Intelligence

CORPORATE

ACQUIRER TARGET

AIA Australia The Colonial Mutual Life Assurance Society COMMENTS

The Federal Court of Australia has confirmed the transfer of CommInsure’s life insurance business, including CMLA, to AIA

Allsafe Insurance Brokers QSure Insurance Brokers The two Aviso Group companies have finalised their merger; QSure will retain its QSelect brand

Envest

The Riverside Company All Parks Insurance; Ken Tame and Associates Envest’s majority investment in All Parks and acquisition of Ken Tame and Associates give the insurance distribution company a presence in Australia’s caravan parks and campervan insurance sectors

Altius Group AUB Group has completed the $57m sale of its stake in allied health business Altius Group

Steadfast Group unisonSteadfast Steadfast has increased its shareholding in unisonSteadfast to a majority stake of 60%

Steadfast ups shareholding in unisonSteadfast

General insurance network giant Steadfast Group is now the major shareholder of global broking network unisonSteadfast after increasing its existing stake to 60%. Steadfast Group provides services to broker businesses across Australia, New Zealand, Asia and London, generating billings of more than $10bn in 2020. Meanwhile, unisonSteadfast, which is based in Germany and the US, has network brokers in more than 140 countries, generating US$30bn of gross written premium. This strategic move marks a significant evolution in the partnership of the broking networks and solidifies their commitment to growing the global distribution platform for their brokers.

“The focal point of the future strategy will be making unisonSteadfast stronger and putting it into a position to grow into the future,” said Steadfast Group managing director and chief executive Robert Kelly. “We will start this by rolling out our risk management tools worldwide, our London market opportunities and ultimately our bespoke software solutions.”

PRODUCTS

Aon unveils solution for vaccine shipments

Aon has spearheaded an industry collaboration to provide supply-chain protection for COVID-19 vaccine shipments. The initiative – which involves Parsyl, Ascot Group, Chubb, AIG, Munich Re and others – will provide transparent cargo insurance coverage, combined with sensor data and analytics, for vaccine shipments. The offering promises timely payment for doses that fall outside of the agreed-upon temperature range while being transported or stored. Real-time reporting of temperature deviations will also help mitigate losses and maximise the number of doses available.

TAL partners with virtual healthcare provider

Life insurer TAL has tapped virtual healthcare provider Teladoc Health to provide mental health support to its customers. The program, Mental Health Assist, was initially offered to some of TAL’s advised customers and those with insurance through superannuation; it will now be available to eligible TAL customers on claims with a mental health condition. According to Dr Priya Chagan, general manager for health services at TAL, Mental Health Assist aims to improve mental health outcomes by fast-tracking access to a team of multidisciplinary mental health experts tailored to the customer’s situation.

KOBA rolls out pay-bykilometre car insurance

Insurtech KOBA has partnered with software as a service provider By Bits to bring pay-by-kilometre car insurance to Australian drivers. The By Bits SaaS uses a rating engine to calculate insurance premiums using modifiable underwriting and rating rules, splitting the premium into a fixed amount and a per-kilometre amount. It also features an integrated policy management system that manages the entire life cycle of the policy. According to KOBA founder Andrew Wong, the partnership will allow KOBA to bring a “fairer usage-based insurance to Australia’s 10 million low-mileage drivers for the first time”.

AXA, Microsoft to develop digital health platform

AXA has cemented a partnership with Microsoft to build digital healthcare platform that seeks to widen the reach of healthcare globally. According to AXA, the platform will aim to break down health service silos and link the company’s digital health services to support customers at every stage of their e-health experience. The services offered will include a self-assessment and prevention tool, a medical concierge, a virtual consultation interface, a digital document vault, home care services, and a directory of healthcare professionals. The platform is expected to be rolled out globally in 2022.

WTW launches new underwriting software

Willis Towers Watson has unveiled new software to help front-line underwriters make better decisions quickly. WTW’s Radar Workbench is designed to harness a broad range of internal and external data assets to deliver configurable, rich, contextual analysis in real time. It allows case underwriters to make well-informed decisions about the pricing and underwriting of risks, supports better communication with portfolio managers, provides accurate insight and context from the wider business, and is easy to configure for connection with internal systems and external data sources.

PEOPLE

NAME LEAVING JOINING NEW POSITION

Andrew Horton Beazley QBE Insurance Group Group CEO

Dallas Booth National Insurance Brokers Association N/A Retiring

David Hosking Allianz Australia PSC Insurance Group CEO, Australia and New Zealand

David Koczkar N/A Medibank

Peter Kelaher N/A Chubb

Phuong Ly QBE Insurance Group Allianz Australia

Simon Levy N/A Risk Management Institution of Australasia

Tim Scott-Young Marsh Zurich Managing director and CEO

Country president, Australia and New Zealand

Chief general manager, commercial

CEO

Chief claims officer, general insurance, Australia and New Zealand

QBE appoints new group CEO

QBE Insurance Group has named former Beazley boss Andrew Horton as its new group CEO. Horton, who departed Beazley at the end of March, will take over from interim group chief executive Richard Pryce on 1 September. Horton has more than 30 years of experience in the financial services sector; he joined Beazley in 2003 as group finance director before becoming CEO in 2008.

“I am honoured to be appointed to lead QBE, a strong international insurer with an impressive global footprint and talented people,” Horton said. “I look forward to joining the team and continuing to support QBE’s customers, people, shareholders and broader communities.”

NIBA chief executive announces retirement

After a decade at the helm of the National Insurance Brokers Association (NIBA), Dallas Booth is stepping down as chief executive at the end of October. The trade body has commenced the search for its next CEO; Booth will remain available to assist the new NIBA head amid the review of general insurance remuneration arrangements in 2022.

“The board will continue to utilise Dallas’ support and expertise on this and any other projects where his support is likely to be needed,” said NIBA president Dianne Phelan. “The board has been extremely lucky to have had Dallas as our CEO, and we thank him for his dedication to representing and acting in the best interest of our members.”