S&P Global Market Intelligence offers our top picks of insurance news stories and more published throughout the week.
Swiss insurers report H1 earnings
* Bâloise Holding AG's first half profit attributable to shareholders increased on a yearly basis to CHF395.0 million from CHF269.7 million. The sharp increase was attributable to a one-off accounting effect related to tax, which boosted earnings by about CHF128 million.
* Helvetia Holding AG reported net income after tax of CHF289.7 million in the first half, up from CHF223.9 million a year ago. The result was driven by strong investment results following the favorable development of the stock markets.
M&A corner
* Allianz Seguros SA, a subsidiary of Germany's insurance giant Allianz Group, will acquire the automobile and other property & casualty operations of Brazil's Sul América SA for 3.00 billion reais.
* Zurich Insurance Group AG is considering a divestiture of its Chicago-domiciled U.S. life insurance business Zurich American Life Insurance Co., sources told The Insurance Insider. The subsidiary could reportedly be valued at approximately $500 million.
* British insurance broker Global Risk Partners Ltd. is looking at options for partial sale and reinvestment as private equity backer Penta Capital nears the end of its traditional investment period. U.S.-based Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., U.K.-based Willis Towers Watson PLC and Aon PLC, as well as a number of private equity houses are reportedly among the entities interested in Global Risk Partners.
* London-based insurance broker Aston Lark Ltd. acquired Manchester, U.K.-based Buckland Harvester Insurance Brokers Ltd. Managing Director David Hudson and director Ian Hollas will remain in the business with their existing staff.
Regulatory buzz
* Allianz Group unit Allianz Australia Insurance Ltd. will stop issuing consumer credit insurance policies starting Sept. 30, following a review by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission that discovered that consumer credit insurance sales practices and product design continue to deliver poor outcomes for consumers. Allianz Australia will also refund more than A$8 million in consumer credit insurance premiums and fees including interest to more than 15,000 consumers.
* Separately, Allianz SE unit Allianz Life Insurance Co. of North America received a favorable private letter ruling from the Internal Revenue Service regarding the tax treatment of advisory fees taken from nonqualified, fee-based annuities. Under the ruling, payment of advisory fees from fixed-indexed or variable nonqualified annuities can be made without creating a taxable distribution event.
Executives on the move
* Executives on the Bernina Re Ltd. — a reinsurer launched by Credit Suisse Group AG's insurance-linked strategies team in 2018 to underwrite business for its strategies and funds — named Christian Bieri CEO. Bieri will succeed Michael McKnight, who left the reinsurance company in 2018.
* Dual Corporate Risks Ltd., the underwriting arm of Hyperion Insurance Group Ltd., appointed Rebecca Ince COO for the U.K. and Europe, effective Sept. 1. Prior to this, Ince served as Brexit business solutions lead, CFO and COO at Hiscox Ltd.'s managing general agency business unit.
In other news
* Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. of China Ltd. could absorb Lufax Holding if the financial technology arm fails to go public. This plan intends to offer an exit opportunity for Lufax investors such as Switzerland-based UBS Group AG and Qatar's sovereign wealth fund.
* Chesnara PLC's board of directors approved an interim dividend of 7.43 pence per share, versus 7.21 pence per share a year ago. The British insurer reported first-half profit after tax of £54.3 million under International Financial Reporting Standards, higher than £21.8 million in the prior-year period.
Featured during the week on S&P Global Market Intelligence
Amid climate change pressure, insurers hold billions in coal-exposed investments: An analysis shows that the 20 insurers with the most coal exposure held, as of 2018, a cumulative $40.30 billion in investments in companies that mine coal or power producers that generated more than 30% of their electricity from coal in 2017.
