Aon-WTW – history suggests DoJ will fall in behind EC regulatory approval
The Aon-Willis Towers Watson transaction looks set to pass its biggest test yet with the European Commission reportedly greenlighting proposed remedy packages and announcements on divestments expected in the coming days. Attention will now shift to US antitrust regulators at the Department of Justice.
Next decade critical for insurers in net-zero push
Political declarations have sparked renewed momentum in the global drive towards carbon neutrality over the past month, and these moves will likely prompt an acceleration in the insurance industry’s efforts to cut its own emissions.
Divestments close in Aon-WTW end game
Next week it is likely Arthur J Gallagher will find itself as the owner of Willis Re and various assets of Willis Towers Watson’s Corporate Risk & Broking business that have been put on the block to get Aon’s acquisition of WTW over the line with regulators.
Performance assessments: catalyst for further change?
There are less than two weeks before the 3 May deadline for feedback on the methodology that will drive Best’s Performance Assessment for MGAs, MGUs, program administrators and other delegated underwriting authority enterprises (DUAEs).
Truist organic growth is positive read-across for other brokers
First reporters are not always viewed as industry bellwethers and Truist Insurance Holdings – with its retail, wholesale and MGA operations – is not a straight analogue for its publicly traded peers. But strong Q1 organic growth of 6.4 percent is nonetheless being seen as a positive for the wider ...
Willis Re highlights reinsurers’ underlying conditions
A new report from Willis Re has highlighted reinsurers’ underlying performance in 2020 is no cause for celebration, and that there remains a need for a lot of improvement.
Eeyore or Goldilocks: what’s happening with (re)insurance rates?
As we all know, the world is divided between those who take a rosy, glass-half-full view of events and those who squint at the glass and gloomily come to a more Eeyorish interpretation.
Five reasons for optimism at One Lime Street…
While headline figures showed a fourth consecutive year of underwriting losses and a combined ratio of 110.3 percent, the mood among senior management at the Corporation was one of optimism.
Even cyber writers are not immune to attacks
CNA’s cybersecurity attack this week provides some embarrassing PR for a carrier that is a prominent cyber writer, but more than that it highlights the growing threat facing all companies.
The need for political (good)will…
With more than a year having now passed since the onset of Covid-19, there remains little progress in the development of risk transfer mechanisms for future pandemics.
The importance of choice
One of the key challenges facing the industry as it seeks to expand coverage for uninsured risks which sit within the current ‘protection gap’ is the lack of sufficient modelling tools to manage these exposures.
Are Lloyd’s SIABs poised to bounce back?
Unveiled with great fanfare 18 months ago, it is fair to say Lloyd’s syndicate-in-a-box (SIAB) innovation has so far generated more noise than action.
Low bid from Chubb puts The Hartford firmly in play
At just 1.44x estimated tangible book value, Chubb’s preliminary offer of $65 a share for The Hartford looks to be little more than an opening gambit and puts its smaller rival firmly in play for counter bids.
Under the ratings agency spotlight
News this week that AM Best is introducing performance assessments – or Best’s PA – for MGAs, MGUs, program administrators and other so-called delegated underwriting authority enterprises (DUAEs) is likely to meet with a mixed response in the programs sector.
A new look to celebrate being 150 years old…
If 24-hour news and social media existed 150 years ago, then the roll call of cats, conflict and rapid political change would have gripped the watching world.
Complex winter storm loss bill expected to rise from initial PCS number
Reinsurance sources continue to expect a double-digit billion dollar loss from last month’s winter storm activity, but more clarity finally appears to be emerging around where the ultimate cost to the industry may land.
Florida: Déjà vu with a different outcome?
It is not unusual in early March to be talking about the woes of the Florida specialist homeowners and property insurance marketplace and whether its participants will all still be around by the time it comes to the mid-year reinsurance renewal.
The SPAC bubble
The increasing interest in insurtechs from SPACs marks the inevitable convergence between the capital markets’ current biggest craze with an area of the insurance market that had already been attracting increasing levels of funding at eye-watering multiples.
Aon-WTW one year on – will pragmatism get the deal over the line?
As with much in life over the last 12 months, Aon’s announcement of an agreed deal with Willis Towers Watson (WTW) seems like an age ago and yet only yesterday, as time continues to distort during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Land of the (wholesale) giants
Less than a year after this publication revealed that Ryan Specialty Group was set to buy the then fourth largest US wholesaler All Risks, the firm that stepped up into the position, Worldwide Facilities, is being taken out by Amwins.
Upsized Citizens reinsurance shows ill-health of FL homeowners market
HCI’s TypTap strategy is paying off
The perils of ignoring Cuthbert Heath…
Uri – unmodelled and under-priced?
A year’s pause for the IG
Rising replacement costs – the next major claims inflation challenge?
Plucking the industry…
Covid-19 claims short-tail momentum slows…but long-tail remains uncertain
Is Antares’ Lloyd’s China exit latest sign of a wider trend?
Chubb highlights the primary v reinsurance divide
Data points highlight E&S momentum as new players line up
UK motor insurers put brakes on Covid-19 goodwill measures
Six key takeaways from the Aon-WTW post/deal structure
Is the spectre of US casualty reserve deficiencies set to loom over 2021?
Is it time for a female Lloyd’s deputy chair?
The E&S pull
US insurers off to a bad start to 2021 for Covid-19 BI rulings
Fertile ground in the program sector draws fresh interest
All aboard the London IPO
Insurers’ DC riots response commendable but largely symbolic
ESG looks set to top boardroom agenda in 2021
Will further capital raises in 2021 end market hardening?
Georgia on insurers’ minds
Finding a path to equivalence
1.1 renewals – Willis Re vs Howden
London market preparedness key to success in post-Brexit landscape
The MGA-carrier hybrid strategy
QBE and RSA: The three-lettered curse…
The rise of “secondary” perils
The frequency problem
Another outsider…
Craving contact in a people business
Three small letters that will be big in 2021
European giants look to seize US commercial risk opportunity
Catalyst for more broker consolidation?
Conduit Re’s Bermuda-only strategy serves as reminder of island’s start-up appeal
The lure of legacy…
High frequency of losses points to increased reinsurance demand
Covid-19 reinsurance recoveries: the next battleground?
Aon-WTW viewed through a different lens
$800mn Inigo is a vote of confidence in London and Lloyd’s CEO John Neal
Pool Re: Slivers of optimism despite a year to forget
The alternative path to cyber cat risk
Stage set for tense casualty renewal
The future at One Lime Street…
Fear of a hard market
Eta shines light on need for tools to build resilience and close protection gap
E&S drive continues
CoverHound sale is a sign of the times in insurtech
A day of optimism…