Acappella Launches as an Insurance Holdings Company
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Acappella Launches as an Insurance
Holdings Company
Fledgling Lloyd's and London market business Acappella has
set out a formal strategy to become a diversified insurance
holdings company, according to an article by The Insurance
Insider. The company plans to operate business strands
incorporating a full Lloyd's managing agency, an MGA arm
and a fund manager handling the investment of third party capital into underwriting businesses. The
strategic direction, led by Acappella CEO Jason Howard and Chief Underwriting Officer David Indge,
is designed to appeal to entrepreneurially-minded underwriters looking to branch out on their own
but with the help and backing of a strategic partner. It is also aimed at third party investors looking
to make the most of opportunities in the insurance market. Explaining the launch, Howard said: "The
Lloyd's business was always envisioned, but the real transformation is bringing in an MGA and a
capital management piece. Those are the things that Acappella was not before but needed to be
developed into." The executive explained that his vision already had buy-in from a group of talented
underwriters and that with the new company structure now finalised, Acappella would be able to
advance conversations to bring them on board, whether to the Lloyd's or MGA platforms. Howard
hinted that Latin America would be a likely source of new capital providers and that discussions had
also taken place with potential Asian investors, including players from the Indian sub-continent.
Under the new group structure Willis will formalise a two-thirds shareholding in the business, with
the remaining third held by international specialty insurer Ironshore. The group's planned principle
operating subsidiaries are a Lloyd's managing agent, a fund management business and a UK-based
non-Lloyd's MGA platform, all subject to the necessary regulatory approval.
AirAsia Takes Major Airline Losses to Almost $1bn
The loss of AirAsia flight QZ8501 late last month will be kept net by insurers, with aviation sources
predicting combined Hull and Liability claims in the region of $100m-$140m. The additional hit to
the market will take major airline losses for the year to almost $1bn, according to analysis published
by The Insurance Insider. It is very early in the reserve-setting process, but sources have said that the
market could set aside somewhere between $60m and $100m to pay the loss. The figure includes a
large sum for legal fees and loss-adjusting expenses, as well as a buffer above the expected total
payout. Just as the payout to the families will come in substantially below the $60m-$100m range,
the ultimate cost to insurers may be materially below this mark in a line of business that typically
builds in significant reserve redundancy. The total claim for AirAsia is likely to come in at $100m-
$140m, with the plane insured for $44.2m, comprising $37.6m for the hull and $6.6m of additional
value. The loss will substantially be taken net by the all-risk insurers. It has previously been reported
that that the lead insurer for low cost carrier AirAsia is Allianz, with the policy brokered by JLT. There
were 155 passengers and seven crew on board the Airbus 320-200. The latest loss takes the tally of
major losses borne by the Aviation All-Risk market in 2014 to $960m. The premium base for the
entire market is estimated at approaching $1.4bn. Attritional losses are thought to run at $500m-
$600m.
Beach Buys Axiom Re from
Brown & Brown
Beach & Associates has bought Brown & Brown's reinsurance
broking arm Axiom Re in a move that demonstrates its ambition
to expand with the backing of new majority investor Aquiline.
The transaction, for undisclosed terms, also sees the reinsurance
broker enter into a "strategic relationship" with US broking giant
Brown & Brown. And it reunites Beach's Global President and
CEO Grahame Millwater with Axiom Re CEO Mike Cross, after the executives worked together for
more than two decades at Willis. The acquisition of Axiom Re will significantly expand Beach's North
American operations. The deal brings Beach a presence in the US regional Reinsurance market and
enhances the firm's Property expertise and analytics, including the addition of Axiom Re's Blue Sky
cat modelling platform. Sixth largest US insurance broker Brown & Brown bills Axiom Re as the
seventh biggest reinsurance intermediary based in the US. Cross brings a team of around 30 to
Beach and will continue to operate out of the firm's current Burlington, North Carolina base. In a
statement, Beach said the acquisition emphasises its position "as the leading global independent
reinsurance adviser and intermediary".
