Insurance Journal’s Most Noteworthy Topics of 2020: International

COVID-19 and mergers and acquistions were just two of noteworthy topics of 2020 covered by the International section of Insurance Journal. Other notable topics included business moves — from startups and existing companies — and natural and manmade catastrophes. We provide below article highlights from just some of these articles during 2020, which was certainly a noteworthy year.

COVID-19

The coronavirus pandemic was, of course, the principal topic for 2020, one way or another, in all the regions covered by Insurance Journal. In the International section, articles ranged from COVID-19 claims, to the lawsuits about non-payment of business interruption claims associated with global lockdowns, to pandemic coverage solutions and exclusions. Indeed, 42 of the headlines of top 100 articles related specifically to COVID-19, the coronavirus and the pandemic. In addition, many other articles, at the very least, mentioned the pandemic. It was certainly the topic of the year.

Here’s a sampling of some of the International section’s COVID-19 coverage in reverse chronological order. (Additional coronavirus articles can be found in our summary of 2020’s most-read International articles published on Dec. 28. Other articles can be found below in the natural and manmade disasters section).

• It Would Take P/C Insurers 150 Years to Pay COVID-19 Business Interruption Losses
• COVID-19 Vaccine Makers Expect EU Liability Shield for Unexpected Side-Effects
• Insurers, Policyholders, Analysts React to UK’s COVID-19 Business Interruption Ruling
• Munich Re to Stop Selling Pandemic Business Coverage
• Social Inflation, Low Interest Rates, Rising Catastrophes: Recipe for a Hard Market
• Global Insurers Pulled into Epicenter of COVID-19 Crisis, Firmly in Uncharted Territory
• Non-Life Insurance Claims from Pandemic to Surpass 9/11 Claims: Willis Towers Watson
• Coronavirus Will Cause ‘Massive’ Losses Across Insurance Industry, Says Allianz CEO
• Suddenly There Is Big Demand for Pandemic Cover, Says Underwriter
• Lloyd’s Faces COVID-19 Claims from Multiple Insurance Lines, Says CEO Neal
• Insurers Rush to Exclude Coronavirus Epidemic from Event-Cancellation Protection

M&A

Next on the list of most noteworthy topics published by IJ’s Intenational section in 2020 are those covering mergers and acquisitions. The most frequently viewed M&A articles by IJ readers were the planned merger of Aon with Willis Towers Watson. Here we include a sampling of these articles published during this past year in reverse chronological order:

• Update: Aon Confirms EU Antitrust Probe of Merger with Willis Towers Watson
• UK Insurer RSA Accepts $9.6 Billion Cash Takeover Offer
• AXA Considers Sale of Singapore Business as It Seeks to Raise Funds: Sources
• Third Point Re and Sirius Group Agree to Merger in Deal Worth $788M
• Allianz and Generali Plan to Sell Life Insurance Assets: Sources
• French Mutual Covéa Scraps $9 Billion Purchase of PartnerRe from Exor
• Willis Towers Watson Postpones Planned Sale of Miller Insurance (In November, it was announced that private equity firm Cinven and GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, agreed to acquire Miller from WTW).
• Aon and Willis Towers Watson Say Merger Is All About ‘Getting Better, Not Bigger’
• Aon to Buy Willis Towers Watson

Business Moves for Startups and Existing Insurers

Business moves for startups and strategic moves by existing insurers are next on the list of noteworthy topics for 2020. These range from the startups that have raised capital to take advantage of hardening rates, to existing companies that have restructured their management teams and operations for business and sometimes cultural (and personnel) reasons. Here is a sampling of these articles in reverse chronological order:

• New Re/Insurer ‘Vantage Risk’ Launches, Led by Former Arch, AXA XL Executives
• New Insurance Group Inigo Raises $800M of Capital; Founded by Former Hiscox Execs
• QBE CEO Regan Exits After Investigation Into Female Employee’s Complaint
• Lloyd’s to Exit U.S. Admitted Market, Focus on U.S. Surplus Lines, Reinsurance
• Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty Restructures to ‘Regain Profitability’
• Update: Lloyd’s of London Apologizes for Its ‘Shameful’ Role in Atlantic Slave Trade
• UK Insurer Brit and Google Collaborate to Launch 1st Fully Digital Lloyd’s Syndicate
• AIG Launches Largest-Ever Syndicate at Lloyd’s, Operating in High Net Worth Sector
• Carbon Underwriting to Launch Syndicate-in-a-Box at Lloyd’s
• AXA XL Forms New Leadership Team, Aims to Restructure with Regional Business Units

Natural and Manmade Catastrophes

And last but not least on the list of noteworthy topics in IJ’s International section during 2020 is the subject of natural and manmade catastrophes and their costs to the insurance industry as well as to the globe. Of course, there is a cross-over with the first section on COVID-19-related articles because natural catastrophes can range from pandemics to Australian bushfires. A sampling of these articles follows here:

• Huge Vestas Wind Turbine Collapses in Northern Sweden in Rare Accident
• Another Severe Storm Threatens Philippines Just Days After Super Typhoon Goni
• After Beirut Port Explosion, AM Best Comments on Potential Insurance Exposures
• ‘G4’ Swine Flu Virus Is Not New, Does Not Easily Infect Humans: China
• Beirut Port Explosion to Cost Insurers Approximately $3 Billion: Sources
• Crashed Pakistan Plane First Tried to Land Without Landing Gear at 203 Miles Per Hour
• April’s Killer Tornadoes Cost Insurers Billions in Claims: Aon Report
• Australia Faces Worsening Bushfires Without Climate Change Action: Report
• Coronavirus Epidemic Could Infect Two-Thirds of World’s Population: WHO Scientist