Southern Fidelity in receivership; Allstate cat loss; Centene real estate costs

TOP NEWS IN GLOBAL INSURANCE

* Southern Fidelity Insurance Co. Inc. has been placed under receivership and is being liquidated. A Leon County, Fla., Circuit Court judge has ordered the state's Department of Financial Services to act as receiver of Southern Fidelity. The receivership comes a couple of weeks after Demotech withdrew the financial stability rating of Southern Fidelity.

* The Allstate Corp. announced estimated catastrophe losses for May of $436 million, or $344 million after tax. May catastrophe losses included 14 events, primarily wind and hail in Texas, the Midwest and Canada, estimated at $423 million, plus unfavorable reserve reestimates for prior period events. During the month, the Allstate brand implemented rate increases of 9.3% across 13 locations, resulting in total Allstate brand insurance premium impact of 0.7%.

* Centene Corp. has increased its premium and service revenues guidance range by $2.0 billion to a new range of $134.3 billion to $136.3 billion and has increased its adjusted diluted EPS guidance range by 15 cents to between $5.55 and $5.70. Also, the company has initiated a reduction of its real estate footprint. It expects to record estimated pretax costs including impairments of approximately $750 million to $800 million attributable to leased space, inclusive of the cost to decommission space and lease termination fees, and $750 million to $850 million attributable to owned real estate.

➤ US D&O insurance industry direct written premiums see modest growth YOY in Q1

The U.S. directors and officers insurance market logged $2.69 billion in direct premiums written in the first quarter, a slight increase from $2.66 billion a year earlier, according to an S&P Global Market Intelligence data analysis.

PROPERTY AND CASUALTY

* Lawmakers on the U.S. Senate Banking Committee expressed mixed views on the Federal Emergency Management Agency's proposal for overhauling the National Flood Insurance Program that calls for dropping coverage for frequently flooding properties and denying coverage for homes in the most flood-prone areas, The Wall Street Journal reported.

* Tokio Marine Kiln Group Ltd. announced the sale of Tokio Marine Highland's U.S. construction division to Intact Insurance Group USA LLC. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2022, subject to customary regulatory approvals.

* MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings Inc. has joined the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance, an initiative aimed at achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in insurance underwriting portfolios by 2050.

* Lloyd's of London has re-appointed Bruce Carnegie-Brown for a third term as chairman, effective June 2022 and running to June 2025.

* BMS Group Ltd. has acquired Australia-based corporate retail broker SRG Group for undisclosed financial terms.

* India-based Pazcare has raised $8.2 million led by Jafco Asia, bringing its valuation to $48 million, TechCrunch reported. The company is an employee benefits and insurtech platform.

* The Board of Assicurazioni Generali SpA has been put on pre-alert for June 21, ahead of a meeting on June 22, to name a replacement to Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone, Il Sole 24 Ore wrote. Caltagirone wants Luciano Cirinà, former head of the EEC area of the insurer, to replace him but faces opposition from the board due to legal proceedings against the manager, who was recently let go, sources told MF.

LIFE AND HEALTH

* Cigna Corp. will repurchase $3.5 billion of common stock through accelerated stock repurchase agreements with Mizuho Markets Americas LLC and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC. The agreements are part of Cigna's existing share repurchase program, which had remaining authority of approximately $8.8 billion as of June 14.

REINSURANCE

* HCI Group Inc. subsidiaries Homeowners Choice Property & Casualty Insurance Co. Inc. and TypTap Insurance Co. have secured their reinsurance programs for the year from June 1, 2022, through May 31, 2023.

* Cowen Inc. has acquired Guernsey-based reinsurer Kelvin Re Ltd., which is in runoff after consecutive years of natural catastrophe events, Artemis reported.

Yael Schrage contributed to this report.

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