ILS investors seek rate hardening after costly H2 2018: Swiss Re
2018 marked the second-highest year of ILS issuance volume on record, but investors will now seek rate hardening after another costly cat year, according to Swiss Re.
Suncorp to buy additional A$200mn natural perils cover
Suncop will buy an additional A$200mn ($143mn) in natural perils reinsurance cover at its 1 July 2019 renewal as it looks for further protection around its main cat and aggregate structures after blowing its budget for losses.
TMK's flagship syndicate facing 2017 loss of up to £165mn
Tokio Marine Kiln has said that its flagship Lloyd’s syndicate 510 is expecting the return on its £1.13bn capacity to run to a loss of between 9.6 percent and 14.6 percent for 2017 year of account.
California considers disaster response insurance
California’s insurance commissioner Ricardo Lara is behind a proposal that could see the wildfire-ravaged state buy insurance to pay for disaster response costs related to catastrophic events.
AIG shares plunge 9% on Q4 loss
AIG shares were trading down close to 9 percent in New York this morning as investors reacted negatively to a big Q4 2018 earnings miss.
Tokio Marine’s European and reinsurance units return to black
Japanese giant Tokio Marine’s reinsurance and European businesses both returned to a profit in the first nine months of 2018.
Assurant cuts cat XoL retention by a third after losses
US insurer Assurant has lowered the per-event retention on its 2019 catastrophe reinsurance programme from $120mn to $80mn after consecutive years of cat losses.
AIG’s $365mn reserve charge contributes to big Q4 miss
AIG shares were down more than 3 percent in after hours trading in response to the insurer reporting an adjusted after-tax loss of $559mn, or $0.63 per share, for the fourth quarter of 2018.
Maiden faces class action lawsuit over AmTrust relationship
A class action lawsuit has been launched against Maiden Holdings alleging the reinsurer and some of its former officers misled investors over underwriting and risk management controls relating to its reinsurance of AmTrust.
Everest Re slides to Q4 loss on heavy cats
Everest Re has fallen to a fourth quarter operating loss largely driven by heavy cat losses in the period.
CNA misses as cat losses and investment returns hit Q4 profits
US insurer CNA Financial has revealed a fourth-quarter net loss of $84mn. Its core loss per share of $0.08 - a core loss of $23mn - was a big miss from the mean estimate of six analysts surveyed by MarketWatch of $0.82 earnings per share.
Mapfre’s earnings shed 25% as goodwill writedown hits bottom line
Mapfre saw its earnings fall nearly 25 percent in 2018 as catastrophe losses, currency depreciation and a massive prior year goodwill writedown negatively impacted results but the Spanish (re)insurer received praise from analysts for its underlying performance.
Talanx hits reduced Eur700mn target despite industrial loss
German (re)insurer Talanx has reported a net income of Eur703mn ($798mn) in 2018, marginally ahead of its Eur700mn target it revised downwards in October.
Munich Re profits halve in fourth quarter as nat cats take toll
Reinsurance giant Munich Re has reported a profit of Eur238mn ($270.9mn) in the fourth quarter of 2018, down 56 percent from the same period in 2017.
Numis drops Lancashire FY profit estimate to $16mn
Numis Securities expects Lancashire to post a “small” profit of $16mn at full year, despite forecasting the London-market carrier to report an above-consensus loss of $33mn for the fourth quarter.
PG&E paid a mere $27mn for totalled $200mn cat bond
Californian utility PG&E paid a mere $26.8mn for its $200mn wildfire cat bond - Cal Phoenix Re - which is expected to have been totalled only months after its launch, according to a bankruptcy motion filed by the energy provider.
Berkshire Hathaway was biggest writer of PG&E excess liability
Berkshire Hathaway wrote by far the biggest share of PG&E’s excess liability cover, The Insurer can reveal.
Perils pegs Sydney hailstorm losses at A$635mn
Loss aggregation firm Perils has pegged insured property losses stemming from the Sydney hailstorms in December at A$635mn ($461.8mn).