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Insurance News
Edwards Insurance Brokers has opened a new office in Fareham on the back of pandemic recruitment. The new office, which is in Cams Hall, will bring together the three staff who have been working remotely across the South Coast.
TL Dallas Group has reported a 5.1% rise in turnover to £9.78m in 2021. According to the Bradford-headquartered firm, the uplift was driven by increased premiums in the hard market, a ‘bounce-back’ for many clients in 2021 and “improved new business efforts”. A filing at Companies House showed the business achieved post-tax profit of £814,267, up by 9.6% of the £743,039 delivered in 2020.
Zurich UK is changing its graduate hiring process to cater for “generation covid” after lockdowns affected young peoples’ chances to gain work experience. According to Zurich, the lack of internships and work placements during the pandemic has left graduates with less real-world experience than previous generations as they enter the jobs market.
“Ascend Broking” is now written on the shirts of Chelmsford City Football Club players after the Essex-based insurance Broker became its local team’s official sponsor for the 2022/23 season. Having been involved as a platinum partner in previous years, Ascend Broking said it was a sensible move to sign up as the side’s ‘name on the shirt’ sponsor given the company’s history of backing grassroots local causes.
Guidewire, a solution ecosystem for the Property-Casualty industry, and Earnix, a provider of real-time rating, analytical underwriting, dynamic pricing, personalisation and telematics services for the insurance industry, have announced a collaboration to facilitate faster adoption and increased ongoing performance of their shared offerings. Earnix has joined Guidewire PartnerConnect as a solution partner at the Select level.
Lloyd’s third-party Managing Agent Asta and intelligence-driven financial services provider Acrisure have received Lloyd’s “in-principle” approval to launch a Flux syndicate 1985, commencing underwriting on January 1, 2023. The new syndicate, to be managed by Asta, is expected to generate a gross written premium (GWP) of £106.7 million in 2023, of which 70% is new to Lloyd’s. Its low-touch underwriting model will take the best Lloyd’s products to new buyers through Acrisure’s tech-driven retail distribution systems while expanding consortia opportunities for other Lloyd’s syndicates.
Gallagher has announced that it has fully integrated its Turkish subsidiary Brokers’ House, and the business will be branded Gallagher from next Monday, 19 September. The development marks Gallagher’s first direct presence in Turkey following the acquisition of Brokers’ House in August last year.
Howden’s latest reinsurance report titled, A Tipping Point, reveals the drivers behind the significant shifts taking place in the reinsurance market ahead of year-end renewals. The research demonstrates how the three Cs of climate, conflict and capital are coalescing to create a tipping point for the reinsurance market, with 2022 mid-year renewals seeing rate increases accelerate to their highest levels since 2006.
Jefferies’ UK Motor insurance tracker has revealed that car damage inflation has dropped and is now at 7% year-on-year as the group maintained its forecast of a combined operating ratio of 116% for the market in 2022. Car damage inflation has fallen from 10% in July, the experts suggested. According to Jefferies one of the main drivers for claims severity inflation in the year to date had been the rising cost of second-hand cars.
Mergers & Acquisitions
Owner of three Coversure franchises, John Palmer, has purchased Coversure Croydon with plans to buy more. According to Palmer, while growing organically is a major focus, expansion will also come through acquisitions with purchasing more franchises “definitely part of the plan.”
Specialist Risk Group (SRG) has announced that it has completed the acquisition of Motor Trade specialists, Hamilton Leigh. Established in 1987 and led by Lee Cohen and Jill Hamilton, Hertfordshire based Hamilton Leigh is a leading insurance Broker in the Motor Trade sector. The Broker also has strong expertise in technology, manufacturing, and other commercial areas.
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Movers & Shakers
PIB Group has promoted Ryan Brown to Deputy CEO, appointed Onno Janssen as CEO for Europe, and recruited Matthew Crane as CEO for underwriting with Bernard Mageean retiring among a string of executive management changes. According to the Broker, the changes are designed to strengthen the top team in preparation for the next stage of growth and help accelerate the business’ international reach.
