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22nd June 2014

Newslink Opinion: Weekly Insurance Global Analysis
Opinion

This week, the motor insurance sector was in the spotlight. Quindell issued a statement before it's AGM on Thursday announcing a new ceo with founder Rob Terry as chairman, and management being strengthened by two external appointments-the trading update was positive. EY reported that it was likely that UK motor insurers would fall back into an underwriting loss this year, whilst Aviva highlighted the large increase in fraudulent "crash for cash" cases. Across the pond, a new J.D. Power survey indicated that customer satisfaction with US auto insurers was improving.
AXA and LinkedIn are working together on the insurer's global digital transformation in the areas of human resources, marketing, and sales-a timely move as a new survey showed that UK insurers were struggling with social media and online channels compared to other sectors.
Accenture Duck Creek solutions went live at West Bend Insurance, and the insurance software specialist announced the latest version of its Claims module. Image Cat and CoreLogic are to collaborate to assist insurers face property underinsurance, and a Canadian insurer went into production with Majesco Mastek's popular ISG Billing system. TIA Technology was acquired by a Nordic private equity fund and ex-RSA chief, Simon Lee, was appointed a director. Transactor Global Solutions continues its impressive growth, and The Mexican Association of Insurance Institutions(MAII) is working with SunGard's iWorks Prophet software to develop a risk model based on Solvency II.
Conning reviewed the entry of alternative investment into the US life-annuity retirement market, and Standard & Poor's looked at the impact on the policyholder and the insurer through the recent market reforms in Germany. The Reinsurance Association of America(RAA) gave its support to House legislation extending the Terrorist Risk Insurance Program(TRIA) for a further five years, and the IAIS published discussions from its Annual Global Seminar.
On the company front, Aspen opened an office in Miami to build focus on Latin America, and again rejected the bid from Endurance Specialty who responded quickly to repeat they would concentrate on the insurer's shareholders to achieve backing. IAG received regulatory approval to acquire Wesfarmers underwriting business, and ING published the price range for its insurance IPO next month. Marsh bought a majority stake in a Panananian broker. Hong Kong-based Peak Re was happy with its first year results, and Irish health insurer Vhi improved surplus and signed an extended reinsurance contract with Berkshire Hathaway.
The Worshipful Company of Insurers(WCI) formed the Independent Women in Insurance Network(iWIN).
Articles on the above topics are included in those added to the Insurance Newslink and Financial Newslink global database service on Wednesday and today at www.onlystrategic.com