"2011 was a year punctuated by record catastrophe losses with abnormally high frequency and severity. The Asia-Pacific region in particular bore the brunt of losses whether in New Zealand, Japan or Thailand. For our group, specifically the tragic Tohoku Pacific earthquake and tsunami in Japan, tested our resilience both in human and financial terms. Many of our local Japanese offices were closed or damaged and staff members had family or friends that were directly impacted.

However, the fact remains that the region's major insurers were able to fulfil their obligations and make a difference to people's lives. They swiftly provided assistance and financial compensation, and where required, reassurance of the value and benefit of our industry in time of adversity. The market strength was again tested when the devastating flood in Thailand caused billions of dollars in damage. Unfortunately, the loss creep is likely to continue for some time and many insurers and reinsurers - not us I must add - have either scaled back their coverage in the region or are thinking of doing so.

On home soil, we can draw some comparisons with the severe storms that hit at the beginning of the year. The damage or reinstatement cost may only be small compared to the experience of the East, but those affected will still be looking to their insurer for effective help and support. Taking all of these elements into account, delivering underwriting profitability has to be the overriding priority for all insurers when business planning for 2012 and 2013.

With the investment outlook remaining uncertain and volatile, the capability to balance underwriting books and manage limits and exposures for the benefit of shareholders, employees, customers and regulators is critical. By learning lessons from the East and saving for a rainy day, the market can deliver on its bond to customers and brokers and be ready to pay claims swiftly and fairly in times of adversity. In 2011, this bond was certainly tested and the insurance industry generally was not found wanting. Let's keep it that way.”

Mitsui Sumitomo at Lloyd’s is to target the UK and international accident & health market following the appointment of Steve Ranzetta as Class Underwriter.

Steve has over 20 years’ experience in this sector including time spent as a Lloyd's Underwriter and most recently as leader of London market Accident & Health trading for Chubb. Reporting to Underwriting Manager Andrew Dougall, Ranzetta will be responsible for utilising the syndicate’s well established trading relationships and Lloyd’s global franchise to create a competitive product offering for brokers.

The move into this new market follows the recent expansion of Mitsui Sumitomo’s UK and Ireland regional branch network and the hiring of a property owners team from AXA.

Andrew Dougall, Underwriting Manager, Casualty, Professional Lines, Accident & Health for Mitsui Sumitomo at Lloyd’s said: “We are delighted that Steve has joined our team to drive the development of our Accident & Health book. The new line of business will also provide us with the opportunity to diversify the syndicate’s portfolio and create a better balance against our other commercial relationships.”

Mitsui Sumitomo at Lloyd’s, as part of its development plans in the UK insurance market, has hired a five-strong proven property owners’ team to lead its launch into the real estate insurance market.

The team will be part of the property insurance portfolio of Mitsui Sumitomo at Lloyd’s and will report to Chris Bottomley, Underwriting Manager, Property. Previously at AXA, the team intends to develop a focused real estate insurance offering based on a superior product and service proposition.

The strategy will be underpinned by disciplined underwriting and a focused risk appetite. The new team will be led by Mike Philips. Mike has worked in the insurance industry for 32 years, seven of which were spent as Head of Specialist Markets at AXA leading the growth of a property owners’ account. Joining Mike will be Jeff Heaver, Mike Sparkes, Daniel Keehan and Katie Gill, who as a team have over 54 years of property owners underwriting experience.

Graeme Rayner, Head of Property and Casualty Underwriting at Mitsui Sumitomo at Lloyd’s states “Bringing in an established, experienced real estate insurance team is one part of our plan to broaden and enhance our product range in 2012. The real estate proposition complements our corporate, commercial and regional portfolios, and we look forward to working with our brokers to build our presence in this market.”

Andrew McKee, CEO of Mitsui Sumitomo at Lloyd’s said: “To make an impact in a new market such as property owners’, a solid understanding of the sector, strong client relationships and a great team ethic is required. I believe Mike and his established team meet all these criteria and will hit the ground running. This is another step forward that perfectly demonstrates our aspirations to create a footprint in Europe that is more reflective of Mitsui Sumitomo’s global insurance market standing. I am delighted they are joining Mitsui Sumitomo at Lloyd’s and we are very much looking forward to working with our new colleagues to build a new and profitable book of property owners’ business.”

Mitsui Sumitomo at Lloyd’s, a leading UK non-life insurer, has appointed Peter McDermott as Active Underwriter of its Lloyd’s Syndicate 3210 with immediate effect. Reporting to Director of Underwriting, Eamon Brown, he will lead a strong team that specialises in writing aviation, casualty, marine and property & construction business.

Mr McDermott, who was previously the Underwriting Manager for marine and aviation, joined Mitsui Sumitomo at Lloyd’s from RSA in 2002. He has spent over 35 years working in the regional and London insurance markets and has served on a number of industry related forums including the ILU Committee and the Joint Cargo Committee. Andrew McKee, CEO of Mitsui Sumitomo at Lloyd’s said: “This appointment reflects Peter’s dedication and expertise, which is respected throughout the market.

Mitsui Sumitomo at Lloyd’s, a leading non-life insurer, has opened a Birmingham office with the appointment of Mark Hayward as Regional Manager and Christopher Tipping as Regional Development Manager.

They join from Catlin where Hayward was a Regional Manager and Tipping was a Regional Development Underwriter. Both were based in the Midlands. The launch of the Birmingham office forms part of Mitsui Sumitomo at Lloyd’s development of its mid-market presence. It follows the appointment of a Northern UK Regional Manager based in Manchester and hiring of a well-known team to build a book of business in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Andrew McKee, CEO of Mitsui Sumitomo at Lloyd’s said: “We are delighted to welcome Mark and Chris to Mitsui Sumitomo at this exciting time for our UK and Irish business. Having now established broker facing teams led by recognised experts in some of the main insurance hubs we look forward to building stronger relationships with brokers and delivering excellent levels of service across all our core lines of business.”

