XPRIMM News No. 350, 30 March, 2017

		Insurance Newsletter, No. 350, 30 March, 2017 Click here to subscribe! Click here to unsubscribe!

TOP NEWS BREXIT: GBP 7.8 billion of business and UK's number one position at risk; business models of 2,758 UK brokers will be affected by Daniela GHETU, 2017-03-30 Following Theresa May's announcement invoking Article 50, the British Insurance Brokers' Association (BIBA) has warned that having no clear agreement in place for the right to carry out cross border trade with the EU as is currently possible, creates huge uncertainty for the UK market and the 2,758 insurance brokers that possess passports to trade in the EU. UK brokers trade GBP 7.8 billion in European revenues meaning the UK holds the number one position in the European insurance market. More VIG Re aims to expand its scope westward by Daniela GHETU, 2017-03-30 VIG Re, the Austrian group's reinsurance arm headquartered in Prague, plans to gradually expand its geographical scope, thus establishing a competitive presence in European reinsurance markets, Chief Executive Officer Elisabeth STADLER said on the occasion of a recent press conference in Vienna. Gradual expansions of German business, as well as the controlled market entry in Western Europe are the VIG Re's agenda for the near future. More RENOMIA European Partners Conference showed the strong partnership between the 28 CEE&CIS countries by Adina TUDOR, 2017-03-30 RENOMIA EUROPEAN PARTNERS (REP), a partnership between CEE&CIS leading insurance brokers operating in 28 countries, organized, between the 27th and the 28th of March, a dedicated conference in Prague, Czech Republic. More than 100 attendees from 30 countries visited the historical centre of Prague for presentations held by renowned international insurance experts, Czech public figures and members of the REP. More MediHelp International enters the Polish health insurance market by Daniela GHETU, 2017-03-30 "Happy to announce MediHelp's entrance on the Polish health insurance market. We find Poland very receptive towards our products by providing us with a supportive legislation for the development of our industry," Zahal LEVY, President at MediHelp International announced on his LinkedIn page. More STATISTICS: ROMANIA: The insurance market exceeded last year its historic peak in GWP terms by Vlad BOLDIJAR, 2017-03-30 The Romanian insurance market continued its sustained growth trend in 2016 as well, reaching a GWP volume of RON 9.38 billion (or EUR 2.1 billion), 10% more y-o-y. The non-life insurance segment recorded an increase of 11% compared with 2015, while life insurance went up by 6%. The maximum growth rate over the previous year was recorded in health insurance, with approximately 95%. More PZU Group 'A-' Ratings Affirmed After Announced New Acting CEO; Outlook Remains Negative by Daniela GHETU, 2017-03-30 S&P Global Ratings affirmed on March 28 its 'A-' long-term insurer financial strength and counterparty credit ratings on Poland-based property/casualty and life insurer Powszechny Zaklad Ubezpieczen Group (PZU Group, comprising core entities Powszechny Zaklad Ubezpieczen S.A. [PZU SA] and Powszechny Zaklad Ubezpieczen na Zycie S.A. [PZU Zycie]). The outlook remains negative. More BALTIKUMS VIG rebranded to InterRisk VIG by Daniela GHETU, 2017-03-30 Non-life insurer Baltikums VIG has been renamed to InterRisk VIG, reads an article published by The Baltic Course. The company has already experienced a partial change of name in December 2015, when it added the VIG "suffix" following its acquisition by the Austrian group. The visual rebranding will start in April. More Swiss ZURICH Group to acquire #1 travel insurance provider in Australia and New Zealand, Cover-More Group by Daniela GHETU, 2017-03-30 Australia's biggest travel insurance provider, COVER-MORE Group, said on Monday it had agreed to a AUD 741 million (USD 551.16 million) takeover offer from Switzerland's ZURICH Insurance Group, the latest of a series of Australian insurance deals, Reuters reports. More Finnish Economist, Professor Pekka Sutela will officially address the April conference For the first time in the history of the international risk management conference, scheduled