According to Reinsurance News, in order to keep up with the changing risk landscape, insurers and reinsurers need to continuously assess, measure, and mitigate catastrophic risks.

Climate change also increases uncertainty in risk modelling and pricing, meaning the industry could face pricing trends consistently falling behind actual losses, creating profitability challenges.

The ratings agency warns P&C insurers and reinsurers to expect a negative credit impact from climate change correlated risks as the frequency and severity of natural catastrophe events increases.

James Eck, Vice-President Moody’s, said: “The effects of climate change on the frequency and severity of catastrophic events are difficult to predict, and the correlation of climate-exposed risks that span P&C re/insurers’ balance sheets increases the magnitude of potential losses arising from the physical and transition risks associated with climate change.”

The CEA, California’s not-for-profit residential earthquake insurance provider, aims to have $10 billion of protection by 2022, the report said.

The reinsurance program has been steadily increasing over the past years, growing from $5.4 billion in 2016 to $6.3 billion in 2017.

Capital markets play a large role in the reinsurance program by investing in these catastrophe bond issues and also through some collateralized reinsurance participation.

Currently, the CEA insures over 1 million homes across California against earthquake risks.

According to the report, the CEA anticipates uptake of its insurance policies to continue, driving up its exposure as well, and so forecasts and targets an increasing use of reinsurance coverage to manage this over the coming years.

The syndicate, GIC Syndicate 1947, is to be managed by Pembroke, Liberty Mutual Company’s specialist Lloyd’s managing agency.

The announcement follows GIC Re receiving ‘in principle’ approval from the Lloyd’s Franchise Board to establish a new syndicate in the Lloyd’s of London market in December 2017.

The company has appointed Neil Attwood as its Active Underwriter of Syndicate 1947
GIC Re said in a statement: “Through the syndicate, apart from expanding its global reach, GIC Re will also benchmark with the peers in Lloyd’s, the world’s leading market for specialist insurance.”

In his new role, Mr. Walker will be responsible for leading and building out Brit’s UK property offering, as well as working with its specialist liability team to align Brit’s UK property and casualty proposition.

He brings with him more than 20 years’ experience in the broking industry with a focus on property and casualty.

Mr. Walker joins the company from Marsh, where he was most recently UK Placement Leader for Marsh Propositions.

Matthew Wilson, Chief Executive Officer of Brit, said: “I’m pleased to welcome Neil to Brit, and look forward to him helping expand our UK Property presence.

“His track-record, as a broker, of working with both insurers and clients to develop bespoke and innovative solutions will prove valuable experience.”

Prudential said on Wednesday it planned to demerge London-based M&G Prudential into a separate company with a listing on the London Stock Exchange.

This will result in Prudential – which will remain headquartered and listed in London and led by current Chief Executive Officer Mike Wells – being focused on Asia, the United States and Africa, according to the report.

“The decision to demerge M&G Prudential follows a rigorous review by the board which considered all options, including the status quo, and concluded that it is in the best interest of the group to operate as two separately-listed companies, able to focus on their distinct strategic priorities in their chosen geographies,” Paul Manduca, Prudential’s chairman, said.

Following the natural catastrophes of 2017, Hannover Re posted a loss expenditure of €1,127.3million ($1,397million) from hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, as well as the California wildfires.

The company posted a combined ratio of 99.8% for 2017, an increase from the 93.7% reported in 2016.

Gross premium written increased in 2017 by 8.8% to €17.8 billion ($22 billion) from €16.4 billion ($20.3 billion) for the same period in 2016.

Ordinary investment income for the year increased by 10.9% to €1,289million ($1,579million) in 2017 from €1,162million ($1,440million) in 2016.

Ulrich Wallin, Chief Executive Officer, said: “The 2017 financial year was a challenging one; it was the year with the heaviest burden of large losses in our company’s history.

“While the generated Group profit fell short of the previous year’s good result, it is still pleasing at €959 million ($1.1million).”

Currently, M&A transactions have been put on hold due to uncertainty around the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union (EU).

As a response to Brexit, insurers and reinsurers are restructuring their operations, such as setting up subsidiaries and branches to ensure that they can continue to operate across Europe.

Clyde & Co said it expects “transactions to move further back up the management agenda and, with some of the uncertainty removed around the structure of possible European targets, an increase in deals is likely.”

Analysts also anticipate that the volume of deals in Asia could increase, due to less market uncertainty potentially making deals easier to complete, the report said.

