialty Insurance Company has agreed a strategic capital partnership with Veritex Bank facilitated by Stonybrook Capital.

Starwind adds Optio’s Kirby to lead new political violence and terror program

Starwind Specialty Insurance Services has brought in political risk market veteran Chris Kirby to lead the launch of a new platform called Starwind PVT, aiming to enhance its ability to assist retail agency clients across the US.

E&S Insurer

CRC: No “knee-jerk” property market response expected despite Helene-Milton uncertainty

Renewal price increases continued to slow through the third quarter in E&S property prior to the recent active period for hurricane activity, according to the latest data from CRC’s REDY index.

CRC REDY: private D&O softening accelerated in Q3 but E&O and cyber pricing picked up

The latest quarterly data from CRC’s REDY index shows that private D&O softening accelerated in Q3, but employment practices liability flattened and E&O and cyber rates both picked up in the period.

AmRisc panel: Only a return to “fear in the room” would tighten softening property market

The major shift towards softening property market conditions will only be reversed by the return of “fear in the room” from an event which has a major financial impact or changes the perception of risk, although a series of smaller events could slow the pace, according to a panel of brokers and insurers.

WSIA Annual Marketplace: Bullish themes persist as wider P&C sector transitions

As the E&S market arrives in San Diego for the start of the WSIA Annual Marketplace 2024, record numbers in excess of 8,000 are expected, and many of the bullish themes that have featured in recent years are likely to persist around the sector’s prospects.

Axis recruits Lexington’s Goldberg to lead new E&S allied healthcare unit

Axis has brought in Deb Goldberg from Lexington Insurance Company to lead the launch of its new E&S allied healthcare offering in North America.

B&W’s Danny Kaufman: Wholesaler has been growing 20% every month in 2024

Burns & Wilcox president Danny Kaufman said that the wholesaler has posted over 20 percent growth every month this year through August, with policy count rather than rate a major driver of the increase, as he also highlighted international expansion as a priority.

Ironshore’s Dolan: Market dislocation continues to provide opportunity for E&S underwriters

Matt Dolan, president of North America specialty and Ironshore at Liberty Mutual Insurance, has said there continue to be plentiful opportunities for “thoughtful underwriters” to navigate and find the “right risk-reward balance” in an E&S market where there is still a lot of dislocation.

Tech-enabled wholesaler Arqu raises $10mn in Series A with Intact, Lightspeed backing

Tech-enabled wholesaler Arqu has raised $10mn in a Series A funding round led by Crosslink Capital and backing from Intact Ventures along with existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Nationwide Ventures, The Insurer can reveal.

SURE and SageSure launch non-admitted BOP in California

SureChoice Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange, in partnership with SageSure, has launched its first non-admitted business owner’s policy in California.

RT Specialty promotes six as leadership transition continues

Wholesale giant RT Specialty has made a raft of promotions to time with the transition of its executive leadership team at the start of October, with Seth Johnson, Jonathan Reiner, Hugh Mooney, Ryan Grimes, Leah Ohodnicki and Tim Lomas all handed more senior positions.

XS Global makes E&S property play backed by A rated capacity

XS Global has extended its reach in the US after the Miami-based MGA secured capacity support to begin writing a book of E&S property business in every state.

Honeycomb launches E&S hab program with Builders and Hannover Re-led panel

Honeycomb Programs has partnered with Builders to secure up to $24mn of E&S premium capacity, offering $10mn of property limit and $1mn/$2mn general liability limit, with the Atlanta-based insurer retaining around 20 percent of the risk supported by a reinsurance panel led by Hannover Re, Program Manager can reveal.

Interview

Axa XL Re sets sights on growth in North America

Ningen: Tech, underlying performance and risk sharing key issues for regionals/mutuals

Hannover Re’s Freiboth: Property valuations and casualty loss trends in focus for renewals

Scor’s Conoscente: Insurance industry must address under-pricing in property and casualty

Munich Re’s Winter: Property reinsurance in the balance…

WTW’s Carter: Don’t bury your head in the sand on a transition plan

Sustainable Insurer

Climate activists target reinsurers at Baden-Baden conference

Climate activists have again disrupted the annual reinsurance metering in Baden-Baden, urging the sector to divest from fossil fuels and to cease (re)insuring oil and gas projects such as the East African Crude Oil Pipeline.