for April 27-28, 2017, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, the conference will be addressed by a well-known economist from Finland, Ph.D., professor of Lappeenranta University of Technology, Pekka Sutela. More HANNOVER Re acquires Lloyd's syndicate with ARGENTA deal by Vlad BOLDIJAR, 2017-03-30 HANNOVER Re has reached an agreement to acquire the UK holding company ARGENTA Holdings plc, which owns the companies ARGENTA Syndicate Management and ARGENTA Private Capital as well as a pro rata share of the Lloyd's syndicate ARGENTA Syndicate 2121. The parties have agreed to maintain confidentiality regarding the purchase price. More Dylan POSSAMAI, Professor at the Paris-Dauphine University, awarded Best Young Researcher in Finance and Insurance by The SCOR Foundation for Science by Daniela GHETU, 2017-03-30 At the 10th International Forum on Financial Risks, organized in Paris by the Europlace Institute of Finance, the SCOR Foundation for Science presented the Award for Best Young Researcher in Finance and Insurance today to Dylan POSSAMAI, Professor at the Paris-Dauphine University, for all his work on risk and its quantifications. The jury was chaired by Elyes Jouini, Vice-President of the Paris-Dauphine University and member of the Institut Universitaire de France. This award is financed by the SCOR Foundation for Science. More TALANX reported FY 2016 net income of EUR 907 million by Vlad BOLDIJAR, 2017-03-30 German insurer TALANX "exceeded its profit forecast significantly", reporting FY2016 net income of EUR 907 million, EUR 174 million more than previous year when it totaled EUR 734 million. More ENDURANCE's acquisition by SOMPO Holdings completed; SOMPO International will run the Japone group's international insurance and reinsurance businesses by Daniela GHETU, 2017-03-30 SOMPO Holdings, Inc. ("SOMPO") is pleased to announce that following approval of the applicable regulatory authorities, as well as the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions, it has completed its acquisition of 100% of the outstanding ordinary shares of ENDURANCE Specialty Holdings Ltd. The total consideration for the acquisition is USD 6.3 billion. More UKRAINE: Some 55% of Ukrainian insurers' assets do not comply with the current regulations The preliminary results of the Ukrainian insurance market in 2016 show that 55% of insurance companies' assets, worth over UAH 30 billion, have a low liquidity and are hard to sell, generating a low financial income, Oleksandr ZALETOV, member of the national market watchdog told Interfax-Ukraine. More Kazakhstan-Based GRAIN Insurance Outlook Revised To Developing From Positive On Contagion Risk; Ratings Affirmed by Daniela GHETU, 2017-03-30 MOSCOW (S&P Global Ratings) March 24, 2017--S&P Global Ratings said that it has revised its outlook on Kazakhstan-based GRAIN Insurance Co. JSC to developing from positive. At the same time, we affirmed our 'B' long-term counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings, as well as our 'kzBB+' national scale rating on the company. More ON THE MOVE Marcin CHLUDZINSKI is the PZU's interim President of the Board of Management by Daniela GHETU, 2017-03-30 Marcin CHLUDZINSKI, Member of the Supervisory Board of PZU SA, was delegated by the PZU's Board of Management to temporarily perform the duties of the President of the Management Board of PZU SA until the appointment of a new President of the Management Board of PZU SA, for a period not longer than 3 months. More Tom de SWAAN re-elected Chairman of the Board at ZURICH Insurance Group; Catherine P. BESSANT new member of the Board of Directors by Daniela GHETU, 2017-03-30 At the Annual General Meeting of ZURICH Insurance Group Ltd (Zurich), shareholders elected Catherine P. BESSANT to the Board of Directors. They also re-elected Tom de SWAAN as Chairman for a further term of office of one year. All other members of the Board of Directors were also re-elected for another one-year term of office. More Francis BOUCHARD appointed to the new position of Group Head of Communications and Public Affairs for Zurich Insurance Group by Daniela GHETU, 2017-03-30 Zurich Insurance Group (Zurich) announced it has appointed