Articles by L.S. Howard

Did Big Data Enable Lloyd’s to Predict France’s World Cup Win? Well, Maybe…

Ahead of the recent World Cup in Russia, Lloyd’s of London predicted that France would be victorious. And victorious they were – with a 4-2 win against Croatia on Sunday. Interestingly, Lloyd’s also predicted Germany’s win against Argentina in 2014. …

Major Growth Plans Ahead for Schinnerer Group – Now Rebranded as ‘Victor’

Big changes are ahead at The Schinnerer Group, a managing general underwriter (MGU), which is getting a new name – Victor – and has some major expansion plans. From its current premium base of $1.2 billion, Victor has plans to …

Engineering Insurance Results Deteriorate but Better Times Could Be Ahead: Swiss Re

Underwriting performance in global engineering insurance has deteriorated over recent years – on declining premiums and rising claims in some construction sectors due to poor quality control, according to Swiss Re in its latest sigma study. “Some engineering insurers’ profit …

Profile: Major Growth Plans Ahead for Schinnerer Group – Now Rebranded as ‘Victor’

Big changes are ahead at The Schinnerer Group, a managing general underwriter (MGU), which is getting a new name – Victor – and has some major expansion plans. From its current premium base of $1.2 billion, Victor has plans to …

Insurance Flipsides: Countering the Industry’s Negative Perception Problem

The editors at Wells Media have long noticed that the insurance industry is viewed rather negatively by “civilians” – your customers. As a result, we are beginning a regular series of columns, called “Insurance Flipsides,” which will highlight the many …

Generali to Sell Belgian Operations to Athora Holding for $668.3M in Cash

Italy’s Generali has agreed to sell its Belgian operations to Athora Holding Ltd. for approximately €540 million ($668.3 million) in cash. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2018, subject to regulatory approvals. Generali Belgium S.A. …

Reinsurance Capacity Remains Abundant for Mid-Year Renewals: Aon Benfield

Global reinsurer capital continued to rise in 2017, despite the US$136 billion in insured losses from natural catastrophes last year, according to a reinsurance market report published by Aon Benfield. Indeed, capital levels stood at US$605 billion at Dec. 31, …

Octo Telematics’ Execs to Buy 20% of Russian Shareholder Stake, Paving Way for IPO

Italy’s Octo Telematics announced that its chairman and chief executive have signed a binding agreement to purchase 20 percent of Octo’s shares from Russian company Renova Holdings. This share purchase will reduce Renova’s shareholding in the company to 48.55 percent, …

Non-Catastrophe Losses, Natural Disasters Take Toll on Lloyd’s Market in 2017

The Lloyd’s market’s pre-tax loss of £2 billion (US$2.8 billion) in 2017 was partly due to hurricanes and wildfires in the third and fourth quarters. But these losses were exacerbated by the continued deterioration in its attritional, or non-catastrophe losses …

Attritional Losses Take Their Toll at Lloyd’s, Along with 2017’s Natural Catastrophes

The Lloyd’s market’s pre-tax loss of £2 billion (US$2.8 billion) in 2017 was partly due to hurricanes and wildfires in the third and fourth quarters. But these losses were exacerbated by the continued deterioration in its attritional, or non-catastrophe losses …