BHSI Hires Another Lexington Exec for Environmental Push
Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) has hired Chuck Hasselback from AIG subsidiary
Lexington to run its new Environmental group. The move will expand the insurer's US casualty
underwriting capabilities to include pollution exposures. BHSI said it will provide coverage on a
primary and excess basis, with capacity of up to $25m available for the business. Hasselback joins
from Lexington Insurance Company, where he most recently worked in product development. Prior
to this he worked at AIG's Environmental practice. He is the latest in a line of AIG and Lexington
alumni to follow Peter Eastwood and his founding management team to BHSI following its launch
back in 2013. Earlier this week BHSI confirmed it had received a Hong Kong license to go with its
Singapore license as it looks to expand its operations internationally. It subsequently announced a
number of senior hires to its Hong Kong office, including Ricky Ho, who joins as Senior Vice President
of Casualty and Kai Tse, who takes the role of CFO and COO for the Asia region. Roseline Liu has also
arrived as Vice President of Casualty, along with Irene Liu and Ophelia Szeto, who join as Assistant
Vice President of Casualty and Assistant Vice President of Property and Terrorism, respectively.
BHSI's recently appointed President of Asia Marc Breuil – who was poached from AIG where he was
Head of its Operations in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, is also based in this new office. Marcus
Portbury was also hired from AIG where he was Regional Head of Casualty for Asia Pacific. He has
taken on the role of Head of Third Party Lines. And Catlin's former Asia Head of Casualty Peter
McKenna was announced as Head of Energy and Construction Casualty in Asia towards the end of
last year.
BMS Appoints Specialty Reinsurance
Director
Steven Herbert has been appointed Director of BMS Group's
Specialty Reinsurance division. Herbert was previously Director of
the Reinsurance division at rival Cooper Gay, as well as Head of
London Market Excess and Offshore Energy. He will report to the
unit's Managing Director Andrew Hitchings, formerly Cooper Gay's
Reinsurance CEO. Hitchings commented: "We see enormous potential in the Specialty Reinsurance
market and Steven's appointment demonstrates our commitment to this sector. His depth of
understanding and experience will add value for our clients and play a key part in the division's
ongoing strategic development and growth." BMS's recently formed Specialty Reinsurance division
will focus on adding new product lines to the firm's P&C offering in both reinsurance and
retrocession, the company said in November.
Canopius Unveils Renewable Energy Division
Lloyd's (re)insurer Canopius has announced the launch of a Renewable Energy division with the hire
of a team from Dutch insurer Delta Lloyd, confirming a move first reported in November 2014 last
year. The team, based in Amsterdam, will be led by Maarten Mulder, who takes on the role of Head
of Renewable Energy. A team of four former Delta Lloyd employees will work under his leadership.
Eric Helsloot is to serve as Lead Underwriter, Martijn Meijboom as Senior Underwriter and Arnout
Bijl joins as Underwriter. Bart Leijssen joins as an Engineer for the team. The carrier said the team
would underwrite jointly for Canopius and the European branch of its sister company Sompo Japan
Nipponkoa Insurance Company.
Catlin Confirms £2.5bn Offer
from XL
In December 2014, Catlin confirmed that it has received an
approach from XL Group regarding a possible combination of the
companies. XL's £2.5bn approach for the Lloyd's heavyweight
would see Catlin investors receive 410p in cash per share as well as
0.13 XL shares for each common Catlin share. The offer values each
Catlin share at 699 pence, indicating a total consideration of about £2.53bn, based on XL's closing
share price at the time. This represents a valuation of around 1.57x Catlin's trailing net tangible book
value of 445 pence as at 30 June 2014. Catlin said the combination of the firms would create a
leading player in P&C (re)insurance and expand opportunities for their combined underwriting
teams. Catlin's shares went up 14% when the carrier moved to confirm speculation regarding the
offer, making its announcement without XL's approval or agreement. The insurer said discussions
were ongoing, with no certainty that they would lead to any transaction. The final terms of any offer
would be subject to the completion of mutual due diligence. Catlin said it would make a further
announcement in due course. XL later published a response, with XL CEO Mike McGavick saying:
"Both XL and Catlin – respected, innovative, global P&C firms – are well positioned on their own.
