Chubb acquisition complete, starts trading on NYSE Friday
The acquisition of Chubb by ACE Ltd. has been completed and the combined firm begins trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CB on Friday. The Chubb name has been adopted by ACE across its international business and has unveiled its new logo:
"ACE and Chubb are now one, and we could not be more excited about moving forward together with our new colleagues and our new brand," said Evan G. Greenberg, Chairman and CEO of Chubb Limited. He said the new brand stands for “superior underwriting, service and execution.”
MetLife rating under review by A.M. Best
Following the announcement that it is restructuring its business, MetLife’s credit ratings have been put under review by A.M. Best. The insurance rating firm notes that the new retail focused company would maintain the more capital intensive lines of business, including variable annuities with living benefit riders and universal life with secondary guarantees, which would result in a significant amount of exposure to market volatility and interest rate risk.
A.M. Best acknowledges that MetLife will maintain its industry leading position in the group insurance market and will continue to focus on growing its corporate benefit funding segment, which includes structured settlements and pension risk transfer business. The company will also focus on increasing its international presence.
The ratings will remain under review until more details are available on how the MetLife divisions will be separated.
Lay-off insurance launched by Canadian insurer
First Foundation of Edmonton has launched a new lay-off insurance product in response to client demand. As Alberta’s unemployment rate edges higher due to the energy sector’s downturn the new policy is likely to attract a lot of interest from workers concerned about losing their homes. President of the brokerage, Gord McCallum told the Edmonton Journal that he began looking into the product after a client asked for it last fall: “Unfortunately it’s a product suitable for the times,” he said. Among the conditions for eligibility there must be no prior knowledge of the lay-off within 90 days of the claim and the policyholder must have a mortgage. Payments will be paid directly to the mortgage lender when a claim is made.
