Cancelling Monte Carlo – the right thing to doLast week the organisers of the Rendez-Vous de Septembre confirmed that this year’s event would not take place in the fallout of the global Covid-19 pandemic.
Hoping for the best and preparing for the worstSimply hoping for the best with no back-up plan is not a sensible approach and Aon Group CEO Greg Case – a product of the McKinsey & Co school of strategy – is undoubtedly one of the insurance industry’s master strategists, as his sixteen-year tenure at Aon has already shown.
US carriers go to battle over BI but is a compromise on the cards?The CEOs of US insurers have struck a bellicose tone about business interruption (BI) on their earnings calls but a new Willis report suggests they may ultimately have to compromise.
UK insurers finally out of Covid-19 first gear…The UK insurance industry has not – publicly at least – had a good Covid-19 crisis.
Lloyd’s e-placements: Never waste a crisis…It is a universally acknowledged truth that a Lloyd’s market in need of reform must also be in want of a crisis.
Sector leadership found wanting…The appointment of only one insurance industry executive to Donald Trump’s Great American Economic Revival Industry roster is a disappointment. It is perhaps also a signal that the sector has to improve its standing with politicians - on both sides of the Atlantic.
The heat is turned up over Covid-19 BI claimsInsurers were already feeling the heat over Covid-19 business interruption (BI) losses before US President Donald Trump waded into the issue and a House Democrat introduced a bill that would force BI payments regardless of exclusions.
Monte Carlo or bustNews earlier this week that Chubb is running its own virtual conference for risk managers and brokers on the dates when RIMS 2020 would have been in full swing looks like an astute piece of opportunistic thinking and a demonstration that technology is allowing the industry to keep functioning through the Covid-19 crisis.
QBE: Canary in the capital mine?The global P&C industry has been drowning in a surplus of capital for so long that it’s a shock to write of dividends and share buy-backs being cancelled for reasons of balance sheet prudence.
The Atlantic divide: US carriers won’t face the same pressure on dividends as Europeans…Yesterday, a quartet of UK insurers bowed to regulatory pressure and in a coordinated flurry of announcements told their shareholders they were postponing or cancelling dividends because of the COVID-19 crisis.
So, why doesn’t Aon just keep Miller?Despite the global recession and the ice chill that has frozen the deal-financing markets, few would bet against Aon Group CEO Greg Case delivering on his bold, career-defining WTW swoop signed last month.
Louisiana won’t be the last state to take aim at insurersLouisiana has joined the handful of US states that could let Covid-19 claims get out of hand for insurers by considering legislation to override policy exclusions.
Marsh looks to put US industry back on front foot over BIIf the US insurance industry’s role is to be a facilitator of economic growth then events of the last few weeks have put it in an invidious position.
Are the Covid-19 stress tests really Best timing?The timing of AM Best’s move to stress test for a pandemic in the middle of the Covid-19 crisis is hardly helpful from the perspective of under-pressure (re)insurers.
The squeeze is on…Last week, a British MP got confused between an insurance company and a bank while discussing the impact of pandemic exclusion clauses on a BI policy.
Lloyd’s 2019: Just like the good old days…Remember the days when insurance companies used to be described as a fund manager with a loss-making underwriting business alongside?
Zero shades of greyScarred by memories of “Superstorm” Sandy almost eight years ago, the US insurance industry is on the front foot looking to work with legislators on solutions that don’t leave it carrying the can for exposures that are clearly excluded from coverage.
Aon-WTW: The chosen twoThere is plenty to read into the appointment of Eric Andersen and Julie Gebauer to lead the mammoth task of integrating the largest ever insurance brokerage merger.