De-risking the transition: the need for clarity in risk appetite

The number of renewables-focused MGAs has increased owing to their ability to underwrite the sector in a more nimble manner, according to Novagen’s Valeria Del Villano.

Neal: No plans for more restrictive fossil fuel underwriting policies

Lloyd’s is not considering tougher underwriting policies around oil and gas infrastructure, CEO John Neal has confirmed, with the executive underlining the need to consider the energy transition as a gradual transformation rather than a dramatic cutover.

National Union of Students UK backs new Insure Tomorrow campaign

The UK’s National Union of Students has formally endorsed the launch of the student-led Insure Tomorrow campaign, which calls for a shift in the London market’s involvement with fossil fuel infrastructure.

Paratus’ Majed: Scaling up renewables by covering energy price risk

The role of the insurance sector in expediting the growth of installed renewable energy capacity extends beyond standard construction and maintenance policies, with Paratus’ new solution designed to protect producers and consumers from energy price risks.

Wind turbines: life extension for obsolete technology

Nick Evans, Aviva’s deputy head of renewable energy, outlines the issues in obsolete technology in the wind sector, and how insurers can look to underwrite complex life extensions.

Majority of Lloyd’s market yet to refuse new coal projects as activists set 1.1 deadline

More than half of the Lloyd’s market by premium share (51.2 percent) is yet to publicly adopt underwriting restrictions for new coal projects, with activist group Reclaim Finance calling on all managing agents to adopt guidelines on new fossil fuel infrastructure by 1 January 2025.

AIG victorious in Hawaii climate litigation costs case

Two AIG subsidiaries are not obligated to cover the legal defence costs of a petrol manufacturer involved in a damages suit because greenhouse gas emissions fall under the policies’ pollution exclusions, according to a Hawaii Supreme Court ruling.

ESG data unlikely to impact pricing but will inform more bespoke risk profile: panel

The politicisation of ESG-related data means that it is unlikely to inform pricing of risk, but underwriters and brokers are likely to request more specific data points during underwriting assessments in order to build a more bespoke risk profile, according to Axa XL’s Sam Day.

Greenpeace calls for oil majors to cover French cat claims ahead of 2025 finance bill

Environmental campaign group Greenpeace has called for oil and gas majors to be obligated to partially cover the cost of extreme weather events in France, ahead of the planned increase to contributions under the state reinsurance scheme to 20 percent on 1 January 2025.

Nardac: Offshore renewables to remain buyers’ market unless claim burden intensifies

London underwriting capacity for offshore renewable energy and infrastructure projects has been forced into competing on price, with premiums expected to remain low over the next 2 to 3 years, according to Nardac Insurance Services.

Region

Topics

Events & Conferences

Content Types

Selective’s Q3 UW gain narrows by 83% to $4mn as cat losses surge to $149mn

WR Berkley Q3 CR ticks up to 90.9%, gross premiums grow 8.4%

Hannover Re targets 7-8% growth over cycle but remains cautious over primary cyber softening

Munich Re takes hardline stance on 1.1 renewals with further adjustments needed to address loss creep

Arch parts ways with cyber product leader Saeed

Rob Berkley: Regulatory “pinch point” likely to drive more business to E&S market

RLI in earnings beat as operating profit more than doubles to $60.4mn

Latest Articles

Rob Berkley: Regulatory “pinch point” likely to drive more business to E&S market

RLI in earnings beat as operating profit more than doubles to $60.4mn

Selective’s Q3 UW gain narrows by 83% to $4mn as cat losses surge to $149mn

CNA expects $143mn Q3 cat losses, $25mn-$55mn Q4 Milton losses

WR Berkley Q3 CR ticks up to 90.9%, gross premiums grow 8.4%

Cyber insurance lawyer Selby launches Selby Strategies

CAC launches CyberPeril Pro solution for energy and utility sectors

Analysis

US insurance composite hits all-time high as Travelers surges 12.2%

Risk modellers’ Milton estimates range from $17bn to $50bn

Coastal insurers and reinsurers kept US insurance composite flat last week as S&P 500 reached new record

