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EC News (5th April 2018)

  • Publish Date: Posted almost 6 years ago
  • Author:by Alan Jarque

Round-up of the weekly news and developments from the global (re)insurance market with stories from Argenta, LMA, Fidelis and more.

Argenta launches SPA 6134 at Lloyd's

Argenta Holdings is launching a special purpose arrangement (SPA) with the backing of parent company Hannover Re following approval from Lloyd’s franchise board.

Argenta Syndicate Management (ASML), the managing agency subsidiary of Argenta is launching SPA 6134 which will be managed alongside Syndicate 2121.

Sponsored and capitalised by Hannover Re, SPA 6134 will be a quota share facility reinsuring business written by Syndicate 2121, which will operate as the host syndicate for the SPA and will retain at least 10 percent of the business introduced by the sponsor.

For 2018 the SPA is targeting gross written premium (GWP) income of £36mn spanning different classes of business within the underwriting capability of the host syndicate.

In March 2017, Hannover Re reached an agreement to acquire the entire share capital of the UK holding company Argenta, which owns Lloyd’s managing agent Argenta Syndicate Management and Argenta Private Capital as well as pro rata share of the Lloyd's Syndicate 2121.

Chief executive of Argenta, Andrew Annandale commented: “SPA 6134 will provide ASML with greater flexibility to react to changing market conditions and allow Syndicate 2121 to take advantage of new opportunities following Argenta’s acquisition by Hannover Re and the very significant losses experienced by the market during 2017.”

LMA announces new board appointments for 2018

The Lloyd’s Market Association (LMA) has appointed David Croom-Johnson as managing director of Aegis Managing Agency to its board.

The LMA has also re-elected three board members; Stephen Eccles - chief underwriting officer (CUO) of Argo Managing Agency, Richard Harries - CEO of Atrium Underwriters and Matthew Shaw - president of Chubb Global Markets.

All four executives will serve a term of three years, effective from the AGM on 31 May 2018.

CUO of Beazley, Neil Maidment will continue his role as chairman of LMA.

Additionally, the LMA has co-opted Hannah Purves, claims director at Markel and deputy chair of the LMA claims committee, to the board. The association said that claims modernisation is currently a top priority for the association and the appointment of Purves will reinforce the board’s broad range of expertise.

David Gittings, the LMA’s chief executive, said: “I would like to welcome David and Hannah to the board, and congratulate the other re-appointed members. The board continues to be made up of influential leading figures in the Lloyd’s market.”

Fidelis names Clarke as senior underwriter

Fidelis has announced the appointment of Alison Clarke as senior underwriter.

In her new role, Clarke will focus on continuing the growth of the group’s bespoke product offering, as well as assuming management responsibilities within the London underwriting team.

Prior to joining Fidelis, Clarke held the role of head of offshore energy at Zurich Insurance. She brings over two decades of experience, working in several sectors of the energy and marine market, including downstream, upstream and construction.  During the last two years Clarke has been an active member of the LMA Joint Rig Committee for offshore energy liaising with industry leaders and practitioners.

Rich Coulson, Chief Underwriting Officer (CUO) of Fidelis said: “We are delighted to welcome someone of Alison’s calibre and expertise to our team. She brings a depth and breadth of experience that will be very useful in expanding our unique portfolio of bespoke insurance products.”

Speaking of her appointment Clarke added: “I look forward to joining the Fidelis underwriting team to continue the success they’ve had in building their underwriting book. Their focus on designing and delivering innovative and flexible solutions that are tailored to clients’ specific needs, in a highly responsive manner, is key to success in today’s market.”

Tokio Marine HCC names Rivera as COO

Tokio Marine HCC has appointed Susan Rivera as executive vice president and COO.

Rivera will work closely with Tokio Marine’s executive management team, and will report to the company’s CEO, Christopher Williams.

Rivera joins Tokio Marine from V3 Insurance Partners LLC, where she was a founding shareholder and served as president and CEO since 2009. Rivera has already served Tokio Marine as an independent member of its Board of Directors from 2014-2015, and served on the audit committee, the compensation committee and the enterprise risk oversight committee.

During her 30 year career Rivera has assumed many senior roles including; president of QBE Specialty and chief actuary of the Americas division of QBE Insurance Group Limited, president and Chief Underwriting Officer (CUO) of Praetorian Insurance Company, and various senior roles at AIG.

Williams commented: “We are very pleased to have Susan join Tokio Marine HCC in a management role. With over 30 years of insurance operations management experience, including her efforts leading corporate strategy and developing innovative solutions, Susan has much to offer Tokio Marine HCC as she joins our management team.”

XL Catlin promotes and appoints within global life, accident & health team

XL Catlin has announced several promotions and appointments within its global life, accident and health team.

Simon Hearn has been promoted to head of life and wholesale accident & health in the UK. In addition to his current role as global product leader for the life class of business, he has been appointed to active underwriter of Life Syndicate 3002, following approval by the Corporation of Lloyd’s.

Hearn joined XL Catlin in 2009 as a class underwriter and has over 28 years’ experience in underwriting and client management experience in the life and health sector.

In his new role, Hearn will be based in London.

