Douglas Shillito
This week, three more surveys of insurance market participants' views on the EU Remain/Leave Referendum were published. A poll of attendees at a debate in London hosted by Moore Stephens indicated that although the majority felt "loss of faith" in the EU, total divorce would be too drastic. Media company FWD found that although some brokers were warming towards the Brexit campaign, a significant majority reported that a "Leave" result would be detrimental to their business. In an excellent second annual international Global Reinsurance Survey from Xuber, where the continuing soft market headed the list of concerns, participants were asked their views on the referendum, and none of them said a Leave decision would be good for the London Market.
Other trend surveys included Aon Benfield's review of the Fort McMurray wildfire catastrophe losses; Marsh highlighting the four-fold growth of D&O claims compared with pre-financial crisis levels; Standard & Poor's analysis of Lloyd's Syndicates' performances in 2015; its report on the US Fed's proposed rules for systemically important insurers; and the MIB's latest update highlighting the continued growth of US individually underwriting life insurance applications.
The Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA) announced the appointment of David Rule as executive director of Insurance Supervision, and the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) reported that its new Chartered Risk Manager title had been well received. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) announced the appointment of a new chairman and deputy.
Pool Re, in partnership with Cranfield University and Guy Carpenter, announced the first terrorism risk model to include the potential impact of chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear attack(CBRN). Zurich announced it has begun the process to reshape and simplify with an emphasis on a more customer-orientated structure. Esure is to undertake a strategic review of Gocompare.com, including a possible demerger; FWD Group has received regulatory approval to acquire Great Eastern Life Vietnam; and XL Catlin announced a new team to focus on alternative risk transfer and non-traditional insurance globally. Bahrain-based Trust Re results improved, as did Lloyd's brokers Tyser & Co, whilst Miller Insurance Services announced senior appointments.
Full articles on the above topics may be found on the Insurance Newslink and Financial Newslink global trends database services at www.onlystrategic.com