Zurich has signed definitive agreements with Banco Santander to enter into a long-term alliance in Latin America. Santander has over 5,600 branches in the region and the key terms of the partnership are as follows: a 25-year strategic distribution agreement; acquisition of a 51% stake in established insurance operations in Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Argentina and [...]
MPs are calling for a delay in the introduction of the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) proposals that will see a ban on commission on advised sales, and higher professional standards for independent financial advisers. The proposals are due to come into force on 1st January 2013 but the Commons Treasury Committee is advocating a year’s [...]
AXA Wealth has secured a contract to provide a new financial advice service to Co-operative Financial Services’ (CFS) five million retail banking customers. The seven-year distribution agreement, which runs from October 2011, includes an investment, pension and life insurance advice offering, and the partnership will deploy 325 advisers across the CFS branch network. The new [...]
Co-operative Financial Services (CFS) is in exclusive talks with Royal London regarding the possible sale of its life insurance subsidiary, including £15 billion of assets in its Long Term Business Fund. The announcement follows a strategic review of the mutual’s life and savings business, which will also result in the extension of its partnership with [...]
Ageas has announced that it is participating in exclusive talks with Chevrolet pertaining to the exclusive provision (to UK customers) of motor insurance products. The five year deal has been agreed in principle and will see the insurer handling all of Chevrolet’s customer sales, service administration and claims service. The deal will enhance growth at [...]
In response to the latest British Crime Survey (BCS), Legal & General’s Malcolm Cooper has expressed the firm’s view that there is a correlation between recessions and spikes in burglary. The BCS showed a 14% rise in burglary in England and Wales, as the country continues to grapple with economic difficulty despite having left recession. [...]
Ageas has announced the appointment of Roy Watkinson as head of Commercial Pricing and Underwriting, a newly created position. Watkinson will be tasked with leadership of more than 100 staff and implementing the strategic Commercial programme by effective pricing, underwriting and fostering strong broker relationships. He will assume his new post with effect from 1 [...]
Stag and hen parties held overseas can lead to more serious after-effects than bleary eyes and a hangover, new research by Direct Line Travel Insurance has revealed. Of the 5.7m people who held stag and hen parties overseas in the last two years 115,000 knew someone who had had a piercing or tattoo that they [...]
Airclaims has announced the opening of a new office in Dublin, as the firm continues to increase its support to the aviation leasing and finance community. The firm has also named Ben Dean as the leader of the new Dublin office, which is located at 51/52 Fitzwilliam Square. Group Director, Risk and Asset Management, Peter [...]
Accenture is acquiring Duck Creek Technologies, a privately held company that specialises in software solutions for the property and casualty (P&C) insurance industry. The move should strengthen the group’s ability to support P&C insurers of all sizes, allowing it to quickly launch products that match consumers’ evolving needs. According to the outsourcing and technology services [...]
Aviva Europe has appointed Doug Brown as chief risk officer. Moving from senior vice-president and global head of bancassurance at MetLife, Mr Brown will report to Aviva Europe chief executive, Igal Mayer, and join the division’s executive committee. Mr Brown began his career at Great-West Life, joining MetLife in 2004 having previously held senior roles [...]
New research commissioned by Direct Line has revealed that 5.2m people have not reported a crime because of the fear it would deter buyers/renters if the incident appeared on a police crime map. Three-quarters (3.9m) of those not reporting crime have ignored vandalism, drug dealing or similar offences, and 45% have not reported stolen or [...]
Keoghs, the specialist insurance law firm, has announced a brace of new partners, bringing the total number to 50. Aidan Geary, formerly of Weightmans, brings a decade and a half of experience in law and equal knowledge of the insurance sector to the firm. Geary joins the Complex Injury Claims team, which has experienced a [...]
Ironshore Inc. has announced its expansion to the Australian market, providing specialty insurance coverages for large, complex corporate risk, with the appointment of David Rogers as the managing director of Ironshore Australia Pty Ltd. Rogers will be based in the firm’s Melbourne office, and will report directly to Chief Executive Officer of Ironshore International Mark [...]
Unprecedented natural catastrophe losses in the first quarter of 2011 coupled with changes to US hurricane models contributed to only four new catastrophe bond issues, totalling $592 million, in the three months to the end of June. According to Willis, the figure is down from $2.1 billion in the same period in 2010 when eight [...]
PERILS has extended its market coverage to include Norway and Sweden. The industry-wide catastrophe insurance data provider already covers Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The inclusion of Norway and Sweden means that coverage now incorporates all regions likely to be most affected by a major Pan-European windstorm [...]
THB Group has reported a strong start to its financial year, with fees and commissions up 6%, to £26 million, in the six months to the end of April 2011, and pre-tax profit rising 100%, to £1.9 million. The specialist insurance and reinsurance broker says that systems changes are well underway to secure further margin [...]
Professional services group, Towers Watson, has appointed Michael Murphy as a senior leader at its risk consulting and software (RCS) business. Mr Murphy is a former Aviva Europe SE managing director and has worked in both the life and general insurance sectors at managing director, finance director and chief actuary levels. His new post, based [...]
SSP has launched Keychoice Distribution as a one-stop insurance and IT shop for independent brokers. Headed by Jonathan Davey, the new unit incorporates Keychoice Network and Keychoice Underwriting while managing the sale of SSP technology. The restructure comes in response to the changing needs of the group’s small to medium-sized broker customers, who control over [...]
