Douglas Shillito
This week, Hurricane Harvey hogged the headlines. CoreLogic, Air Worldwide, and RMS reported their estimates of economic losses but it is still far from clear how much it will cost the insurance industry. Standard & Poor's made an early prediction that primary insurers would bear the brunt, but most losses will come from flood damage, much of which appears to be uninsured or covered through the National Flood Insurance Program. Lloyd's and the London Market have so far kept a low media profile, but more detail should emerge about reinsurers' portion of the loss before the upcoming Monte Carlo Septembre Rendezvous.
Insurance Europe responded to the European Commission on the review of the Motor Insurance Directive, and also to the EC Better Regulation portal on draft delegated acts on product oversight and governance, and insurance-based investment products.
DXC Technology announced Digital Insurance as a Service, an integrated, end-to-end solution tailored for the North American insurance market, whilst Sapiens' IDIT solution went live in Singapore at Budget Direct. Sun Life Financial streamlined its life applications with Sun Life GO online solution. On the InsurTech front, Hiscox is partnering with startup Digital Fineprint to investigate how social media data can be used to better educate the smallest businesses on the risks they face. iXledger is collaborating with Gen Re to utilise blockchain and other advanced technologies, and Sherpa raised £2.3m to challenge the way personal insurance is delivered.
There were financial results from Baloise (CEO "proud of performance in first half") and Foson (net profit up 33.6% in first half). Allianz signed a binding agreement to acquire 98% of Ensure Insurance in Nigeria. Argo Group published a Mid-Year Report, Novae Group shareholders approved the final offer from AXIS Capital, Sompo Canopius was acquired by a private equity consortium led by Centerbridge Partners, and Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) completed the merger of its acquisitions from AXA in Serbia. JLT acquired in Belgium. There were senior appointments at Ardonagh Group, Fidelis, IGI, Lancashire Holdings, Marsh, Sedgwick, and Zurich.
Full articles on the above topics may be found on the Insurance Newslink and Financial Newslink global trends database services at www.onlystrategic.com