Morgan Stanley analysts estimated that reinsurance pricing for loss-affected accounts increased 10% to 30% on average at the June 1 renewals, Business Insurance reported. Based on conversations with reinsurers, loss-free accounts were renewing flat to up 10%, while retrocessional capacity was "limited."
Florida-based Heritage Insurance Holdings Inc.'s 2019-2020 catastrophe reinsurance program is its largest ever, with the first event reinsurance exhaustion point increased to $1.5 billion and the cost of the cover declining to $249.2 million from $259.5 million in the prior year.
New Zealand's Earthquake Commission secured NZ$6.2 billion of reinsurance coverage for the 12 months beginning June 1, online news portal Stuff reported. The amount is higher than the NZ$5.55 billion in protection secured in the prior year. The reinsurance will be used for claims stemming from earthquakes, tsunami and volcanic eruptions, among others.
Meanwhile, Everest Re Group Ltd. rowed back its retrocessional cover purchase to as little as $150 million, having initially been in the market for what some sources said was up to $900 million, The Insurance Insider reported.
An extension of the National Flood Insurance Program through the end of September was included in a $19 billion disaster aid package passed by the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday, The Advocate (La.) reported. President Donald Trump is expected to sign the bill.
Great-West Lifeco Inc. subsidiary Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Co. completed the sale of substantially all of its individual life insurance and annuity business to Protective Life Insurance Co. The business sold includes bank- and corporate-owned life insurance, single premium life insurance, individual annuities and closed-block life insurance and annuities.
White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd. acquired a minority stake in Elementum Advisors LLC for undisclosed terms. White Mountains will also inject $50 million across the asset manager's funds.
AmWINS Group Inc. completed the acquisition of wholesaler and managing general agent Atlantic Risk Specialists for undisclosed terms.
France's CNP Assurances SA is acquiring the 49.9% stake held by Bank of Cyprus Holdings PLC in CNP Cyprus Insurance Holdings for €97.5 million, giving CNP Assurances full ownership.
Suncorp Group Ltd. has completed the sale of Resilium Pty. Ltd., its general insurance distribution business in Australia.
Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. put the majority of staff at U.K.-based Guy Carpenter and newly acquired JLT Re "under consultation," meaning that they could be laid off as part of headcount reductions following the completion of Marsh's acquisition of Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group PLC, the Insider wrote.
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Spate of tornadoes hit homeowners, private auto insurers: There have already been about 1,000 preliminary reports of tornadoes across the U.S. in 2019. The country sees fewer than 1,300 twisters in an average year.
Big tech risks for insurers 'dwarfed' by scale of opportunity: The biggest challenge insurers face from technology is in figuring out how to take advantage of the opportunities it presents while not disrupting existing businesses too much, said KBW's co-head of European research, William Hawkins.
Allstate, AmFam hike personal auto rates in April; Progressive makes cuts: Regulators across six states approved 18 rate-increase requests by Allstate that may lead to an aggregate premium increase of $80.0 million.
In other parts of the world
Asia-Pacific: IAG exits New Zealand life insurance business; Fitch cuts ICICI Bank's ratings
Europe: Fresh UK insider trading probe; Piraeus in €328M deal; France vs Credit Suisse
Middle East & Africa: Absa's Ghanaian unit fined; Kenya moves to curb illicit flows
The day ahead
Early morning futures indicators pointed to a higher opening for the U.S. market.
In Asia, Hang Seng fell 0.49% at 26,761.52, while the Nikkei 225 dropped 0.01% to 20,408.54.
In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 lifted 0.12% to 7,193.65, and the Euronext 100 gained 0.09% to 1,027.18.
Click here to read about today's financial markets, setting out the factors driving stocks, bonds and currencies around the world ahead of the New York open.
On the macro front
The motor vehicle sales report, the Redbook Index for retail sales and the factory orders report are due out today.
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