Matt Harris, currently head of ArgoGlobal’s European and Asian operations, will become Ariscom Managing Director, effective immediately.

According to the release, over the next few months, ArgoGlobal will rebrand Ariscom with the aim of highlighting the strength of the newly-combined organization.

Mark E. Watson III, Argo Group Chief Executive Officer, said: “Ariscom provides an established platform that we can use to efficiently expand our presence in continental Europe.

“Italy is one of Europe’s largest and best-performing P&C insurance markets.

We’re also eager to tap into Ariscom’s existing broker and client network throughout Italy, with longer-term opportunities to develop capabilities across Europe – particularly in Spain and Portugal.”

The acquisition of Ariscom follows a series of recent senior leadership appointments within Argo Group’s International segment, and follows last year’s acquisition of Bermuda-based reinsurer Ariel Re.

The GERF was launched by Willis Towers Watson Chief Executive Officer John Haley at The Economist’s World Ocean Summit in Mexico.

The company said marine ecosystems are at risk, and damage to natural capital such as coral, mangroves and fisheries reduces its ability to protect the coastal communities, their economies and assets in developed and emerging countries.

Initial work of the GERF focuses on the protection of ecosystems such as coral reefs, mangroves and seagrasses in the Caribbean to support the resilience of fishing communities at threat from hurricanes and coral decline.

GERF will respond to these growing risks by delivering powerful analytics, incentivizing environmental stewardship and providing innovative insurance protection to mobilize development finance.

Mr. Haley said: “The Global Ecosystem Resilience Facility is such an important initiative in helping to support the resilience of coastal and island communities to climate pressures.”

Analysts anticipate that the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) trend will continue during 2018, due to factors such as economies of scale, capital commoditization, and market position.

The ratings agency notes that there are fewer obvious targets or combinations for consolidation than in previous years, the report said.

Moody’s believes that consolidation is a positive trend for the industry, allowing companies the scale necessary to maintain relevance by providing a competitive cost base and funding essential technology and data investments.

It also predicts that technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, and big data will have a profound impact on current insurance business models and products.

However, the report says it could be years before there is any meaningful disruption to the sector.

The new policy provides management liability protection for private company business leaders and is fully customizable.

It can provide D&O, employment practices liability, fiduciary liability, and commercial crime and cyber liability, on a combined or standalone basis.

As part of the D&O expansion, Validus has appointed Julianne McAdams as Senior Underwriter of Commercial Directors’ and Officers’ Liability.

Ms. McAdams will be based in Atlanta and will focus on complex risks across mid to upper middle market clients.

Jonathan Ritz, Chief Executive Officer of Validus Specialty, said: “Given the significant expertise this team is building out and our appetite, brokers and clients recognize they now have a vital underwriting team at hand.”

In his new role, Mr. Uhlmann will be responsible for leading the regional business strategy and overall insurance operations in Canada.

He joins the company from Zurich Insurance, where he most recently served as CEO Global Corporate for Zurich Canada.

Kelly Lyles, Chief Executive Client and Country Management, said: “Urs brings extensive knowledge of commercial P&C insurance and broad international experience that will support our growth objectives in Canada.”

Doug Howat, Chief Executive of Global Lines, said: “We are excited to have Urs join our team of country leaders who oversee our growing portfolio of global lines which include aerospace, energy and fine art and specie insurance.”

The consortium of buyers was led by Centerbridge Partners and includes private investment firm Gallatin Point Capital.

The company will be headed up by Chairman Michael Watson and Group Chief Underwriting officer Mike Duffy.

Canopius was founded in 2003 and is one of the top ten insurers at Lloyd’s, writing premium income of more than $1.5 billion in 2017, the release said.

Mr. Watson said: “I am delighted to herald the dawn of an exciting new chapter in Canopius’s journey. This has re-energized our exceptionally talented team who, with the financial strength and insights of our new owners, will continue to pursue our ambition of building a world-class specialty insurance and reinsurance franchise.”

Ben Langworthy and Matthew Kabaker, Senior Managing Directors at Centerbridge said: “We’re very happy to have completed the investment in Canopius.”

CIMA is the regional body of the insurance industry for 14 countries in French-speaking African Countries.

The profitable growth is due to the legislative changes in the region, which aim to increase premium retention within the CIMA zone, said the report.

The reforms also bolster insurers’ capital and surplus are expected to help create a stronger market prospectively.

