Open & Embedded Insurance Observatory’s Post

Saga plc. shares jumped on Monday after the over-50s specialist revealed a two-decade partnership with Belgian insurance giant Ageas Group. The agreement will see Ageas operate Saga's home and motor insurance products, including its claims, pricing, underwriting, and price-comparison website activities. Saga will oversee its branding and direct marketing and earn commission based on a percentage of the gross written premiums generated. Ageas will pay the firm £80million upfront, dependent on publishing its interim 2025 accounts without 'material uncertainty or an auditor qualification' and the extension or refinancing of a corporate bond maturing in July 2026. The Belgian insurance giant will hand Saga up to £30million extra in both 2026 and 2032 if it meets specific policy volume and profit targets. Ageas has also agreed to acquire Saga's Acromas insurance underwriting business for £65million. #OpenInsurance #EmbeddedInsurance #Insurtech #Insurance #Partnership

London Insurance Market earns $159bn every year, nearly three quarters of which come from outside the UK. The 350 insurance businesses in the London Market employ nearly 60,000 highly skilled people in London and across the rest of the UK and make an economic contribution to the UK economy of £49bn every year. London historic dominance in specialty re/insurance and its ecosystem of risk transfer expertise means that it attracts capital from around the globe, over 80% is foreign owned. The London Market is an essential home for investors with an appetite for insurance risk because it provides access to the entire global market and the broadest choice of risks. As a result, London has always attracted, and continues to attract, investors of all types – including insurance companies, private equity, and institutional investors. However, investors have choices about where they place their capital – choices that take into consideration not only the strengths and weaknesses of the industry but also the wider business ecosystem they are investing in. This means the senior executives in London have to prove their business case to capital providers in other parts of the world with no historic attachment to London. The need to be internationally competitive is recognised as being critical to the economic growth of the UK. #LondonMarket #Insurance #Reinsurance #GrowthEngine #UnitedKingdom #Economy Lloyd's

In our latest guest blog "Today’s modern mutual", Donna Carbell, Executive Vice-President, Individual Insurance and Brand Impact, Equitable (Canada) shares her insights on how #mutual #insurance companies are both relevant and successful in the current insurance landscape. The insurance industry has a rich history in Canada. At a few points in the past, mutual insurance companies were a big part of the conversation about insurance overall. First, in the 1950s and 1960s when several insurance companies, including Equitable, mutualised to retain local ownership. Then again in the 1990s and early 2000s, when the headlines were about companies making the change from mutual ownership, owned by policyholders, to publicly traded stock companies, owned by shareholders. These days, there are fewer mutual companies in Canada, and we rarely – if ever – see headlines about ownership structures. While that may be true, there’s still a place for the modern mutual. Their market share continues to grow. Read Donna's blog in full here: https://lnkd.in/ehpYR86Z #Mutuality #ModernMutual #PurposeLed #ClientFocus Amy Gibbons, MBA, CIM®

In our third acquisition announcement of the day, we’re proud to share the news that Elevate Insurance Brokers has joined our group. Elevate is a leading name in the high-net-worth insurance sector. Based in Bedfordshire, Elevate specialises in tailored solutions for luxury assets and complex insurance needs. Its experienced team will strengthen our capabilities in providing high levels of service to high-net-worth clients across the UK. Read more about the acquisition here: https://lnkd.in/epryyhWm #HNW #InsuranceBroker #Acquisition #InsuranceIndustry

Yesterday it was announced that Ageas Group had increased its proposal for Direct Line Group by a modest 3%, to 237p per share, which was rejected by the Direct Line Board. The premium to the unaffected share price now stands at 45%, which does seem decent at first sight. In 2020, RSA Insurance Group plc and Hastings Group Holdings were both taken private with premia of 52% and 51% respectively. However, Direct Line would argue that it’s significantly undervalued by the market. Indeed, the price/book multiple of Ageas’ proposal is 1.25X, which compares to 1.62X paid for RSA and 2.48X paid for Hastings. Applying just the lower of the two would mean an offer price in excess of 300p. Regardless, it’s likely that Ageas will have to come back with an increase of much more than 3% if it wants to secure the Board’s recommendation. #manda #mergersandacquisitions #londonstockexchange

🎁 On the second (working) day of Christmas, Santa's (Re)indeers gave to me... more insight on APAC's insurance industry. https://lnkd.in/gg69GxQH As the festive season approaches, we're removing the paywall on (Re)in Asia's top 10 most impactful stories of 2024. This feature shines a light on a complex, nuanced problem that the industry, regulators, and government are trying to help solve: Australia's insurance affordability crisis. Unwrap the full insight now for free: https://lnkd.in/gg69GxQH Written by Blake Evans-Pritchard, with expert industry insight from: - Finity Consulting's Sharanjit Paddam - Allianz Australia's Nicholas S. Scofield GAICD - Munich Re's Roland Eckl - Moody's RMS's Steffi Uhlemann-Elmer #Insurance #Australia

We're so delighted to be the recipients of the 2024 Insure TV Award for Most Popular Masterclass for our episode on CrowdStrike and its aftermath. Despite being very topical, it's a must-watch at any point because the insights that emerged from the discussion are ever-green. If you missed it at the time, check out KYND’s CEO Andy Thomas joining industry experts Matthew Webb (Howden Re), Stephen Ridley (Aviva), and Ben Hobby (Baker Tilly) to discuss what CrowdStrike meant for the global insurance market, and the ongoing importance of understanding vendor accumulation risk: https://lnkd.in/eKvuYg5z #vendoraccumulationrisk #accumulationrisk #cyberinsurance #cyberriskmanagement #exposuremanagament #InsureTV #2024InsureTVawards #crowdstrike

Last month, Danish ICMIF member GF Forsikring published its annual report for 2023 with the good news that members will once again benefit from a profit distribution of more than DKK 215 million and also avoid extraordinary price increases for the second year in a row. This, says GF Forsikring, is despite 2023 being a year with wild and unpredictable weather which led to members having to make claims for damage which incurred as a result of the bad conditions. “Once again, we were able to share a profit with our members while keeping prices stable. 2023 was a year in which our member-owned business model once again proved its worth. Despite extreme weather and an inflation rate that is still not completely under control, we were able to report a profit distribution of more than DKK 215 million to our members at the end of the year – and at the same time, we were able to announce that for the second year in a row, we did not raise prices extraordinarily. I am really proud of this, and it is largely due to our business model with member ownership and profit sharing – and not least that our members have once again shown sensible behaviour and been good at preventing claims,” said Mark Palmberg Steele, CEO of GF Forsikring. #Insurance #Mutuals #Mutuality #MemberOwned #ProfitShare

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐃𝐨 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭-𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐦 𝐑𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐬? You have finally decided to enter the short-term rental (STR) market, and your biggest concern is a call from the local fire department stating that your house is ablaze or that your guest is suing you for a twisted ankle during their stay. Luckily, if you prepare with the proper insurance and care for your property, these types of situations can be managed. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gy4HMk8Q #shorttermrental #insurance #insurancecoverage #airbnb #liabilityinsurance #homeownersinsurance

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐃𝐨 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭-𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐦 𝐑𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐬? You have finally decided to enter the short-term rental (STR) market, and your biggest concern is a call from the local fire department stating that your house is ablaze or that your guest is suing you for a twisted ankle during their stay. Luckily, if you prepare with the proper insurance and care for your property, these types of situations can be managed. Read more: https://lnkd.in/g6vvus8S #shorttermrental #insurance #insurancecoverage #airbnb #liabilityinsurance #homeownersinsurance