XPRIMM News No. 383, 14 December, 2017

		Insurance Newsletter, No. 383, 14 December, 2017 Click here to subscribe! Click here to unsubscribe!

TOP NEWS Vienna Insurance Group to merge two of its three Czech Group companies by Daniela GHETU, 2017-12-14 Subject to approval by the local authorities and the relevant boards, Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) plans to merge its Czech subsidiary Pojistovna Ceske sporitelny (PCS) with its Group company Kooperativa pojistovna with effect from 1 January 2019. More VIG to merge its Croatian Group companies by Vlad BOLDIJAR, 2017-12-14 Croatian bancassurer ERSTE osiguranje is due to merge with WIENER osiguranje at the end of April 2018, subject to the approval by local authorities, as the Austrian VIENNA Insurance Group announced in a statement. More PZU awarded for the innovative use of technology in support of the hearing-impaired customers by Daniela GHETU, 2017-12-14 PZU was awarded by the European Innovation Organization EFMA the "Insurance Innovation of the Month", in recognition of its innovative way of servicing Deaf and Hearing Impaired clients. More Slovenian Sava Re Acquired NLB Nov penziski fond AD Skopje by Daniela GHETU, 2017-12-14 Slovenian Group Sava Re will buy a 100% stake in NLB Nov penziski fond AD Skopje, a Macedonian pension fund owned by NLB bank, with assets under management of EUR 370 million. More Ukaine: The most recently created association of insurers has gathered five members by Daniela GHETU, 2017-12-14 Three new companies have joined the recently founded National Association of Insurers of Ukraine. Thus, currently the association has five members: Universalna and Krayina, (founding members) and the Ukrainian Insurance Group, UNIQA and Globus insurance company, reports Interfax-Ukraine. More A.M. Best revises Issuer Credit outlook to positive for Assicurazioni GENERALI S.p.A. A.M. Best has revised the outlook to positive from stable for the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term ICR of "a" of Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A. (Generali) (Italy) and its main rated subsidiaries. More STATISTICS: MONTENEGRO, 3Q2017: Life and damages to property insurance lines, the most dynamic by Daniela GHETU, 2017-12-14 According to data provided by the Insurance Supervision Agency of Montenegro, local insurers have ended 3Q2017 with GWP of EUR 61.2 million, 3.2% up y-o-y. More STATISTICS: CYPRUS: The insurance market exceeded EUR 600 million at the end of September by Vlad BOLDIJAR, 2017-12-14 The quarterly report on insurers' performance published by the Insurance Association of Cyprus (IAC), shows that at the end of September 2017 the local insurance market totaled EUR 605.6 million in premiums, up by 6.6% y-o-y. More STATISTICS: HUNGARIAN insurers reported EUR 2.3 billion in GWP in the first nine months by Vlad BOLDIJAR, 2017-12-14 Hungarian insurers nine-months GWP was up by 6.6% y-o-y to HUF 711.2 billion (EUR 2.3 billion), according to the most recent market figures published by the National Bank of Hungary (MNB). More STATISTICS: SERBIA, 3Q2017: Motor insurance lines provided for almost half of the market growth in absolute terms by Daniela GHETU, 2017-12-14 Serbian insurers' 3Q results show a 6.3% y-o-y increase in GWP (in local currency), to RSD 70.9 billion (EUR 594.1 million), almost half of the additional GWP volume being provided by the motor insurance lines. More JLT Re: Thomas Fire may impact reinsurance and retrocession markets by Daniela GHETU, 2017-12-14 The destructive Thomas Fire burning in Southern California is likely to become the largest in modern state history and impact reinsurance and retrocession markets, according to JLT Re quoted by BestWire. More AIR Worldwide: 2017's global insured average annual loss was of about USD 80 billion by Daniela GHETU, 2017-12-14 According to the "2017 Global Modeled Catastrophe Losses" report released by catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide (AIR) the global insured average annual loss of 2017 was of about USD 80 billion. More PERILS puts initial loss estimate for Herwart at EUR 252 million by Daniela GHETU, 2017-12-14 PERILS' initial estimate of the insured property market loss for Herwart, which among other countries affected Austria and Germany on 29 October 2017, based on loss data from affected insurers, is EUR 252 million. More AON completes the acquisition of UK-based broking firm HENDERSON by Vlad BOLDIJAR, 2017-12-14 Global re/insurance broker AON sait it has completed the acquisition of HENDERSON Insurance Broking Group, an independent UK-based broking firm. More Liberty to redomicile its UK Insurance company to Luxemboug by Daniela GHETU, 2017-12-14 Liberty Specialty Markets (LSM), part of Liberty Mutual Insurance, has announced that will relocate its insurance company from the UK to Luxembourg, while maintaining its substantial London presence. More ZURICH to acquire ANZ's life insurance businesses in Australia by Vlad BOLDIJAR, 2017-12-14 ZURICH Insurance Group announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire 100% of ANZ's life insurance businesses, OnePath Life, in Australia for AUD 2.85 billion (USD 2.14 billion). More Join Claims & Underwriting top experts at the 5th Insurance Claims & Underwriting Summit 2018 by Adina TUDOR, 2017-12-11 Don't miss your chance to be involved in the 5th Insurance Claims & Underwriting Summit 2018 in Singapore from 6-9 February 2018 and engage in-depth discussions on global strategies to further develop the industry. More QATAR Re, reinsurance arm of QIC wins Bond deal of the Year QATAR Re, the reinsurance arm of Qatar Insurance has won the much-coveted "Bond / Sukuk Deal of the Year by a Debut Issuer award" at the Bonds, Loans & Sukuk Middle East Awards ceremony that was held onDecember 7 in Dubai. More

