Tokio Marine Holdings Inc.'s co-head of international business, Chris Williams, expects annual premium growth of at least 20% for high-net-worth specialist Pure Group, which would then possibly double in size by 2023, The Insurance Insider reported. Tokio Marine yesterday announced that it would acquire Pure Group for about $3.1 billion.
The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority is considering a slew of "remedies" to prevent about 6 million policyholders from paying what it says amount to approximately £1.2 billion too much in premiums per year. The regulator said it is weighing banning or restricting practices such as raising prices for consumers who renew year on year or requiring companies to automatically move consumers to cheaper equivalent deals.
U.S. President Donald Trump is ordering his administration to take new actions to boost access to Medicare and speed the payment of drugs covered by the program, but his directive is not calling for any new efforts to lower the costs of medicines. The Oct. 3 executive order seeks to drive Medicare beneficiaries toward purchasing private insurance plans — Medicare Advantage — over getting their health coverage under the government's traditional program for seniors and Americans with disabilities.
Short-term thinking associated with quarterly reporting by publicly listed insurers is causing "huge problems," according to Stephen Catlin, co-founder of specialty insurer Convex. Catlin recalled that when the Lloyd's of London insurer he founded, Catlin Group, went public, he was "deeply shocked" by the amount of time that went into comparing one quarter's earnings with other periods.
MGM Resorts International agreed to pay up to $800 million to victims of the October 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting and their families, ending two years of lawsuits over the attack. The settlement payout is expected to be completed by late 2020, and MGM's insurers will fund the settlement.
Scor SE will transfer U.S. property catastrophe business worth about $200 million to Chicago, New York and Miami from Zurich, the Insider reported.
The Second Judicial Circuit Court in Leon County, Fla., placed Florida Specialty Insurance Co. under the receivership of the state's Department of Financial Services, effective Oct. 2. The announcement came months after Demotech downgraded Florida Specialty after the insurer disclosed in its second-quarter financial statement a surplus only barely in excess of the $10 million statutory minimum.
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s Artex Risk Solutions Inc. will acquire Bermuda-based Horseshoe Insurance Services Holdings Ltd.
The Australian Securities & Investments Commission charged Colonial Mutual Life Assurance Society Ltd., or CommInsure, with 87 counts of hawking offenses for selling its products over noncompliant and unsolicited phone calls.
Unqork has secured $80 million in series B financing led by CapitalG, the growth equity investment fund of Google parent company Alphabet. The no-code enterprise application development platform has a roster of global customers that include Goldman Sachs and Liberty Mutual.
Now featured on S&P Global Market Intelligence
State Auto riding insurtech wave as industry evolves after 'years of mediocrity': Radical transparency, candor and calculated risk taking have helped the company morph from a traditional insurance carrier into a digital pioneer.
Financials led S&P 500 higher in September amid 'low conviction rally': Other defensive sectors, including utilities and real estate, also gained as the S&P 500 broad index rose 1.9% in the month.
USAA, Chubb raise homeowners rates in August: USAA received 26 rate-increase approvals in the month, which could boost the group's homeowners premium by $25.4 million.
In other parts of the world
Europe: Danish banks face extra capital buffer; banks lose in Poland case; Deutsche move
Middle East & Africa: Nigeria levies 500B naira fine on 12 lenders; Abu Dhabi eyes more digital banks
The day ahead
Early morning futures indicators pointed to a lower opening for the U.S. market.
In Asia, the Hang Seng fell 1.11% to 25,821.03, while the Nikkei 225 rose 0.32% to 21,410.20.
In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 was up 0.35% to 7,102.21, and the Euronext 100 increased 0.27% to 1,057.94.
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 employment situation report, the international trade report and the Baker-Hughes Rig Count report are due out today.
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