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EC News (19th July 2018)

  • Publish Date: Posted over 5 years ago
  • Author:by Alan Jarque

Round-up of the weekly news and developments from the global (re)insurance market with stories from Lloyd's, Zurich, Chubb and more.

Lloyd’s accurately predicts World Cup 2018 winners for second time

Lloyd’s accurately predicted that France would win the 2018 FIFA World Cup, based on insurable value.

On Sunday 15 July, France beat Croatia 4-2 in Moscow, becoming world champions for the second time in their history.

Lloyd’s based its prediction on research carried out in collaboration with the Centre for Economic and Business Research (Cebr), which estimated the collective value of all teams in this year’s tournament at £13.1bn.

At £1.4bn, France’s insured team value was the highest among the most expensive teams in terms of insurable value followed by England at £1.17bn and Brazil at £1.1bn.

This is the second time running that Lloyd’s correctly predicted the winners. Ahead of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, similar analysis was undertaken by Lloyd’s and Cebr which correctly forecast that Germany would win.

Cebr used players’ wages and endorsement incomes, alongside a collection of additional indicators, to construct an economic model which estimates players’ incomes until retirement.

UK insurance gender pay gap at 24%

After researching all 192 insurers, intermediaries, service providers, financial advisors and loss adjusters in the UK who have published pay gap data, the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) discovered an average gender pay gap of 24 percent (measured as median hourly difference).

The professional body has categorised the overall numbers by subsector and recognises that the gap is too big and is reaching out to employers to take action in reducing the sector’s pay gap.

According to the analysis, insurers have a median gap of 24 percent and intermediaries of 23 percent. Only three companies have a ‘negative’ gap in favour of women (measured as a median).

A near equal proportion of men (69 percent) and women (67 percent) receive a bonus but the difference in how much is paid out in bonuses is notable – the median gap is 42 percent and the mean gap is 52 percent, according to the CII.

Much of the discrepancy is a reflection of the imbalanced representation of men and women at senior levels with fewer women serving in senior level roles which influence salary and bonus values, the organisation said.

The CII is now calling for a step change, encouraging the development and sharing of good practice to address the root causes of the gap. The CII’s Insuring Women’s Futures programme has prioritised the development of a flexible working good practice to help employers to improve career potential for both men and women carers – identified as a key cause of the gender pay gap.

The CII recommends that organisations take action to break down the stereotypes of male / female roles, supporting flexible working, sponsoring talented individuals through schemes such as leadership training programmes and providing employees with mentors.

People engagement director at the CII, Tali Shlomo commented: “The Chartered Insurance Institute, as the professional body for insurance and financial planning, has a responsibility to not only recognise the existence of the gender pay gap in our profession but lead the way as a champion to ensure change happens. Without under-playing the urgency of addressing this disparity, the pay gap itself cannot be fixed over-night. We must develop good practice in the tools and methods that are effective in addressing the root causes of the gap, and we can start that now.

“The Chartered Insurance Institute will continue to identify and collate good practice for the benefit of the profession and for society as a whole. We are not looking to name and shame individual firms but to work in collaboration with the sector as a whole in order to address the root causes of the pay gap. We need to attract more women into the profession, then encourage, empower and develop them to achieve their potential.”

Zurich to focus on MGAs with new appointment

Zurich has appointed Enrico Bertagna to the newly created role of head of managing general agents (MGA) network for commercial insurance.

The appointment is part of Zurich’s plan to focus on MGAs.

Bertagna will report to Sierra Signorelli, chief underwriting officer (CUO) for commercial insurance, and will work closely with local underwriting teams.

Bertagna boasts over 30 years’ experience in the insurance industry, most recently as senior vice president, business development at Allied World Assurance Europe. Before this, he was head of Lloyd’s Southern, Eastern Europe and Africa business.

A statement from Zurich said: “The MGA market represents a significant business opportunity for Zurich to access different portfolios and expertise with unique local market knowledge.

 “Strong oversight to ensure consistent application of underwriting and risk appetite will enable Zurich to bring its portfolio of leading products and services to a new customer base and distribution partners.

“As many MGAs are looking for partners that are able to demonstrate stability and strength along with relevant products and services for their customers, Zurich is well placed to deliver and support these customers with global expertise coupled with local knowledge.”

James Shea, chief executive of commercial insurance, said: “This decision supports our ambition to focus on this important segment and Enrico is precisely the type of business leader we need to set up and lead this dedicated unit.

“He understands what it takes to profitably grow this important insurance business.”

HDI UK appoints Bartlett as director of property

HDI UK has named Jon Bartlett as its new director of property, bolstering its property underwriting lines.

Bartlett will be based in HDI Global’s London office.

Bartlett has over three decades of experience in the market. He joins the firm from Allianz Global Corporate and Specialty, where he was head of property line of business responsible for the UK & Ireland, as well as Nordic, CIS, Russian, MENA and Pacific regions.

Commenting on the appointment, Richard Taylor, managing director at HDI UK & Ireland said: “Jon brings us a wealth of experience and expertise that are important as we build on our position in the market, strengthening our relationships with clients and brokers alike, both in the UK and globally.”

Chubb appoints Camp to lead its high net worth personal insurance business in Europe

Chubb has revealed that Annmarie Camp, executive vice president of personal insurance national sales and distribution, North America, has been appointed as head of its European personal risk services division.

In this role, Camp will be responsible for the performance of the company’s high net worth (HNW) personal lines business in the UK and Continental Europe.

Camp will report to David Robinson, executive vice president, Europe and division president, UK and Ireland.

She will also have matrix reporting lines into Adam Clifford, division president, Continental Europe and Darryl Page, vice president, Chubb Group and division president, international personal lines.