Francis BOUCHARD to the new position of Group Head of Communications and Public Affairs. The position reflects the forthcoming integration of the communications and public affairs functions. Mr. BOUCHARD will take up his position on July 1 and will report directly to Zurich's Group Chief Executive Officer Mario GRECO. More CHUBB announced two promotions with immediate effect by Vlad BOLDIJAR, 2017-03-30 CHUBB Limited announced that John THOMPSON has been appointed Division President, International Accident & Health (A&H). Currently, John THOMPSON is Chief Underwriting Officer, Personal Insurance for CHUBB Overseas General, the company's international general insurance business. This position is taken by Soledad MUNE, as CHUBB announced. Both appointments are effective immediately. More

What will bring FIAR at its 20th anniversary edition? by Daniela GHETU, 2017-03-30 This year FIAR - The International Insurance-Reinsurance Forum will see its 20th anniversary edition, celebrating not only a remarkable longevity, but also the long standing business relations - many of them established during the last two decades on its grounds. Besides a new location, situated in the most elegant Romanian mountain resort, the Forum will line up several conferences and an exquisite team of speakers. More ANALYSIS Swiss Re: Disasters resulting in economic losses, almost double the level in 2015 Total economic losses and global insured losses from natural catastrophes and man-made disasters in 2016 were the highest since 2012, reversing the downtrend of the previous four years, Swiss Re sigma says. Globally there were 327 disaster events in 2016, of which 191 were natural catastrophes and 136 were man-made. In total, the disasters resulted in economic losses of USD 175 billion, almost double the level in 2015. More STATISTIC UPDATES Romania FY2016 XPRIMM EVENTS Inclusive Insurance And Microinsurance 17 May 2017, Ljubljana, Slovenia FIAR 2017 - The International Insurance-Reinsurance Forum 21-25 May 2017, Poiana Brasov, Romania IIF 2017 - PROPERTY Insurance Conference 26 June 2017, Munich, Germany IIF 2017 - MOTOR Insurance Conference September 2017 Baku, Azerbaijan IIF 2017 - MOTOR Insurance Conference September 2017 Baku, Azerbaijan Baden-Baden XPRIMM Reception 22 October 2017, Baden Baden, Germany IIF 2017 - Insurance in the DIGITAL World 14 November 2017, Vienna, Austria PARTNER EVENTS XXI Annual Conference on Reinsurance 5-6 April 2017, Moscow, Russia XI International Conference "Insurance in Central Asia" 13-14 April 2017, Almaty, Kazakhstan International Risk Management Conference 27-28 April 2017, Almaty, Kazakhstan Market Developments within Direct Lending Conference 11-12 May, 2017, London, UK Digitalisation today and tomorrow - Insurance Europe International Conference 1 June, 2017, Zurich, Switzerland Global Summit for Insurance Innovation 1-2 June 2017, Madrid, Spain "Insurance & Reinsurance Days" Conference 7-8 June 2017, Cracow, Poland XV Russian Insurance Summit 12 July 2017, Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation IIS Global Insurance Forum 17-20 July 2017, Park Westminster Bridge Hotel, London Les Rendez-vous de Septembre 2017 September 9-14, 2017, Monte Carlo, Monaco Baden Baden Meetings 2017 22-26 October 2017, Baden Baden, Germany PRESS CUTTINGS BOSNIA's Federation to sell stake in Sarajevo Osiguranje via direct talks BULGARIA's Bulstrad files petition for bankruptcy proceedings against Litex Motors BULGARIAN financial watchdog appoints external experts for follow-up review of insurers' assets KAZAKHSTAN: S&P revises outlook on Kazakh Grain Insurance company POLAND's PZU says will stick to dividend policy POLISH insurer PZU fires CEO ROMANIA: Coface to open IT development centrе in April ROMANIA: EximBank will continue to issue insurance policies for Romanian companies until 2021 RUSSIAN insurers have called the most stolen cars UKRAINE: Some 55% of assets of local insurers are low liquid CURRENT XPRIMM REPORTS KAZAKHSTAN FY2015 & 1H2016 RUSSIA FY 2015 & 1H2016 TURKEY FY2015 & 1H2016 ROMANIA 1Q2016 & 1H2016 Ins. Report CEE, SEE & CIS – 1H2016 Motor Ins. Report FY2015 & 1H2016 Property Ins. Report FY2015 AZERBAIJAN FY 2015 & 1H2016