Bob Thaker, the former UK CEO of Hiscox, has taken over as CEO of Insurtech Abacai’s broking business Complete Cover Group. According to a Companies House filing, Bob Thaker was appointed as a Director of CCG on the 15th of July. He was also listed as a Director of Hyperformance and Key Claims and Administration Services on the same day.
Andrew Griffith, ex-Sky Chief Operating Officer, has been appointed as Financial Secretary to the Treasury and City minister, succeeding John Glen. Griffith previously held roles as Chief Financial Officer and COO at Sky for 19 years.
Howden M&A, the international mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and structured solutions insurance Broker, has reiterated its commitment to expanding its European platform by appointing Charles-Henri Gridel as its Associate Director for business development in the region. Gridel brings over 20 years of experience in the professional services sector to Howden M&A.
AXA XL has announced that Claire Ighodaro CBE will retire as Chair of the boards ofAXA XL Underwriting Agencies and AXA XL Insurance Company UK. Ighodaro’s retirement is effective December 31, a release said.
Manchester-based Business Development Manager Bob Birtwell has made the switch from Chubb to Brunel Professions. Joining the Wholesale division at the Professional Indemnity (PI) insurance specialist, Birtwell will be working with the team in Bristol and London to further strengthen the company’s Wholesale Professional Indemnity proposition.
Sarah Hyman has been appointed Retail Operations Director at Global Risk Partners, a Brown & Brown, Inc. company. Sarah spent twenty years at Towergate Insurance in a variety of senior roles, including Operations Director, before joining GRP.
Aon has announced the appointment of William Bruce as Global Managing Director, Climate Risk Consulting in Aon Global Risk Consulting (AGRC). William joined the firm on 15 August 2022 and is reporting into Richard Waterer, Global Risk Consulting Leader for Aon Commercial Risk Solutions.
Matthew Wilson resumed his role as CEO of Brit, on 12 September. Wilson had taken a leave of absence in September 2021 to undergo treatment for a rare form of blood cancer. Martin Thompson who has been serving as interim Group CEO, remains on the board of Brit Syndicates, Brit’s Lloyd’s Managing Agent.
IQUW has appointed John Brown as Lead Underwriter, Property and Stuart Bell as Head of Property Claims. Brown has more than 20 years’ experience in the Property insurance industry and joins from Beazley. Bell has also previously worked with Beazley and prior to that, he worked for (re)insurer Sompo Canopius.
The Jensten Group has appointed James Hill as Marketing Director. Hill was previously Head of Retail Marketing at Jensten and before that he was Head of Marketing at Access Insurance where he started his career in retail broking.
Chubb has named Alex Jackson as Product Head of Management Liability for Chubb Global Markets. He was previously Senior Underwriter with the CGM management Liability team. Jackson will now lead all aspects of CGM’s management liability business.
Covéa Insurance has confirmed that James Gearey, Managing Director of Personal Lines and Protection, has left the business. Gearey took up the post in October 2020 following the departure of Carole Geldard. He had joined Covéa in April 2019 as Corporate Development and Strategy Director.
Markerstudy Group’s BGL Insurance (BGLi), which last month installed its first-ever Distribution Managing Director, now has a new Chief Financial Officer - Maria Leighton. Prior to joining BGLi, Leighton was CFO at Covéa Insurance. According to a Companies House filing, she was with the Insurer until the end of July.
The reinsurance division of Everest Re Group has promoted Harald Jacobsen and Mark Wallace to key leadership roles. Wallace will serve as Deputy CUO and Vice President, Head of Longtail. The former Senior Casualty Underwriter is in charge of further diversifying the division’s Casualty and Motor portfolios. Meanwhile, Jacobsen, who was Head of Western Europe & Property, will oversee the reinsurance business across Continental Europe in his new role as Senior Vice President, Continental Europe Head. Additionally, pending regulatory approval, he will become the Zürich Branch Manager of Everest Reinsurance Company Ireland DAC.
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All information provided in this Market Digest has been gathered from multiple General Insurance Media sources and individual company press releases.