Hearn succeeds Nigel Guillaume-Smith who is retiring after 39 years as an underwriter, most recently as leader of the life, accident & health team in the London Market.

Andrew Maynard has been appointed to the role of head of accident & health (A&H) in Asia, in addition to his current role as global product leader for aviation & marine employee benefits and mobility health segments. Maynard boasts over 37 years of experience in A&H distribution and underwriting. As part of his new role, he will relocate to Singapore at the beginning of April.

Both Paul De Vido and David Robotham have been promoted to senior class underwriters, A&H for Syndicate 2003. They each have over 15 years’ of Lloyd’s experience of underwriting direct, facultative and treaty reinsurance, all of which have been with XL Catlin and predecessor organisations, ensuring continuity to clients, brokers and partners.

Commenting on the promotions, Patrick Corbett, head of global life, accident & health said: “Multinational companies are increasingly aware of the need to protect their people and meet their duty of care in the face of emerging risks and heightened security threats. Our commitment to retaining and developing talent will be key as we drive strategic, profitable expansion across our life, accident & health business and continue to provide a superior service to our clients.”

He continued: “On behalf of our global life, accident and health team, I’d like to congratulate Nigel on his retirement and thank him for the many contributions he has made to the development of our business at XL Catlin.”

Tokio Marine Kiln partners on new cyber security offering

Tokio Marine Kiln (TMK) has launched a new insurance and services policy in conjunction with intelligence experts XCYber and Sytorus.

The new product, Cyber Ctrl, will protect clients from cyber-attacks and offer consultancy on the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which comes into effect in May. Cyber Ctrl was developed in response to huge demand for comprehensive cyber coverage and prevention services, and offers businesses specialist breach preparation and threat monitoring services.

Offered in partnership with ex-Government intelligence experts XCyber, Cyber Ctrl detects, analyses and reports on any cyber-attack planning that it discovers and identifies where employees may be vulnerable to social engineering or blackmail, sending monthly summaries of relevant cyber activity and alert notices to policyholders.

Additionally, TMK have worked with data protection specialists Sytorus to give Cyber Ctrl policyholders access to GDPR consultancy, in preparation for the EU’s regulatory changes in May 2018.

The service will use Sytorus’ PrivacyEngine tool to help clients maintain mandatory logs, identify risks, conduct automated privacy impact assessments, and provide support for training staff, as well as offering real-time guidance from data protection experts on best practice, policy guidance and practical implementation.

TMK’s offering also covers numerous risks that are often missed in cyber policies including reputational harm cover, which considers PR costs and loss of customers following the media fallout of a cyber incident.

Cyber Ctrl will also offer broad business interruption cover, outsourced IT providers, limits of up to $25mn or EUR25mn, and will cover administrative errors as a standard trigger.

Head of enterprise risk at TMK, Laila Khudairi remarked: “Malicious cyber-attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated and common and no business is immune.

“Pre-empting the damage that can be caused by hackers and ensuring clients have the financial and practical support needed to deal with an attack or a breach is critical. Our chosen partners offer critical services irrespective of your industry.”

Rousseau to become deputy CEO of SCOR Global P&C

SCOR has revealed that Laurent Rousseau is to become deputy CEO of SCOR Global P&C and will be joining the Group's executive committee, effective 1 April 2018.

Since joining the Group in 2010, Rousseau has held numerous advisory, strategy, and underwriting positions. He currently serves as chief underwriting officer (CUO) of SCOR Global P&C’s treaty business in EMEA.

In his new role, Rousseau will become CUO for specialty lines and business solutions. He succeeds Benjamin Gentsch, who is leaving SCOR as of 1 April 2018.

Gentsch served as CEO of SCOR Switzerland and deputy CEO of SCOR Global P&C for over a decade, having made substantial contributions to the progress and positive results of SCOR’s Global P&C business.

Douglas Lacoss, who currently serves as chief reserving actuary at SCOR Global P&C has been promoted to CUO for the EMEA treaty business, replacing Rousseau.  

Current head of actuarial modelling, Ecaterina Nisipasu, has been promoted to head of reserving, capital modelling & risk management for SCOR Global P&C, mainly replacing Lacoss in his current chief reserving actuary position. 

Andreas Frank replaces Benjamin Gentsch as CEO of SCOR Switzerland AG and SCOR Holding (Switzerland) AG. Frank currently holds the roles of chief financial officer (CFO) for SCOR Switzerland AG and CEO of SCOR Services Switzerland AG. 

Chairman and CEO of SCOR, Denis Kessler commented: "On behalf of the board of directors and the executive committee, as well as on my own personal behalf, I would like to warmly thank Benjamin Gentsch for his marked contribution to the development and success of SCOR over the past decade. I am very pleased that Laurent Rousseau is joining the executive committee and taking a leading role alongside Victor Peignet in SCOR Global P&C. Since joining the Group, Laurent Rousseau has demonstrated upstanding personal and professional qualities. His promotion and those of Ecaterina Nisipasu, Andreas Frank and Douglas Lacoss demonstrate the depth of the Group’s talent pool. SCOR is proud to be able to offer growth opportunities to its next generation of leaders."