NewsCapitalAviva completes £300mn share buyback programmeAviva has completed its previously announced £300mn share buyback programme in a move which takes the London-listed insurer’s total capital returned to shareholders above the £5bn demanded by former activist investor Cevian.Fri 2 Jun 2023
NewsPeople MovesClimate head Rowan Douglas departs WTWRowan Douglas has announced his departure as head of the Climate and Resilience Hub at WTW after 23 years with the broker.Fri 2 Jun 2023
NewsResultsNorthStandard posts 95% CR as premium income nears $800mnNorthStandard has posted a combined ratio of 95 percent for the year to 20 February, with the marine insurer reporting a return to profit on the back of a benign claims environment.Fri 2 Jun 2023
NewsLiabilityAon expands Praedicat partnership to develop new emerging liability exposure solutionsAon has broadened its strategic collaboration with liability modelling company Praedicat with the broker set to benefit from a range of new tools through the tie-up to help better inform its client base.Fri 2 Jun 2023
NewsM&ABerkley confirms Breckenridge’s insurance services division sale to AP’s AccretiveWR Berkley has sold the Insurance Services division of wholesale subsidiary Breckenridge IS to AssuredPartners’ wholesale operation Accretive and will record an $86mn pre-tax investment gain tied to the divestment within its Q2 results - confirming The Insurer’s earlier report that a deal was imminent.Fri 2 Jun 2023
NewsPeople MovesMarkel names Houser chief wholesale officer and Gavlick chief retail officerMarkel’s specialty division has appointed Wendy Houser as its chief wholesale officer and Sarah Gavlick as chief retail officer, appointments the Glen Allen, Virginia-based firm said are aimed at addressing the unique needs of both its wholesale and retail business models.Fri 2 Jun 2023
NewsPeople MovesMarsh promotes McClellan to southeast zone leaderMarsh has appointed Megan McClellan - who has been with the broker since 2012 - as southeast zone leader, overseeing eight offices.Thu 1 Jun 2023
NewsPeople MovesGallagher Re confirms Johnson as NA vice chair, hires IRB’s Veiga in BrazilGallagher Re has confirmed Linda Johnson as vice chairperson for its North American team - a hire from TigerRisk Partners first revealed by this publication - with the reinsurance broker also appointing IRB’s Daniel Veiga as treaty CEO in Brazil.Thu 1 Jun 2023
NewsRegulationFlorida governor DeSantis signs three property insurance-related billsFlorida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed three bills that the state’s Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) said will strengthen the property insurance market, expand the state’s home hardening and hazard mitigation programs, and further protect consumers against bad actors.Thu 1 Jun 2023
NewsM&AMarsh McLennan Agency acquires Texas-based SOLVMarsh McLennan Agency, the middle market subsidiary of Marsh, has acquired SOLV Risk Solutions, an independent agency based in Austin, Texas that was founded in 2016.Thu 1 Jun 2023
NewsProperty reinsuranceTower Hill reciprocal ups reinsurance cover to almost $2bn at 1 JuneTower Hill Insurance Exchange has secured almost $2bn in catastrophe reinsurance cover at 1 June with $120mn more limit than the expiring program.Thu 1 Jun 2023
NewsCyberND panel: ‘MFA fatigue’ is keeping firms with sophisticated security postures vulnerableThe growing use of multi-factor authentication (MFA) among cyber insureds has not been a “silver bullet” to stop breaches, with many deploying the tools poorly while also remaining vulnerable to phishing schemes as a result of “MFA fatigue”, speakers at a Net Diligence conference suggested.Thu 1 Jun 2023
EXCLUSIVEM&AAssuredPartners expected to reach deal for Breckenridge this week: sourcesAssuredPartners is close to signing a deal to buy Breckenridge Group from WR Berkley, with the two sides expected to complete the transaction as early as Thursday, The Insurer can reveal.Thu 1 Jun 2023
NewsCyberND panel: Cyber claims spike in recent years has helped carriers improve underwriting analysisExecutives speaking at a NetDiligence event on Wednesday said the increase in cyber claims volume in recent years has helped improve data quality, an evolution that is in turn allowing (re)insurance carriers to better underwrite the risk.Thu 1 Jun 2023
NewsLegal disputeMactavish: Commercial insurance lawsuits reach record high in 2022 at 82 filingsThe number of commercial insurance lawsuits filed against insurers reached a new high of 82 in 2022, as more policyholders resort to the courts to get claims paid as insurers are increasingly unwilling to pay out in the hard market, according to the Mactavish Insurance Claim Litigation Index.Thu 1 Jun 2023
NewsPeople MovesAviva names Hillman as incoming CROUK insurer Aviva has appointed James Hillman as chief risk officer, joining the company later this year.Thu 1 Jun 2023