Argo exiting $250mn PL book, inks renewal deals
Argo Group is exiting the professional lines business and transferring its roughly $250mn ArgoPro book to Westfield and Core Specialty, Insurance Insider US has learned.
Around $155m of the in-force gross premium will go to Core Specialty, which includes the entirety of Argo’s PL wholesale business as well as most of the segment’s non-admitted retail businesses. Twenty-six ArgoPro underwriters will move to Core and into existing business as part of the deal, Insurance Insider US understands.
Westfield will assume renewal rights for the rest, which includes the admitted retail businesses for management liability, architects and engineers and accountants PL.
Keystone Agency Partners explores potential transaction
PE-backed consolidator Keystone Agency Partners (KAP) is exploring strategic options in what will mark the first US broking market test of 2025, Insurance Insider US has revealed.
Sources said that the platform has retained Barclays as its lead adviser, and will also receive advice from Goldman Sachs, with the process open to both strategic bidders and buyout firms.
The process is due to formally launch this quarter, sources told this publication. It is understood that the Bain-backed retail brokerage has run-rate revenues of in excess of $400mn.
TIH selling life broker Crump to AmeriLife in latest strategic move
TIH Insurance is selling Crump Life Insurance Services and Hanleigh Management to AmeriLife, the latest move to transform the business following the recent divestiture of McGriff and TIH’s carve out from Truist.
In November, this publication reported that Crump looked non-core to TIH following its sale of McGriff and operations as a standalone company.
Crump brokers life insurance products in the United States and covers the institutional/wholesale, IMO and BGA sectors. Terms of the deal, which is expected to close in Q1, were not disclosed.
Core Specialty to acquire London Aviation Underwriters
Core Specialty Insurance has announced it will acquire London Aviation Underwriters (LAU) in a stock and cash transaction. LAU will become the new Core Specialty Aviation & Aerospace Division. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The division will operate as Core Specialty’s 18th specialty business unit within the fronted programs subsegment. As part of the transaction, LAU employees have become employees of Core Specialty effective January 1. The division will continue to use the LAU brand.
StarStone National Insurance Company will continue to be the policy issuing carrier.
Triple-I denies terminating executive for testimony against CEO
The Institutes, parent company of the Insurance Information Institute (III), has denied allegations the group fired an executive in retaliation for testifying that he witnessed the organization’s CEO bullying a gay coworker.
In a late December filing in New York federal court, III and CEO Sean Kevelighan said Michael Barry, who helped lead media outreach during his 17 years at III, was fired after his job performance declined for “two years in a row”.
The Institutes also denied Barry’s claims that Kevelighan bullied and harassed a gay employee. In a suit filed last year, Barry alleged he was fired after he testified to overhearing Kevelighan engaging in a “heated and abusive verbal exchange” with the employee, which included the use of homophobic slurs.
Global cat rates fall 6.6% at 1 January: Guy Carpenter
Worldwide property catastrophe rates fell by 6.6% at the January 1 renewals this year, according to Guy Carpenter.
The broker released additional pricing data this morning, following up from its Jan 1 report published last week, in which it estimated that rate reductions on loss-free cat business fell by 5%-15% globally.
In the US, cat pricing fell by 6.2% overall, Guy Carpenter said. Cat rates reduced by 5.3% in Europe and by 7.2% in the Asia Pacific region.
Falvey Insurance Group’s new CEO assumes post
Falvey Insurance Group’s former COO Jack Falvey has assumed the role of CEO, effective January 1, following Mike Falvey’s appointment to executive chairman. This publication exclusively reported Jack Falvey’s CEO appointment last August.
Brody Karn will replace Jack Falvey as COO, overseeing business intelligence and innovation; IT; legal and compliance; as well as capacity.
In addition, the company has hired Emmy Falvey as SVP, head of capacity, effective January 21. She will be based in London and be responsible for managing all market relationships. She joins the firm from Westfield Specialty.
Class action securities lawsuits up again in 2024
The number of securities class action lawsuits filed last year increased for the second year in a row, to the highest level since 2020, according to RT Specialty EVP Kevin LaCroix.