Camp joined Chubb Private Risk Services in 2009 as the regional vice president for the division’s north-eastern region in the US. In 2011, she relocated to New Orleans to lead Chubb’s US southern regions.

In 2014 she was appointed as the head of the North American personal insurance sales and distribution team where she led efforts to achieve profitable growth while guiding her team and distribution partners through the integration of Fireman’s Fund, ACE and Chubb high net worth practices. Camp previously held a variety of marketing and business development positions at AIG Private Client and at Progressive Insurance.

Subject to any necessary regulatory approvals the appointment commences mid-August and Camp and her family will relocate to London.

David Robinson, executive vice president, Europe and division president, UK and Ireland, said: “I am delighted Annmarie has been appointed to this role. She brings with her a wealth of expertise and insight which will help us develop further our Personal Risk Services offering as the needs of this crucial market continue to evolve. Leveraging our already superior insurance proposition and exceptional claims service, I am looking forward to working with Annmarie on new opportunities for growth in the important High Net Worth market.”

Munich Re appoints Jurecka as new CFO

Munich Re has appointed Christoph Jurecka as its new chief financial officer (CFO), succeeding Jörg Schneider who is retiring on 31 December 2018.

Schneider has served on the Munich Re board for over 18 years and has been Munich Re’s CFO since 2001.

Jurecka has been the CFO of Munich Re’s primary insurance subsidiary ERGO Group since 2011.

He was appointed to the board of management of the ERGO Group in 2011. His responsibilities as ERGO’s CFO included strategic planning, risk management and financial communication.

The Munich Re supervisory board has also decided to reassign responsibilities on the board of management of Munich Re, meaning larger divisions, but no changes in the composition of the board. Units will be reallocated as part of the reorganisation.

The Special and Financial Risks division (SFR) will be disbanded. Those units of SFR that operate globally will be allocated to Global Clients/North America (GC/NA), while those units with a European operational focus will be assigned to Europe/Latin America (EU/LA). At the same time, responsibility for reinsurance business in Germany will be reallocated from the Germany, Asia-Pacific, Africa (GAPA) division to EU/LA, since they share the same regulatory environment and have similar business models.

The restructure of the divisions is intended to make the best use of business synergies, and also to simplify structures and processes. The business models of all the units affected will remain unchanged.

Peter Röder will continue to head the GC/NA division, which will be reinforced by the units formerly allocated to SFR. Doris Höpke will assume responsibility for the expanded EU/LA division. She will also still be labour relations director and remain in charge of human resources. Hermann Pohlchristoph will remain responsible for property-casualty reinsurance in Asia, Pacific and Africa.

The new divisional structures and responsibilities will take effect on 1 August 2018.

Price Forbes bolsters power & construction team with 4 appointments

Price Forbes, part of the Ardonagh Group of companies, has expanded its power, utility and construction team with four new appointments.

Simon Howell joins the company from Marsh UK where he was a managing director and placement leader for power and utilities, and was a member of the energy and power practice executive committee.

He brings over 25 years’ experience in the insurance industry and has a broad global perspective on insurers and delivering innovative client solutions. Howell has deep market knowledge and relationships across a broad spectrum of the market.

James Williams will join Howell on the team. Williams joins from JLT specialty’s energy division and has almost twenty years’ experience in power, renewable and onshore energy accounts. Williams previously worked at Aon and Marsh. He brings in wide-ranging knowledge across the power sector, including downstream and midstream energy.

Joining both Howell and Williams is David Cramphorn. Cramphorn boasts over 13 years’ experience working as an account handler and broker specialising in onshore energy and construction risks. Previously he worked for Cooper Gay in their non-marine division, and was responsible for broking worldwide construction risks before moving to Marsh. In 2015, Cramphorn joined Miller Insurance Services to work within their onshore energy team as an account handler and broker for various international and US clients within the oil and gas, chemical, power/utilities and renewable sectors.

Strengthening the team further is Charlotte Higgins, who joins from Miller later this month as broker.

Speaking of his appointment Howell commented: “I’m delighted to be joining Price Forbes at an exciting time as the company accelerates growth plans, whilst maintaining their independent broker status and dedication to client service excellence. I am excited to be joining the team and look forward to building on the Price Forbes brand in our target markets.”

James Masterton CEO Price Forbes said: “We are delighted to welcome Simon, James, David & Charlotte to such a leading team in the industry. They bring with them a wealth of knowledge and expertise which I firmly believe when combined with our existing strengths, will be extremely beneficial to our producers and clients. We are excited for the opportunities this combination will bring.”

Lockton hires Horwell as producer in financial institutions team

Lockton has named Brian Horwell as a producer in its financial institutions team.

In his new role, Horwell will focus on key areas such as professional liability and liability insurance for directors and officers in a team that will mainly serve banks, asset managers, wealth managers, corporate service providers and advisors.

Horwell brings over 30 years’ industry experience and joins Lockton from Willis Towers Watson, where he most recently served as head of its wealth and asset management team.

Before this he worked at Miller Insurance Brokers as co-head of professional risks where he managed a £15mn brokerage of 70 staff and built one of the largest hedge fund teams in the London market, after which the company was acquired by Willis.

Commenting on the appointment, Allison Hollern, partner of global professional and financial risks at Lockton said: “Brian’s experience and unparalleled client commitment will help drive our business forward in the competitive and growing financial institutions market.

“His advice and energy are highly valued by his clients, who look to Brian for competitive and creative insurance solutions. We continue to build a strong team of experienced brokers that can offer the financial services sector a different style of broking, building our clients’ trust and helping them make the right decisions to protect their business.”

Horwell added: “I want to work for a brokerage that puts the clients at the centre of its proposition. Lockton is built upon that promise and I look forward to working with my financial lines team to deliver the excellent level of client service and counsel Lockton has become known for.”