Douglas Shillito
This week, the annual Monte Carlo Rendezvous was the highlight, not for the first time coinciding with a major hurricane. It will take some time to assess the insured losses through Hurricane Irma. AIR Worldwide's latest estimate is between $20-40bn less than first thought. Munich Re reported that it may make a loss in the third quarter, but other reinsurers have still to provide an assessment.
Meanwhile, a number of reports were published around the Rendezvous and later in the week. Swiss Re saw a growing demand for new reinsurance solutions, and the announcement of the B3i major reinsurer blockchain development could result in a 30% productivity gain for all parties. Interestingly, the InsurTech theme featured consistently. Aon launched its annual Global Insurance Market Opportunities report with an emphasis on InsurTech and analytics, and JLT Re issued its "InsurTech: Rebooting (Re)insurance" Viewpoint report. KPMG's US CEO Outlook 2017 report revealed that 57% of US insurance CEOs see InsurTech disruptive developments as an opportunity rather than a threat, and Capgemini and Efma released their World Insurance Report 2017 with emphasis on the InsurTech surge.
Continuing on the technology front, Baloise German startup, FRIDAY, is using Guidewire solutions after a record implementation time, and Milliman's Claim Variability Guidelines launched at the Casualty Loss Reserve Seminar in Philadelphia. Sapiens announced the general availability of its IDIT 14.1 policy administration suite for P&C insurers worldwide, and also completed a $66.2m public debenture offering in Israel for general corporate purposes. SSP reported that Ageas has become the third leading insurer to go live with the Polaris imarket live-chat service on its commercial e-trade platform.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) confirmed its final decision to make a Market Investigation Reference to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in relation to investment consultancy and fiduciary management services, and Insurance Europe responded to a OECD discussion draft on its Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Action 7.
Admiral launched its new MultiCover insurance product combining car and home insurance into one single policy, and ASR Nederland moved for Generali's Dutch portfolio. Chubb opted for Paris as the location for its principal European Continental office, post-Brexit. AmTrust at Lloyd's sought approval to merge its three non-life syndicates, the Davies Group acquired Ambant, and Sciemus formed an investment partnership with HSCM Bermuda and is to be renamed Argon Underwriting. Willis Research Network highlighted that its partners are heavily featured in top university rankings. LV= had a strong first half with the Allianz partnership ahead, and Skuld's bottom-line result was still positive after a small number of substantial claims. There were senior appointments at ERS, Markel International, and Pen Underwriting. Pat Regan is to succeed John Neal as QBE Group CEO.
Full articles on the above topics may be found on the Insurance Newslink and Financial Newslink global trends database services at www.onlystrategic.com