LaCroix wrote in a post on his blog “The D&O Diary” that there were 222 federal court securities class action lawsuit filings in 2024, compared to 212 in 2023, representing about a 4.7 % increase.
The increased number of federal court securities suit filings during the past year was due to several factors, he said, “including continuing filings relating to ongoing trends, such as new lawsuit filings relating to SPACs, COVID-related suits and cryptocurrencies.”
Old Republic snags Resilience execs to lead new cyber group
Old Republic is forming a new underwriting subsidiary to provide cyber and technology errors and omission (E&O) insurance products. Charles “CJ” Pruzinsky has been appointed president with Kevin McGowan as EVP and CUO.
Pruzinsky has 18 years of cyber underwriting experience with AIG, Beazley, and most recently, Resilience, as global head of underwriting. McGowan has 15 years of cyber underwriting experience with Ace, Beazley, and most recently, with Resilience as CUO.
The new company, Old Republic Cyber, will focus on providing specialized cyber and technology-related coverage.
The Hartford appoints Rippert to its BoD
The Hartford appointed Annette Rippert to the company’s board of directors, effective February 18, 2025. She will serve on the board’s Finance, Investment and Risk Management Committee.
Rippert was formerly CEO of strategy and consulting at Accenture, where she led numerous strategic acquisitions to expand the company’s advisory services. She also accelerated the use of technology, data and artificial intelligence to drive company growth.
Alera Group appoints Piantedosi as company president
National insurance firm Alera Group has appointed Gary Piantedosi to company president. Piantedosi had served as managing director for the Northeast region since 2022.
Piantedosi succeeds Jim Blue, whose appointment as company CEO was announced last September. Blue succeeded Alan Levitz, who was appointed executive chairman. All appointments are effective as of January 1.
Piantedosi has over 35 years of industry experience and was the founder and principal of CBP, one of the original firms that joined to form Alera Group in 2017.
Alera Group names Samuel as COO
Alera Group also appointed Kyle Samuel as chief operating officer. He joined Alera in March 2024 as EVP of national operations.
The executive has over 30 years of experience in insurance and risk management. As COO, he will oversee day-to-day operations across Alera’s national footprint and work closely with regional leaders.
Before joining Alera Group, Samuel served as COO of McGriff and has also held leadership roles at Wells Fargo Insurance Services and Aon.
Incline P&C Group Appoints Patel as CRSO, Wiedenfeld as CFO
Fronting company Incline P&C Group has appointed Sheel Patel as chief risk and strategy officer (CRSO) and Lauren Wiedenfeld as chief financial officer (CFO).
Patel previously served as the firm's CFO, where she helped shape the company's strategic financial operations. She will report to Chris McClellan, Incline CEO.
Wiedenfeld previously served as Incline's VP of finance and accounting operations and will continue aligning finance and accounting operations to the firm's strategy.
Axa XL brings on Zurich’s Malone as head of large accounts
Axa XL has hired Robert Malone as head of large accounts and portfolio management for its cyber insurance team in the Americas. He will report to Michelle Chia, chief underwriting officer for cyber, select and design professional.
In his new role, Malone will drive strategy and growth for AXA XL’s large account cyber insurance portfolio, focusing on both new and renewal business.
Before joining AXA XL, Malone was the VP and head of middle markets for professional liability and cyber at Zurich North America, overseeing the growth and strategy execution of the middle markets portfolio segment. He has also held underwriting positions at Zurich, Axis Capital and Travelers.
Augment makes Latam hire
Reinsurance broker Augment Risk has appointed Alejandro Solorzano as associate partner – Latam Parametric, based in Miami.
Solorzano was most recently head of risk transfer and innovation at XS Global, and before that spent a decade at Marsh working on parametrics and captives.
Roamly expands reinsurance partnerships
Digital insurance platform provider Roamly has expanded its reinsurance partnerships to include SiriusPoint, Spinnaker, Apollo, ICW, Vantage and Ladder Re.
The expanded reinsurance panel will enable Roamly to continue driving growth through the delivery of specialized insurance products for consumers and partners.
The company offers a digital insurance platform with proprietary actuarial and underwriting modules and also has an in-house underwriting team providing risk assessment and market-responsive pricing strategies.