Wide range on Milton insured loss muddies 1.1 US cat outlook

Hurricane Milton leaves complex loss picture for industry to unravel

Risk modellers agree Helene at least a $6bn privately insured loss

More News

Relation hires Lasher as HNW director from Hylant

Vantage adds Skyward programs head Burke as property VP

Captives and parametrics to play a more important role in property risk: Ferma global survey

AM Best: US residual market policy count up 98% since 2018

Miller hires Marsh’s Watanabe to bolster Japanese team

Swiss Re’s Berger calls for improved data exchange to help tackle loss creep concerns

Casualty concerns, property trajectory and talent influx among top TM topics

Former Icat CEO Butler linked with Helix for potential US launch

Aurenity hits $100mn of in-force premium and eyes further portfolio diversification

How to build an insurance brand? Stop talking about insurance

How efficient is capital allocation in insurance?

Patient capital: how should tomorrow’s insurers be funded?

Drowning in data: The high costs of poor data management

Baked in: how a computer scientist anticipated the MGA boom

Baden-Baden 2024

Baden-Baden Symposium: Calmer renewals to shift focus to data-sharing frameworks

Spenner: Reinsurers maintain increased appetite for European wind perils ahead of 1.1

German severe weather losses to drive price and T&C improvements at 1.1: E+S Rück

All eyes on Berger’s next move as Swiss Re addresses casualty reserving challenge…

Middle East escalation clauses under spotlight ahead of war, political violence and terrorism renewals

Russia-Ukraine lessor disputes overshadow otherwise stable aviation renewals

Cyber Risk Insurer

Arch parts ways with cyber product leader Saeed

CAC launches CyberPeril Pro solution for energy and utility sectors

Cyber insurance lawyer Selby launches Selby Strategies

Extreme malware attack would not exhaust deployed limit in cyber market: study

French cyber MGA Stoïk raises €25mn with Munich Re and TMHCC among investors

Coalition: Ransomware and aggregation risk dominate H1 cyber insurance claims

DeNexus closes $17.5mn Series A funding round, adds Axa XL CUO as board observer

Parametric news

Axa Climate renews parametric marine restoration policies in Mexico and the Philippines

Land Bank Insurance and CelsiusPro to pilot parametric drought cover in South Africa

Swiss Re CorSo parametric claims expected from Milton after recent payouts

Ferma calls on European Commission to set up consultative body on climate protection gaps

Munich Re and ARC back new shock-resilient loans for West African countries

Parametric insurer Paratus covers jet fuel price risk for Southeast Asian airline

The Insurer TV

Swiss Re’s Roder highlights challenges and opportunities in casualty lines

Guy Carpenter eyes expansion in credit and political risk market: Edwards

GC’s Rousseau: Milton-Helene impacts and inflationary pressures to dominate Baden-Baden talks

Sompo’s Gundersen: PFAS forcing middle market into E&S channel

Ryan Specialty’s Wuller: Delegated authority services ~40% of E&S market

Nationwide’s Nelson: Robust E&S market set to benefit amid migration to coastal cities

Bassiouni: Underwriters shortening coverage periods to 3-6 months amid Middle East escalation fears

Satellite imagery shows Milton flood losses similar to Helene but wind losses likely larger

Axis’s McKenna: Hardening casualty market “necessary” for industry

Liberty Mutual’s Moore: Reinsurers must focus on more than rate cycles

RPS’s Stein: E&S space has been “predictably unpredictable” in 2024

Markel: E&S market provides opportunity to address global challenges

PPL’s Mason: Focusing on obligation to market key to platform regaining trust

Deloitte’s Johal on growth, M&A, and talent: “Specialty lines and technology are driving the future”

Institutional investors remain cautious on cyber cat bonds

Comment