week
reinsurance
AON BENFIELD‘S
MALCOLM STEINGOLD
TO RETIRE:
See story on p3
REINSURANCE MAGAZIN E’S WEEK LY N E W S R E V I E W
13.04.201 7
New Zealand awaits
worst storm in decades
Auckland 13.04.2017
Cyclone Cook is bearing
down on New Zealand and is
expected to make landfall on
Thursday evening, heading
directly for the floodstricken Bay of Plenty region
devastated by last week’s
Cyclone Debbie.
Two states of emergency
have been declared in the
North Island east coast
districts of Bay of Plenty and
Thames-Coromandel, with
more districts expected to
make that call mid-afternoon
when the ferocity of the storm
becomes clear.
MetService has warned the
approaching storm system is
expected to be the worst New
Zealand has seen in decades,
with forecasters comparing
it to 1968’s Cyclone Giselle,
which sunk the Wahine ferry,
killing 52 people.
MetService meteorologist
Lisa Murray said she was
concerned New Zealanders
weren’t taking the storm threat
seriously and the approaching
cyclone was the worst weather
event she had seen in her 12
years as a forecaster. >
Swiss Re estimates its losses from
Cyclone Debbie around $350m
Zurich 13.04.2017
Swiss Re expects Cyclone
Debbie to have resulted
in a higher share of large
commercial and corporate
losses compared to similar
events in the past. The total
insured market losses for
wind, flood and storm surge
damages are estimated to be
approximately $1.3 billion.
“This destructive cyclone
caused structural damage
by flooding, storm surge
and wind in regions close to
the Queensland coast,” says
Matthias Weber, Swiss Re’s
Group CUO. “We are a lead
reinsurer in this market and
estimate that Cyclone Debbie
has caused higher commercial
and corporate losses compared
The total insured losses for
Cyclone Debbie could be in the
region of $1.3 billion.
to similar events in the past.
We express our sympathies
to those affected and will
continue to work closely with
our partners and clients to
ensure that people receive the
financial support they need to
clean up and rebuild after this
tragic event.” >
Revideo: Ping An Insurance’s push for internet innovation
video: cnbc.com
Daniel Tu, Ping An Insurance, talks about building out the
company’s online business and navigating the regulatory
environment in China. >
v
Activist Paulson to leave AIG board
New York 13.04.2017
Billionaire John Paulson is
planning to step down from AIG’s
board after his hedge fund sold
shares in the insurer, according to
a person familiar with the plan.
The move is expected to be
announced in the insurer’s proxy
filing within days, said the
person, who asked not to be
identified discussing disclosures
that haven’t been made public.
Paulson’s planned exit will
remove one of the board’s
more prominent advocates for
shrinking the company. Directors
Mr Paulson’s (pic)
planned exit will
remove one of
the board’s more
prominent advocates
for shrinking the
company.
are seeking a replacement for
Chief Executive Officer Peter
Hancock, and potential successors
will want to know whether the
job will involve breaking up the
insurer, a more limited plan for
asset sales or even a focus on
growth. Paulson had proposed
splitting AIG into three separate
companies, a plan that won
support from billionaire Carl Icahn.
AIG Chairman Doug Steenland
wrote in a letter to shareholders
last week that it would be a
mistake to divide the insurer into
separate companies. >
Moody’s upgrades SCOR from A1 to Aa3
week
reinsurance
13.0 4.2017 Aon Benfield ‘s Malcolm
Steingold is to retire
Following Mr Steingold’s (pic
below) retirement, the APAC
executive team will lead the
business and will report
directly to Aon Benfield CEO
Eric Andersen.
An Aon Benfield
spokesperson said: “Malcolm
has been an exemplary Aon
colleague, whose strong
leadership skills have
enabled Aon Benfield to
achieve growth across its
Asia Pacific business and
become the market leader
in the region.
Throughout his career
Malcolm has developed
a well-earned reputation
as a trusted advisor and
consummate professional
to our client base.” >
Founder of Flagstone Re
Mark Byrne passes away
Mark Byrne, who cofounded
Flagstone with David Brown,
died in Montreal last Thursday.
He was 55.
Mr Byrne was involved in
the island’s insurance and
reinsurance business as an
owner, investor and board
member for many years.
Mr Byrne stepped down
as executive chairman of
Flagstone Reinsurance Holdings
in 2010, shortly after Flagstone
announced it had completed
a redomicile from Bermuda
to Luxembourg, although
the company maintained its
presence on the island.
He helped found Flagstone
in 2005, and after stepping
down as executive chairman
remained a board member for
a number of years.
ARTEMIS
The coming structural
revolution at Lloyd’s
Lloyd’s of London is now facing a situation
where it is forced to embrace ILS and
alternative capital more directly, and will need
to provide easier ways for capital to be moved
into and out of the market for underwriting.
Analysts recently forecast a “structural
revolution” for Lloyd’s, with alternative and ILS
backed capacity set to take the lion’s share of
the more standardised risks in
the market, while syndicate’s
equity capital would look
It’s a scenario I buy
after the more customised
into and one that I
solutions.
feel would benefit the
It’s a scenario I buy into and
Lloyd’s market and its
one that I feel would benefit
underwriters
the Lloyd’s market and its
enabling them to get
underwriters, enabling them
paid for their expertise
to get paid for their expertise
of underwriting using
of underwriting using a lowera lower-cost source of
cost source of capital.
capital..”
But things need to change,
in terms of how institutional capital and ILS
managers access the marketplace. It’s so onerous
today, to bring new capital into Lloyd’s and what
the existing Lloyd’s syndicates need is almost a
tap they can turn on, as and when needed, to draw
efficient capital in to back their underwriting.
Of course, the question will be whether the
Lloyd’s market could continue to exist under such
a scenario, whether syndicates could be profitable
using third-party or ILS capital and whether
putting a tap in place changes the game so much
that traditional Lloyd’s capital providers find it
unappealing to stick around? >
‘‘
FOR FURTHER INFO CONTACT
Steve Evans at http://www.artemis.bm
@artemisbm
5
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Coming soon for
2017