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American Equity eyeing sale; Q1 US annuity sales flat; insurtech investments up

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American Equity eyeing sale; Q1 US annuity sales flat; insurtech investments up

American Equity Investment Life Holding Co. is discussing a potential sale with interested suitors, according to Reuters. Athene Holding Ltd. and FGL Holdings could be interested in acquiring the Iowa-based provider of annuities and life insurance products.

Reuters also reported that General Electric Co. is examining ways to off-load its troubled insurance business.

Anthem Inc. agreed to acquire Aspire Health, a non-hospice, community-based palliative care provider.

Insured losses from an outbreak of convective storm weather that affected numerous U.S. states in May could reach around $2.5 billion, Artemis wrote, citing catastrophe modeler Karen Clark & Co. As many as a dozen states could see losses in excess of $100 million apiece.

The first quarter saw $724 million in insurance technology investments, up 16% from the 2017 fourth quarter and 155% from a year ago, according to a Willis Towers Watson report. There were 66 insurtech investment deals in the quarter, a new high. Of these, just over half were in the U.S., with 12% in the U.K. and 8% in China.

First-quarter indexed annuity sales rose 11% year over year to $14.5 billion, the LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute said. U.S. annuity sales were roughly flat at $51.8 billion, while variable annuity sales slid 1% year over year to $24.6 billion.

A federal appeals court ruled that American International Group Inc. unit AIG Specialty Insurance Co. should reimburse Office Depot after it settled a whistleblower lawsuit for $68.5 million, Business Insurance wrote. The decision, which overturns a lower court ruling, said the unit was obligated to indemnify because charges leveled against Office Depot involved covered wrongful acts under AIG policies.

Lloyd's of London received license approval from the National Bank of Belgium for its Brussels unit, which will be its EU base when the U.K. exits the bloc.

In Asia, MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings Inc. unit Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. Ltd. agreed to acquire Commonwealth Bank of Australia's 37.5% stake in BoCommLife Insurance Co. Ltd., which is majority-owned by Bank of Communications Co. Ltd., Tokyo's The Nikkei reported.

China's Anbang Insurance Group Co. Ltd. is selling its 91.65% stake in Century Securities Co. Ltd. for at least 3.56 billion yuan in what would be the insurer's first asset divestment since being seized by authorities in February, Reuters reported, citing exchange filings.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India is expected to accept a recommendation to remove state-owned General Insurance Corp. of India's first preference over foreign reinsurers in certain business segments such as aviation, marine hull and life, CNBC TV18 reported.

Operational and legal complexities, as well as preparing for the tight reporting window for breach notification, are the main challenges for insurers and reinsurers as they work toward complying with the EU's General Data Protection Regulation, which takes effect Friday, according to A.M. Best.

MetLife Inc.'s board authorized the company to buy back $1.5 billion of its common stock, while in Switzerland, Zurich Insurance Group AG wrapped up a CHF548.2 million buyback.

Featured news

Right-to-try bill reaches Trump's desk; US may deploy new Ebola therapy in Congo: The U.S. House of Representatives passed the right-to-try bill in a 250-169 vote; and the U.S. may deploy an experimental treatment for Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo after a request by the country's health minister.

Financial news in other parts of the world

Asia-Pacific: China's Anbang to exit securities unit; Mitsui Sumitomo to buy BoCommLife stake

Europe: Barclays said to mull merger with StanChart; Julius Bär AUM breach CHF400B

Middle East & Africa: Emirates NBD snaps up DenizBank; Nigeria holds rates; Misr to list 2 units

The day ahead

Early morning futures indicators pointed to a higher opening for the U.S. market.

In Asia, the Nikkei 225 dropped 1.18% to 22,689.74.

In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 slid 0.73% to 7,819.62 and the Euronext 100 shed 1.01% to 1,076.46.

On the macro front

Reports due out today are bank reserve settlement, MBA mortgage applications, PMI composite flash, new home sales and EIA petroleum status.

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