Australian insurer QBE Insurance Group Limited has appointed Nicola Schroder as the new Group Head of Sustainability, effective immediately. In this role, Schroder’s remit will include continuing to drive QBE’s Sustainability Strategy across its three key focus areas. Additionally, Schroder is responsible for sustainability governance, strategy implementation, human rights, and modern slavery initiatives, and driving social impact through the QBE Foundation Viv Bower, Group Executive, Corporate Affairs and Sustainability, QBE, commented, “Nicola has been instrumental in driving our sustainabil ..read more

French reinsurer SCOR has appointed Claire McDonald as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SCOR Business Solutions (SBS), the firm’s large corporate risks insurance unit which was previously known as SCOR Specialty Insurance. Effective September 1st, 2024, McDonald joins from HDI Global SE, and takes over from Romain Launay, who is leaving SCOR to pursue new professional opportunities. In her new role, McDonald assumes responsibility for affirming SBS’s position as a technical specialty commercial insurer, and will have a focus on building a balanced and resilient portfolio, in line with the targ ..read more

During the Q1 2024 earnings call, W. Robert Berkley, Jr., President and CEO of W. R. Berkley Corporation, notes that despite property cat reaching peak prices, there remains profit potential, particularly in the reinsurance property sector. Berkley underscores, “just because pricing has peaked, that doesn’t mean there’s not still a good margin to have.” He further states, “the reinsurance market, which forced the firming, is out ahead. I think there’s still a margin to be had there.” Berkley highlights the property segment within their reinsurance business as robust, but acknowledges, “we thin ..read more

Global losses from disaster events reached $45 billion in the first quarter of 2024, of which at least $17 billion was covered by insurance, with an estimated quarterly protection gap of 64%, according to insurance and reinsurance broker Aon. Insurance and reinsurance industry losses of at least $17 billion from disasters comes in slightly above the average for the quarter of $16 billion, while economic losses of $45 billion is below the 21st-century Q1 average of $59 billion, and far lower than losses in Q1’23 of $149 billion. The first event of the year was the Noto earthquake in Japan, whic ..read more

Golub Capital has revealed the launch of its Insurance Solutions team, a newly formed group of dedicated insurance and asset management professionals led by Jennifer Potenta as Managing Director, Head of Insurance Solutions. According to Golub Capital, the launch of the Insurance Solutions team is another key milestone in the firm’s multi-year plan to expand and evolve its Investor Partners Group. Golub Capital boasts over 17 years of experience providing investment solutions for insurance company clients and over 120 insurance clients across debt and equity. The aforementioned Potenta holds o ..read more

Verisk’s Property Claim Services (PCS), a provider of industry loss estimates and loss data globally, has designated the MOVEit cyber attack and the Change Healthcare cyber attack as PCS Cyber Catastrophe Loss Events, as reported first by our sister publication, Artemis. For PCS to designate these cyber attacks as PCS Cyber Catastrophe Loss Events under its PCS Global Cyber solution, which monitors cyber attacks and potential cyber insurance market loss events and reports on them when they surpass USD 25 million in losses, it means they are each expected to drive insurance industry losses of m ..read more

Hamilton Insurance Group has appointed Athena Tolosa as Chief Financial Officer of Hamilton Re, its Bermuda-based insurance and reinsurance underwriting platform. Tolosa has over 18 years of experience in the (re)insurance industry, having most recently worked at RenaissanceRe, where she chiefly served as Senior Vice President, Head of Finance – Reinsurance. Before RenaissanceRe, Tolosa spent 11 years at Tokio Millenium Re (now RenaissanceRe) where she held roles of increasing seniority in both Bermuda and Switzerland. She has also previously worked with EY in Bermuda and PwC in the Philippine ..read more

Allianz Reinsurance, part of global insurer Allianz, has named Silvia Rimola as Head of Capital and Legacy Solutions, effective April 2024. Rimola first joined Allianz in 2002 as part of the financial department, and has since held numerous roles within the company and its reinsurance arm. This includes time as a life insurance specialist at Allianz Re between October 2008 and June 2012, and then more than three years as Head of Life R&D and Analytics Team until 2016, when Rimola became Head of Life & Health Pricing and Underwriting at Allianz Re. In 2019, she was made Global Head of O ..read more

Argenta Syndicate Management Limited (ASML), a subsidiary of Argenta Holdings Limited, has announced the appointment of Miriam Goddard to its board as a non-executive director. John Whiter, chair of the ASML Board, expresses his enthusiasm for Goddard’s appointment, stating, “Together with the rest of the board, I am looking forward to working with Miriam. The skills and experience Miriam brings will further enhance our ability to support the company’s vision and business strategy.” Nick Moore, chief executive officer of Argenta Holdings Limited and managing director of ASML, adds, “We are del ..read more

Rating agency AM Best revised its outlook on the United Kingdom’s non-life insurance segment from negative to stable, as inflation is expected to decrease closer to the Bank of England’s 2% target in mid-2024, which should ease the pressure on claims costs observed in 2023. The 12-month consumer price index (CPI) inflation has declined significantly, falling to 3.4% in February 2024 from a 30-year high of 11.1% in October 2022. Throughout 2023, claims costs soared, and with inflation closer to its target, insurers would be better positioned to adjust their pricing assumptions benefitting the s ..read more