property casualty News

After Cost Cutting Allianz Reports 28% Gain in Quarterly P/C Profits

As Allianz SE Chief Executive Officer Oliver Baete slims down the insurer to cut costs, rising second-quarter profit helped by lower natural disaster claims rewarded his strategy. Operating profit jumped 23 percent to 2.9 billion euros ($3.4 billion), Europe’s largest …

Liberty Mutual Set to Buy Fosun’s Ironshore for $3B

Liberty Mutual Holding Co., the fourth-largest property/casualty insurer in the U.S., agreed to buy Ironshore Inc. from Fosun International Ltd. for about $3 billion to expand in the specialty commercial market. Ironshore will retain its management and brand after the …

Fitch: Excess/Surplus Insurance Lines Expected to Outperform Standard Market

Excess and surplus (E&S) underwriters will likely outperform standard market underwriters in 2017 even if underwriting profitability weakens in 2017, according to Fitch Ratings’ latest U.S. Excess and Surplus Lines Market Review report. E&S underwriters outperformed the property/casualty (P/C) industry’s …

S&P: P/C Insurers in US Expected to Hit Rough Patch

Property/casualty insurers face a tough year, according to a newly released report published by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The 2016 U.S. P&C Insurance Market Report indicates that a combination of elevated catastrophe losses, unfavorable results in the private passenger auto …

AIG CEO Frees Up Capital With Swiss Re Risk-Share Deal

American International Group Inc., the insurer stung by losses on higher-than-expected claims costs, said Swiss Re AG has agreed to take on some of the company’s risks tied to casualty policies. The two-year reinsurance deal will help AIG be more …

Study Finds Speciality P/C Carriers Outperform Generalists

Recognizing that specialists trump generalists, the property/casualty insurance market has moved to a greater degree of specialization, according to a new study by Conning, Inc. “We identified over 1,500 individual companies that have fully embraced specialty strategies as a primary …

Getting Claim Costs Under Control: Improve Your Loss Ratio Using These Proven Fundamentals

The property/casualty industry is undergoing significant challenges with increased claim severity in liability and physical damage claims. These increases are outpacing inflation and rate adequacy. According to the Insurance Information Institute, in 2009 the average private passenger auto bodily injury …

Fitch: D&O Liability Insurance Rate Declines, Marks Soft U.S. P/C Market

The insurance market underwriting cycle is turning unfavorable in many U.S. commercial market segments, including directors and officers (D&O) liability insurance, Fitch Ratings says. Premium rates in property lines have been declining for some time in response to a lack …

New Product Gives Insurers Ability to Track Mileage with Policyholders’ Smartphones

Property/casualty insurance information company Verisk Insurance Solutions is teaming with a technology firm to provide insurance companies with the ability to collect automobile odometer readings for insurance rating and usage-based insurance (UBI) programs. The product, called OdometerConfirm, allows insurers to …

Xerox to Acquire ISG Holdings, Expand Workers’ Comp Offerings

Conn.-based Xerox announced a definitive agreement to acquire ISG Holdings, Inc. for $225 million, creating a comprehensive workers’ compensation suite of offerings for clients in the property/casualty insurance industry. In addition to Xerox’s current workers’ compensation business offered through CompIQ, …