However, we both believe that we will be far better positioned and stronger together. We see this
transaction as deeply accelerating the strategies of both companies. Specifically, the combined
entity would be a leader in the global specialty and property cat markets and would make greater
and more efficient use of both companies' global networks and infrastructure. As Catlin is the
leading presence at Lloyd's, the combination would immediately expand many of the lines of
business in which XL has recently invested." He went on to note that the combined company would
be a "top 10 player", increasing alternative capital opportunities and its relevance to clients and
brokers. "For these reasons, and crucially, for the deep cultural and strategic alignment we see
between XL and Catlin, with both built on disciplined underwriting, we see meaningful opportunity
in this transaction," McGavick said.
HW Wood Opens Amsterdam Office Following Hire of Specialist
Team
London Lloyd’s brokers HW Wood Ltd are delighted to announce the opening of a Branch Office in
The Netherlands. The new Amsterdam office will initially focus on the development and placement
of Commodity, Cargo and related business both inward and outward. The broker has appointed
Erwin Slagter, Patrick Roodbol and Angela Pieneman who bring over 50 years of combined
specialist knowledge and experience. All three join from Aon Commodity Trade in the Netherlands.
HW Wood’s Marine division was formed in 1999 when Steven Rudduck joined the Company. Since
that time, it has expanded into Wholesale, Treaty Reinsurance and developed a substantial book of
international Hull, Cargo and P&I business, covering Facultative, Reinsurance and Binding
Authorities.
JLT Boosts Energy Team with Aon Hires
JLT Specialty Insurance Services, a US subsidiary of Jardine
Lloyd Thompson (JLT), has strengthened its Energy team with
a number of appointments. William Helander and Wynne
Sharpe join from Aon, where both most recently served as
Senior Vice President. Melissa Henderson joins from Marsh
where she most recently served as Vice President; Lisa Harris,
joins from Lockton where she too served as Vice President; and, finally, Andrew Glisson joins from
Upstream Insurance Brokers where he most recently was a Vice President. The Energy specialists
will join JLT’s existing Houston-based energy capabilities that include the energy business acquired
from Alliant Insurance Services in October. Pat Donnelley, President and Deputy Chief Executive
Officer of JLT Specialty Insurance Services, said: “The quality of individuals we are attracting to JLT,
once again demonstrates the compelling opportunity that our US specialty platform offers to leading
industry professionals. I am delighted to welcome my new colleagues to JLT.”
Liberty Specialty Hires from Aon in Switzerland
Liberty Specialty Markets (LSM), part of Liberty Mutual Insurance Group, has appointed Guillaume
de Lestang as Senior Underwriter for Financial Lines in its Zurich office. De Lestang has 15 years’
industry experience including 10 years as a broker, most recently at Aon in Geneva. Reporting to
Felix Böni, Zurich Branch Manager, de Lestang will focus primarily on Switzerland’s French-speaking
regions. He will oversee underwriting and product development for Directors & Officers Liability,
Professional Liability, Crime, Kidnap & Ransom and Cyber Risks. John McCammon, LSM’s Head of
International Network Offices, sad: “The creation of this new role is part of our drive to extend our
offering across the Swiss region. Guillaume brings to the team an impressive amount of market
experience. His main focus will be to strengthen our presence and to further develop our financial
lines book. Working alongside our existing Zurich team, his arrival marks a real enhancement to our
underwriting capability in Switzerland.”
Lockton Entices Aon Property Head
Broker Lockton has appointed Michael Andler as Executive Vice
President and Head of US Property Insurance. Andler joins
Lockton after 13 years at Aon in various senior leadership and
property specialist positions, most recently serving as Managing
Director and Chief Operating Officer of the US Property
Practice. He will operate from Lockton’s New York office and is
responsible for bolstering the services and solutions available
for large, complex property clients, coordinating with Lockton’s teams globally on insurance market
access, and advising clients on property insurance market trends.
