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Financial results have come in from Bermuda, the base of global insurers Everest Re Group and Arch Capital Group.

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With the company now able to conduct face-to-face sales following the easing of COVID restrictions, its insurance division in June registered the highest amount of new business signed in a single month since November 2018. This helped drive annualised premium income to £26.2 million, compared to £24.4 million in December 2021.

According to Personal Group, the level of claims for the first quarter was higher than anticipated, but it subsequently started to return towards projected levels. The company also said that it was an encouraging sign that retention levels remain above the group’s historical average, demonstrating the continued relevance of its insurance products amid challenging economic times.

The relationship with Sage continues to strengthen, with annualised recurring revenue (ARR) increasing to £2.1 million from £1.6 million in December 2021. This made a significant contribution to the growth of the benefits platform division’s ARR to £3.8 million.

The group’s pay and reward and other owned benefits businesses performed in line with expectations.

Personal Group also completed the acquisition of Quintige Consulting Group at the end of the period, adding scale to its pay and reward division and helping consolidate its position in the UK employee services market.

“Personal Group is, I believe, well positioned within a growing market with an increasingly relevant offering,” said Deborah Frost, chief executive of Personal Group. “We are now putting the impact of previous pandemic lockdowns firmly behind us and with the current momentum and increasing scale of the business, we are on course to deliver revenue and EBITDA growth for the full year, in line with expectations.

“As a board, we remain continually mindful of the external pressures that we are all facing and know that no one is exempt from the uncertainty that prevails. However, past experience shows in challenging times our products continue to strongly resonate with our customers, as demonstrated by our insurance retention rates remaining above our historical average.”

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UK insurance platform Broker Insights has become a nationwide partner of Allianz.  

Announcing the new partnership agreement, Broker Insights chief executive Fraser Edmond declared: “Having initially focussed on brokers in their southern region during the early months of the year, Allianz has quickly felt the benefits from the market insights and trading engagement our platform provides.

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Following a member-led drive to topple Mark Hartigan from the top post at Liverpool Victoria Financial Services Limited (LV=), the embattled chief executive is leaving the insurer once a successor is named; a further bonus, however, is said to be not entirely off the table despite previous criticism from members.

A report by The Mail on Sunday noted that LV= refused to rule out awarding Hartigan a bonus for 2022, even after his £511,000 incentive last year drew flak not only from members but also from the likes of Gareth Thomas MP. Last month, Thirsk and Malton MP Kevin Hollinrake asserted it was “high time” Hartigan left.

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“I don’t think there’s a more resilient organisation that you could actually invest in,” was the CEO’s bullish message.

“I do think it’s important to note that in in all past recessions since 1952, we grew adjusted EPS and we know how to run a business in good times and in bad times,” Glaser said.

The broking boss described recessions as a “natural form of the economic cycle in a capitalist society.”

“We don’t fret over that, and we don’t plan all that much around it,” Glaser said.

The insurance market “is firm and remains firm”, Glaser said, with reinsurance on the property side “even tightening”.

Economic downturn impacts are typically first seen in its non-insurance businesses, Oliver Wyman and Mercer, Glaser told analysts.

“The red flag is not going up quite yet, but we watch it carefully,” the CEO said.

Marsh McLennan made 6,000 net hires last year and the Glaser described this as “pretty perfect [in retrospect]”. The business has slowed hiring into 2022, Glaser confirmed, having returned to a “more normal” pattern consistent with 2017 to 2019.

The slowdown “is not cautious”, Glaser said, but instead recognises the scale of new hires in 2021.

As for where the global broker might put measures in place if economic conditions warrant this, Glaser said the business remains in the “early to mid stages” of being able to drive operational improvements and cut internal costs.

“Most of our costs are pretty identifiable – you have compensation and benefits, you’ve got technology, you have premises or real estate, and you have T&E [travel and expenses],” Glaser said.

“So the levers that you can then utilise are valuable and I have to say we have a very large […] compensation pool driven by profitability.

“It is dramatically larger than it was a decade ago or five years ago because our profitability is dramatically larger, and that gives us tremendous flexibility of protecting shareholders in the event that we hit some headwinds on growth or macro-economic factors.”

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Specialist insurer Beazley has announced that its chair, David Roberts, will be stepping down from the board this fall to take up a role as chair of the Court of the Bank of England.

In the event a new chair has not been named by that time, Christine LaSala, the senior independent director, will chair the board and the nomination committee on an interim basis. Bob Stuchbery will act as interim senior independent director, and Nocola Hodson will act as interim chair of the remuneration committee while the company undertakes a search for a replacement board chair.

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“This new investment has never been more critical – at a time of significant economic pressure, to help level up communities and economies across the country through new infrastructure, homes, and technologies. But this ambition will not be realised without the right reform. While good progress has been made to deliver Solvency II reform, fundamental issues remain with the current proposals.”

On the proposals to reduce the risk margin and expand the matching adjustment (MA) eligibility criteria, the trade body described the overall package as “significantly less favourable” compared to the European Union version of Solvency II.

“The proposals for reform of the MA fundamental spread would result in a material Brexit penalty – the package in the UK will leave annuity firms worse off than if the UK were a member of the EU or even a ‘rule-taker’,” asserted the ABI.

“The European Parliament is proposing an ambitious reduction to the risk margin (4% of cost of capital, 0.9 value for lambda, and no floor). If adopted, these proposals would considerably dwarf the risk margin reform proposals in the UK for general insurance firms while calling into question the Brexit dividend.”

The ABI, which commissioned broking giant WTW to produce an independent report as part of the association’s response, went on to point out: “Under the current proposals, stated goals of a 10-15% release of current capital held by life insurers will not be achieved and the needed boost to long-term investment to support government ambitions will not come to fruition.”

Additionally, in the matter of policyholder protection, the trade body is concerned that the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) is “ignoring the many policyholder safeguards” within Solvency II. The response also spanned areas such as international competitiveness, reporting and administrative burdens, and the future regulatory framework.

“We all want to see reform of the Solvency II regime that works best for the needs of the UK and enables investment at a crucial time,” commented ABI director general Hannah Gurga. “The insurance and long-term savings industry could invest more capital to help level up the UK, boost the economy, and support the transition to net zero.

“The current proposals do not realise that opportunity and would risk penalising pension customers as a result of the increased costs associated with the proposed reforms. We are committed to working with the government and the PRA to find a solution that meets all of our objectives.”

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Allianz Holdings has appointed Ashish Patel (pictured) as its new chief operating officer.

As COO, Patel will have responsibility for overseeing operations and technology, including the company’s transformation programme, which would help Allianz deliver “the best service and digital experience for customers,” the company said. Also as part of his appointment, Patel will join the Allianz Holdings executive committee.

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It’s Randall & Quilter Investment Holdings no more – the non-life insurance group has completed a name change to R&Q Insurance Holdings.

Approved by shareholders by way of a special resolution, the shift in identity comes nearly eight weeks following the soured deal with Brickell PC Insurance Holdings, which initially intended to acquire the entire issued ordinary share capital of R&Q.

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Andrew Annandale, group chief executive of Argenta Holdings Limited (Argenta) and managing director of Lloyd’s managing agency Argenta Syndicate Management Limited (ASML), is retiring at the end of the year.

Subject to regulatory and Lloyd’s approvals, Annandale will be replaced by ASML deputy MD and chief actuary Nick Moore (pictured). The Corporation of Lloyd’s and Swiss Re alumnus will be taking on the top posts following more than 13 years with Argenta.

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