A.M. Best believes that the credit fundamentals of insurance and reinsurance companies operating in CIMA countries will remain resilient in the medium term.

However, the ratings agency anticipates country risk to remain an offsetting credit factor.
Ghislain Le Cam, Director, Analytics said: “Local insurers and reinsurers are exposed to a challenging environment, which is subject to instability.

“In particular, political risks and social unrest have the potential to rapidly and adversely affect a company’s financial strength.”

The policy covers medical professional liability and general liability risks and is designed to protect the RRG from downside risk on their legacy insurance program.

The coverage was written by Accredited Surety and Casualty Company, R&Q’s wholly owned carrier.

Ken Randall, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of R&Q, said: “This transaction adds to the continued development of exit solutions to risk retention groups within the U.S.

“We are excited to expand our capabilities using Accredited Surety & Casualty to assist in solving various issues that arise on legacy liabilities for RRG’s, self-insurers, and corporates within the U.S.”

Mr. Sordillo joined the company in 2017 and most recently served as Senior VP for Loss Control, GRS.

In his previous role, Mr. Sordillo broadened the scope of strategic risk management services offered to GRS clients and in his new role, he will further evolve these services to support the insurance platform globally.

In her new role, Ms. Sullivan will be working alongside GRS loss control, underwriting and claims staff, and will continue to enhance the company’s loss control capabilities for GRS’s target industries.

Jack Kuhn, Chief Executive Officer of Global Insurance, said: “Proactive and tailored risk management services are highly valued by our clients, as we not only offer our insureds financial protection but we also work closely with them to reduce loss experience and identify ways to improve and differentiate their business operations.

“Both Vic and Christine are recognized leaders in risk management best practices across a range of industries.”

The new platform is a probabilistic model for cyber loss and can provide losses at different return periods for all five of the major cyber loss processes.

v3.0 can also be applied to reinsurance of cyber losses by providing financial perspectives to all reinsurance stakeholders and allows model users to incorporate their own loss experience into the model.

RMS has also partnered with BitSight and SecurityScorecard to develop cyber loss experience data that provides insight into the vulnerabilities and risk factors of a company’s security.

Adam Sandler, Head of Cyber Solutions at RMS, said: “RMS clients are seeing demand for cyber insurance growing rapidly and their ability to pursue this opportunity is constrained by their ability to allocate risk capital with confidence.”

Morgan Stanley has highlighted the potential erosion of increased earnings as additional regulatory headline risks and an expected slowing of reserve releases to affect balance sheets.

According to analysts, a potential factor that could drive down profitability is state regulators pushing for lower rates for consumers and lower tax expenses.

This could cause carriers to ease off insurance rate increases that they otherwise would have taken, in an attempt to garner more growth.

The slowing of reserve release should not be ignored, currently, Morgan Stanley estimates that the industry’s overall reserve position to be lacking about $2.5 billion as of the end of 2016, the report said.

Over the next 12-24 months, the risk of adverse developments is expected to rise, particularly in other liability and commercial auto liability, although reserve releases are expected to slow further in 2018.

Blue Marble was first announced at the World Economic Forum in 2015, and aims to develop risk protection solutions for over two billion people globally facing financial protection gaps.

Currently, Blue Marble is comprised of eight companies including; American International Group, Aspen Insurance Holdings, Hamilton Insurance Group, XL Insurance (UK), and
Zurich Insurance.

Eduardo Fábrega, Chief Executive Officer of ASSA, said: “Because of our market influence in the six Central American countries as well as our track record, risk capacity, and our team of over 1,000 employees, we have witnessed first-hand the existing gap between available insurance products and the protection needs of the emerging middle class.”

Joan Lamm-Tennant, CEO and Founder of Blue Marble, said: “I am delighted that ASSA has joined Blue Marble Microinsurance as our ninth consortium member.”

Mike Duffy has assumed the position of Chief Executive, effective immediately, in addition to his existing role as Group Chief Underwriting Officer.

Current Deputy Chief Underwriting Officer Sarah Willmont has been appointed CUO of Canopius Managing Agents and Active Underwriter of Syndicate 4444, subject to regulatory consent.

Michael Watson, Executive Chairman of Canopius, said: “It is a real pleasure to make these appointments. I have worked with Mike for 12 years and he is a valued partner and greatly respected by the market and our staff. Moreover, Sarah has made a huge contribution to our underwriting leadership and strategy.”