Marsh Acquires Belgian Trade Credit Broker
Marsh has acquired Belgian trade credit broker Trade Insure. The Belgian intermediary was founded
in 1990 and focuses on placing Trade Credit Insurance for small and medium-sized enterprises
(SMEs) and multinationals. The broker employees 16 people and is based in Aalst, Belgium. Terms of
the deal were not disclosed.
OdysseyRe Reshuffles Top Brass
Fairfax's reinsurance arm OdysseyRe has announced a reshuffle
in its executive management team that will see Isabelle Dubots-
Lafitte take over as CEO for Europe, Middle East and Asia. In her
new role, Dubots-Lafitte will manage OdysseyRe's offices in
Paris and Stockholm and oversee the operational functions for
its European and Asian divisions. She was previously the Head
of Underwriting & Marketing for all Treaty business within
France, having joined OdysseyRe in 1989. OdysseyRe also appointed Gaël LePaïh as Chief
Underwriting Officer for the EMEA region. LePaïh will oversee the carrier's underwriting operations
in Paris and Stockholm and will report to Dubots-Lafitte. The carrier's Head of Europe and Asia,
Lucien Pietropoli, will relocate to Singapore and become CEO for the Asia Pacific region. In the
London market division, André-François Rocque, who formerly led the carrier's London Property
team, will take up the role of Chief Underwriting Officer for London. Both Pietropoli and Dubots-
Lafitte will report directly to Brian Young, Odyssey Re's CEO, while Rocque will report to Carl Overy,
CEO of the London market division.
Price Forbes Hires Ex-RKH Specie Team
Five former members of RK Harrison (RKH)'s Specie team have left to join specialist independent
broker Price Forbes. Former RKH Specie Division Managing Director Bruno Le Roy has been
appointed Head of Specie, and is joined by Directors David Cobb, John Holton, Richard Philips and
Chris Randall. All of the hires will take up their roles with immediate effect. Le Roy commented: "The
accomplished existing team, combined with the international reputation and operational capability
of Price Forbes, provides the perfect platform to build and develop this outstanding Specie offering.”
Price Forbes CEO Michael Donegan added: "Under Bruno's leadership we will combine our existing
expertise with our new team to harness their vast collective wealth of specialist knowledge and
experience. This will play a key role in realising our ambitions and enhancing our strategic
development." In November, it was reported that RKH and fellow independent broker Hyperion
were in merger talks to create a £400m annual revenue firm.
Qatar Re Appoints Speare-Cole as CUO
Qatar Re has announced the appointment of former JLT Re
CEO Alastair Speare-Cole as Chief Underwriting Officer,
effective from 12 January 2015. Speare-Cole replaces Willi
Schürch who is retiring from his current role. Gunther Saacke,
CEO of Qatar Re, said it was a "great privilege to have such a
high calibre and widely respected reinsurance executive on
board". Speare-Cole commented: "Qatar Re has built a strong
organisation with skilled and experienced reinsurance professionals. In addition, Qatar Re has
already established a robust foundation in terms of its internal risk management combined with
strong client and broker focus. I am excited to become part of this team and contribute my
experience to help realise the long-term aspiration of the company." The former JLT Re and Aon
Benfield executive has more than 30 years' experience in the reinsurance industry, and began his
career at Jardine Matheson. He left JLT Re in August 2014, shortly after the announcement of a
major restructure and was succeeded by Group Finance Director Mike Reynolds. Saacke made a
point of thanking the outgoing CUO for his contributions to Qatar Re's growth. "Thanks to his
expertise and experience, Qatar Re has rapidly established a well-balanced portfolio, reflecting both
underwriting excellence and discipline. It has been a great pleasure to work with Willi during the
final stage of his reinsurance career which spans more than 30 years," he added. Established in 2009,
Qatar Re is the reinsurance arm of Qatar Insurance Company, the largest composite insurer in the
Middle East region. Headquartered in Doha, Qatar Re also has branch offices in Zurich and Bermuda
as well as a representative office in London. The carrier is rated ‘A’ (Stable) by Standard and Poor's
and ‘A’ (Excellent) by AM Best, and writes all major Property, Casualty and Specialty Lines of
business.