INSURANCE & TECHNOLOGY Can InsureTech survive in the GDPR era? Insurers must be cautious in using the latest AI technologies, as GDPR introduces a series of obligations for the controllers, aimed at safeguarding the rights and freedoms of data subject. In the following article, we will address the most significant risks that the use of such technologies pose from the perspective of data protection. More ON THE MOVE Industry veteran David LUNDGREN to head InsurTech Pioneer Quantemplate by Daniela GHETU, 2017-12-14 David LUNDGREN has been appointed CEO and Board Director of Quantemplate, an InsurTech firm which uses machine learning to help re/insurers grow their business through data transformation and analytical insights. More Swiss Re appoints new CFO and proposes new members to the BoD by Vlad BOLDIJAR, 2017-12-14 Swiss Re announced that John DACEY, currently Group Chief Strategy Officer, is appointed Group Chief Financial Officer, effective 1 April 2018. He succeeds to David COLE, who will step down to pursue a non-executive career, while remaining a board member of several Swiss Re subsidiaries. More STATISTIC UPDATES Montenegro 3Q2017 Cyprus 3Q2017 Hungary 3Q2017 Serbia 3Q2017 TRENDS & MARKETS Swiss Re: Better management of existing business helps life insurers to enhance customer experience and improve profitability Many life insurers are focused on enhancing the value of existing business by delivering sustainable value for consumers in order to grow long-term profitability, Swiss Re Institute's latest sigma report shows. More XPRIMM EVENTS IIF 2018 - Actuarial Trends in the SEE Region 22 February 2018, Skopje, Macedonia IIF 2018 - MOTOR Insurance Conference 14 March 2018, Bristol Hotel, Vienna, Austria European Consumer Protection Conference 22 March 2018, Prague, Czech Republic FIAR 2018 - The International Insurance-Reinsurance Forum 14-16 May 2018, Bucharest, Romania PARTNER EVENTS 5th Insurance Claims & Underwriting Management Asia Summit 2018 6-9 February 2018, Singapore 6th Edition Nordic Asset Allocation: Investing in Alternative Asset Classes 7-9 March 2018, Stockholm, Sweden 4th Annual African Insurance Forum 5-6 April 2018, Johannesburg, South Africa PRESS CUTTINGS BULGARIAN insurer Euroins doubles capital TURKISH insurance company up for sale CURRENT XPRIMM REPORTS RUSSIA 1H2017 KAZAKHSTAN FY2016 & 1H2017 TURKEY FY2016 & 1H2017 ROMANIA 1H2017 Ins. Report CEE, SEE & CIS – 1H2017 Motor Ins. Report FY2016 Property Ins. Report FY2016