Latest Underwriting Headlines

All the headlines from our Underwriting Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Pennyslvania’s Ascinsure Hires Goff as Senior Vice President

Sep 15 2017 // Ascinsure Specialty Risk LLC, based in Pittsburgh, Penn., has hired Michael Goff to join the Ascinsure team as its senior vice president. Within this role, Goff will manage Ascinsure’s underwriting and wholesale...

Specialty MGAs Continue to be Popular Acquisition Targets

Sep 14 2017 // With growth prospects becoming rarer in the continuing competitive insurance market, carriers are among three sets of buyers fueling a hot M&A environment for specialized managing general agencies, representatives of...

Gibbons Joins J.M. Wilson as Assistant Transportation Underwriter in Ohio

Sep 13 2017 // Managing general agency and surplus lines broker J.M. Wilson has added Ryan Gibbons as assistant transportation underwriter in its Westerville, Ohio office. Gibbons is responsible for assisting underwriters on a wide...

Sciemus Partners with HSCM Bermuda and Is Renamed Argon Underwriting

Sep 13 2017 // Sciemus, a specialty Lloyd’s MGA, is forming an investing partnership with HSCM Bermuda, a firm that invests in reinsurance and insurance-linked assets across all lines of business. The deal also calls for Sciemus to...

Levine Tapped as SVP of Underwriting for SUNZ Insurance in Florida

Sep 5 2017 // SUNZ Insurance Company, a large deductible workers’ compensation carrier based in Florida, has appointed Gene R. Levine to the position of senior vice president – underwriting. Levine will report directly to...

P/C Insurers Lost $5.1B on Underwriting in First Half of 2017

Sep 4 2017 // The U.S. property/casualty (P/C) industry recorded a net underwriting loss of $5.1 billion for the first six months of 2017, according to preliminary results, compared with a $2.0 billion loss in the same period a year...

Northern Underwriting Managers’ Fendler Indicted Again; Faces 20 Fraud Counts

Sep 4 2017 // The owner of multiple property/casualty insurance operations in northern Illinois has been indicted once again, this time on charges that he defrauded more than 100 clients. Todd J. Fendler, of Rockford, Ill., previously...

Ascot Launches Specialty MGA, Vertical Underwriting Managers

Aug 31 2017 // Ascot Group Ltd. (AGL) announced the creation of Vertical Underwriting Managers, its first specialty managing general agency (MGA) cell under Ethos Specialty Insurance Services, AGL’s standalone MGA Vertical will...

P/C Insurers Lost $5.1 Billion on Underwriting in First Half of 2017: A.M. Best

Aug 29 2017 // The U.S. property/casualty (P/C) industry recorded a net underwriting loss of $5.1 billion for the first six months of 2017, according to preliminary results, compared with a $2.0 billion loss in the same period a year...

CNA Hardy Appoints IMIU’s Fryer as Class Manager, Mining Specialist

Aug 24 2017 // CNA Hardy, a specialist commercial insurance provider for clients within the Lloyd’s and company markets, announced the appointment of James Fryer as class manager, mining specialist. Reporting to Lloyd Tunnicliffe,...

A Response to Some Insurtech Claims, Part 2

Aug 23 2017 // Last week, we started a conversation about some of the common insurtech claims. Last week, we mentioned the statement from one particular company about all the good that they do. If you missed last week’s post,...

Pennsylvania’s Venture Programs Adds Rawlings as Senior Underwriter

Aug 22 2017 // Venture Programs, a national insurance program administrator based in West Chester, Penn., has added Brian Rawlings as senior underwriter to support FITLIFE, its new program for fitness, wellness and spa services. As...

QBE H1 Profits Rise 73% on Australia/N. Zealand Rate Hikes, N. America Growth

Aug 21 2017 // QBE reported a healthy profit hike during first half of 2017, despite heightened claims activity in its Emerging Markets’ division, which reported a combined ratio of 110.8 percent. This poor performance has led to...

New Jersey’s New Day Underwriting Names Webb AVP in Construction Division

Aug 18 2017 // New Day Underwriting Managers, a Hamilton, N.J.-based specialty intermediary of environmental and construction-related professional liability insurance coverages, has named Bill Webb assistant vice president in the...

J.M. Wilson Adds Bailey as Asst. Transportation Underwriter in Michigan

Aug 17 2017 // Managing general agency and surplus lines broker, J.M. Wilson, has added Mitchell Bailey as assistant transportation underwriter in its Portage, Michigan, office. Bailey is responsible for quoting new and renewal...

4 European Reinsurers Maintain Pricing Discipline in Tough Market: Fitch

Aug 17 2017 // The four largest European reinsurers – Munich Re, Swiss Re, Hannover Re and SCOR – have largely maintained pricing and policy terms without a significant drop in their business volumes, despite relentless soft market...

Pioneer Special Risk to Offer CPL Coverage Expansion For Specialty Contractors

Aug 17 2017 // Pioneer Special Risk has launched a new optional coverage expansion for specialty contractors that offers them the option of including incidental contractors pollution coverage, traditionally required as part of their...

Industry Relevance and Expertise ‘Ours to Lose:’ Catlin

Aug 15 2017 // First of Two Articles After 44 years in the insurance business, Stephen Catlin is retiring at the end of 2017. While he’ll be retiring from his role as executive deputy chairman of XL Group, he emphasizes that he...

Reinsurers More Likely to Report Natural Disaster Underwriting Losses: S&P

Aug 15 2017 // Things could get rougher for global reinsurers if annual natural catastrophe claims keep moving closer to the long-term average, Standard & Poor’s said in a new report. It turns out that upward trend has been...

Why and How P/C Insurance Carriers Should Work with Insurtechs

Aug 15 2017 // Startup insurtechs need partnerships more than they need money from insurance carriers, according to one leading venture capitalist actively funding insurance technology firms. Venture firm XL Innovate’s Martha...