RFIB Expands Hull and War Division
RFIB has expanded its Hull and War unit with the appointment of Steve Hughes as Divisional
Director. Previously Executive Director of Marine at Willis, Hughes takes up the role with immediate
effect and will report to Chris Tansley, Managing Director of Marine International. Hughes also spent
six years at Price Forbes and has held senior roles at Ropner Insurance and Besso, RFIB said. RFIB
CEO Jonathan Turnbull commented: "A key part of our growth strategy is to attract individuals who
have the experience, market understanding and service-driven approach to complement our
specialist team. Steve has these qualities in abundance and his highly impressive reputation and vast
expertise, particularly in US and Asian business, will be a significant asset to our Hull and War team."
RSA Puts German P&C Business Into Run-
Off
UK insurance group RSA has put a sizable chunk of its
underperforming German operation into run-off as CEO
Stephen Hester continues to streamline the business and its
balance sheet. The carrier stopped writing German property,
casualty, engineering and construction business in
September and did not renew such business at the 1 January
renewals. It said it had taken the decision following "several years" of "extremely tough market
conditions and poor results". In 2013 the carrier made a £41m underwriting loss in its European
Specialty Lines division, compared to a £3m loss the year before. It blamed the deterioration on
"continued large loss activity, particularly in Germany". RSA has said that the run-off will be handled
in house. "We have assessed a number of options open to us and have concluded that the most
effective and efficient withdrawal route is to cease writing new business and run-off the existing
portfolio," it said. In a statement, the insurer's UK Commercial Managing Director Jon Hancock said:
"Following a thorough review of our German business, we have decided to focus on becoming a
leading Marine insurance provider in this market. We remain committed to the German Marine
market and this decision reflects our strategy to be more targeted in the business we write, to make
sustainable profitable returns and to ensure we're best placed to deliver value and service to our
customers and broker partners." The London-listed insurer is trimming the scope of its operations
after a capital deficit came to light in 2013.
Vibe Syndicate Hires Ace Casualty Treaty Underwriter
Ace's Senior Casualty Underwriter Clive Archer has joined live Lloyd's start-up Vibe Syndicate 5678.
After almost 10 years at the global insurer, Archer started working as a Casualty Treaty Class
Underwriter at Vibe at the end of last year. Prior to his time at Ace, Archer worked as a Manager of
all non-US Casualty business written in London at St Paul Re, and as a Senior Underwriter in Casualty
Treaty for ERC Frankona. Around the same time, it was reported that Mitsui Sumitomo's Accident &
Health (A&H) Class Underwriter Steve Ranzetta had joined to spearhead a move into the UK and
international A&H market. Vibe is the new name for previous reinsurance to close specialist RITC
Syndicate Management. RITC Syndicate Management was founded in 2007 as part of Puerto Rico-
based Syndicate Re by billionaire George Soros and Pine Brook, at a time when there were more
than 100 open years at Lloyd's. In total, it has written more than £800m of RITC business at Lloyd's.
Vibe Syndicate Management received approval from Lloyd's to write live business from 1 July 2014.
Dinah Gately, who reports to group CEO Nigel Rogers, continues as CEO of the diversifying business.
Alterra alumnus Bradley Knight also joined the management team last year as Active Underwriter.
XL Group Announces New Aerospace
Capabilities in China
XL Group has announced it can now provide Aerospace
insurance solutions in China and to deliver these solutions it
has appointed Underwriter Catherine Wang, who is based
in Shanghai, China. Al Xie, XL Group’s Country Manager in
China, said: “The Chinese aviation market is set to grow
exponentially; from a risk perspective we think our local
expertise and global experience position us well to support
this growth. The appointment of Catherine is part of our strategy to further add capacity and
capability to XL Group’s operations across Asia Pacific, broadening our product offering and
strengthening our team of first tier underwriters and other insurance professionals.” Wang joined XL
Group from Marsh (Beijing) Insurance Brokers Co Ltd, where she worked as a Manager in its
Aviation and Aerospace Practice. Prior to that, she was with Jiang Tai Insurance Broker Co working
in its Space Department.
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