AXA is calling on the Government to improve surface drainage across the UK’s 45 towns and cities affected by last year’s flooding. The insurer estimates that an additional £720 million needs to be spent on such work, taking the total UK flood defence budged for 2010 to 2011 to £1.5 billion. It is also demanding [...]
Ian Summers has been named by Aon UK as the firm’s new eBusiness and Market Reform managing director. Across the business, he will be responsible for the leadership and development of eBusiness strategy. Summers is to retain his position as Change Strategy director for Aon Re Global. Aon has placed a strong emphasis on eBusiness, [...]
Aon Corporation has elected Lester Knight to serve as non-executive chairman. Knight is a managing partner and founder of RoundTable Healthcare Partners, a private equity business that concentrates upon healthcare. Earlier in his career he served as chief executive officer and chairman of Allegiance Corporation. Knight has held the post of independent director since 1999, [...]
Merrill Lynch & Co, Wall Street’s third largest investment bank, last week reported a quarterly loss of $4.89 billion. Shares in the company fell 6% following the announcement. This is the fourth quarterly loss in a row for the bank, and is twice the size of the loss that had been anticipated by analysts. CEO [...]
Europe’s leading independent insurance broker, Towergate, has raised over £100 million to launch a new business that will acquire independent financial advisers (IFAs). The group has been on the acquisition trail since it was established and has completed over 150 since 1997. The firm says it has now identified a market opportunity to establish a [...]
Friends Provident is warning its with-profits policyholders that the value of their final bonuses will be cut, after the firm’s £13 billion with-profits fund lost more than 7% during the first half of this year. The life and pensions provider says it will maintain its regular bonuses but that final bonuses paid on investments in [...]
Specialist broker and risk consultant Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT) held a seminar recently with engineers, lawyers, contractors and owners amongst the delegates. The seminar related to tunnels, specifically the belief that a more integrated, collaborative approach to tunnelling risks by contractors, brokers, owners and insurers would bolster the future prospects of tunnelling plans across the [...]
Draft legislation to reform the governance of Lloyd’s of London was yesterday introduced to Parliament by Kitty Ussher MP, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury. In addressing the House, Ms Ussher said that the Government is committed to maintaining the City’s competitiveness, and that the Legislative Reform Order (LRO) will help Lloyd’s maintain and enhance [...]
Heath Lambert Group has successfully won a 10 year deal to serve as the broker for Crossrail, the £15.9bn rail project in the capital. Heath Lambert’s responsibility will be the creation of a suitable insurance programme, offering advice and guidance and then placing the scheme. Crossrail is one of the largest and most prestigious construction [...]
Marsh has bolstered its Global ConsumerConnexions team within the UK with the appointment of Alastair Burns as leader of Affinity Development and Client Management. Burns moves on from his previous role with Marsh as Private Equity and M&A Practice chief. In his new position he will be directly responsible to Mike Melling, chief executive officer [...]
In a landmark decision, the European Court of Justice has ruled that laws protecting disabled employees from discrimination should be extended to cover discrimination against the carers of disabled people. The European Court in Luxembourg yesterday ruled that a British mother was illegally discriminated against by her employer because she was the primary carer for [...]
Mark Chessher has been named by Aon as the new chief financial officer for Aon Limited and ARS (UK). His appointment is subject to FSA approval, with the intention being that he join the firm later in the year. In joining Aon he leaves behind Zurich Financial Services where he presently works for the New [...]
The Brazilian unit of Zurich Financial Services has announced the acquisition of two Brazil-based insurance companies from Banco Mercantil do Brasil. In a deal worth up to £120 million, Switzerland-based Zurich will acquire an 87.35% stake in Companhia de Seguros Minas Brasil and a 100% stake in Minas Brasil Vida e Previdência. Zurich will pay [...]
Groupama Insurances has announced the appointment of Phil Bird as the firm’s new claims director. He is presently underwriting director responsible for Non-motor and SME, and assumes his new post on 1st October. Bird will lead a team of over 250, and will report directly to Laurent Matras, managing director. He will be based in [...]
American International Group, Inc’s board of directors has elected Suzanne Nora Johnson to become a director. Nora Johnson retired as The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc’s vice chairman last year, having spent over 20 years with the firm in a variety of positions. Earlier in her career she served as a New York-based attorney with Simpson [...]
UK-based Equity Insurance Group has completed two book acquisitions, transferring personal lines and commercial accounts into the company’s growing network of branches. Equity have acquired Hampshire-based Direct Insurance Services and Burnham on Sea-based broker JR & MS Turco General Insurance. Business handled by Direct Insurance Services will be moved to Equity’s Basingstoke site in Potters [...]
Willis has announced the appointment of Gary Schmalzriedt as the firm’s new chairman of Willis Re. Willis Re is the reinsurance branch of Willis, and Schmalzriedt’s appointment as its chairman takes place with immediate effect. He brings an enormous amount of experience to the role, having accumulated more than four decades of experience during his [...]
Andreas Wania has been named by ACE European Group as the firm’s new Regional Manager for Central and Eastern Europe. He first joined the firm four years ago to start up the non-life Russian operation, CJSC ACE insurance company. The region Wania is now responsible for is vast, ranging from Russia in the north down [...]
The AA’s quarterly British Insurance Premium Index shows a marked rise in car insurance costs in the three months to the end of June. During the period, the average premium quote rose by £20 for comprehensive insurance, taking the average cost of such cover to £700. For young drivers, who typically buy third party, fire [...]