Mitsui Sumitomo at Lloyd’s, a leading UK non-life insurer, has appointed Graeme Rayner as Head of Underwriting, Property and Casualty, as it drives growth in the UK and Irish markets.

Mr Rayner, who was previously Managing Director of commercial business at QBE Insurance (Europe), is due to join the business in August. Before joining QBE in 1997, he spent three years as an Underwriter at Zurich RE (UK) and has worked in the market for a total of 21 years.

Andrew McKee, CEO of Mitsui Sumitomo at Lloyd’s said: “It is our stated aim to grow our main classes of business by working closely with brokers based in the London market and regionally across both the UK and Ireland. By hiring a property and casualty professional of Graeme’s calibre, we are strengthening our underwriting management team whilst growing our business. We look forward to welcoming Graeme to the team in August.”

We are closely monitoring events following the massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami that hit Japan last Friday (11 March). Immense damage has occurred with current estimates of 10,000 persons missing or dead and 30,000 buildings damaged. Sadly, those numbers appear certain to rise.

The calmness and dignity of the Japanese people, including our MS & AD Group colleagues, in the face of this disaster has been very impressive. Our thoughts and sympathies are with them. We will provide all the help and practical assistance that we can. Our parent company (Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance) has established a Disaster Control HQ at headquarters in Tokyo.

Teams are working full time to ensure the safety of employees and their families, to assist our agents and to ensure full customer service and rapid payment of claims. Although telecommunications have been affected, our Shinkawa building (head office), in Tokyo, is undamaged.

It is too early to assess the economic impact of this event for the Group and for Mitsui Sumitomo at Lloyd’s. Preliminary analysis suggests a low impact on the Japanese non-life insurance sector’s capital and liquidity. However, the situation remains volatile with the risk of further potentially significant aftershocks.

The MS & AD Group is well positioned to deal with this event. At this point, the Group focus is on helping its staff, its brokers and its clients through an exceptionally testing time.

Mitsui Sumitomo at Lloyd’s has made five appointments to its corporate, mid-market and regional distribution teams as the UK non-life insurer continues its expansion drive.

As a result Mitsui Sumitomo’s corporate team has been strengthened by three appointments. Clive Rogers, has been appointed as a casualty underwriter (corporate).

He was previously a casualty manager at CNA. Joining him is Teresa Barrett as a property underwriter (corporate). She was previously manager, property department at Allianz Global Risks. Its mid-market operation has also been enhanced by the appointment of Michelle Cole as a mid-market London underwriter. She was previously senior underwriter, London region at Fusion Insurance Services.

In addition, as part of the insurer’s recently announced plans to widen its distribution base, Michael Turvey has been appointed regional underwriter Manchester. He joins from Liberty Insurance Company where, as regional casualty manager, he worked closely with brokers across the Northwest, Yorkshire, East Midlands and the Northeast.

Andrew McKee, CEO of Mitsui Sumitomo at Lloyd’s said: “We are delighted to welcome these four industry specialists to our team. This recruitment drive not only demonstrates our commitment to delivering excellent levels of service to both brokers and clients across all lines of business, but will also enable Mitsui Sumitomo to begin widening its regional distribution footprint.”

Chubb-veteran Jonathan Poole is the new claims director at Mitsui Sumitomo at Lloyd’s. He joins the managing agent after a 21-year career with Chubb’s European operations that encompassed a number of senior commercial underwriting and management positions. His most recent role was heading up Chubb’s European multinational and risk management division, including the technology practice.

Mitsui Sumitomo at Lloyd’s explained the appointment saying: “The strategic decision to appoint a claims director from an underwriting rather than a traditional claims background underlines the customer-focused approach Mitsui Sumitomo at Lloyd’s takes to claims, often seen as an insurer’s “shop window” to the quality of its service and insurance promise.”

Poole is the latest recruit to the expanding Lloyd’s operation of the Japanese giant. Earlier this month it brought in John Steel from Jubilee to bolster its motor team and Richard Bridges – another Chubb alumnus – as a hull underwriter. Former CNA man Kevin Galer is another new joiner for the operation which was the first to successfully complete the transition from turnkey syndicate to fully fledged managing agent.

Confirming Poole’s appointment, Mitsui Sumitomo at Lloyd’s chief executive Andrew McKee highlighted the results of independent claims research commissioned by the insurer. According to McKee that research revealed that of the 25 brokers interviewed, 82% described the Mitsui Sumitomo at Lloyd’s claims service as the best in the market and 100% described the service as excellent or good.

“Brokers also responded very positively to the fact that all claims and underwriting decisions are made locally and many commented how much of a frustration that was for them when dealing with other insurers. In addition, 95% of the 30 customers surveyed described the Mitsui Sumitomo at Lloyd’s claims service as excellent or good,” McKee said.

Having taken over at insurer Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance at Lloyd's, Andrew McKee talks to Jonathan Swift of POST magazine about his plans to move the company on, a decade after it was launched.

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Unveiling the new company’s three-year business plan to Insurance Day in London, Egashira said that MS&AD - the amalgamation of Mitsui Sumitomo, Aioi Insurance and Nissay Dowa – had set itself a target of reaching a group core profit of Yen150bn ($1.73bn) for the 2013 fiscal year with 20% of this being generated from business outside of Japan, compared to 15% today.

Although Egashira said increasing the group’s presence across the Asia region remained its number one priority he said that expansion in Europe “definitely comes next” on the insurer’s immediate agenda.

“Across Europe we are already doing some Japanese corporation-related business and also some Lloyd’s business [via Syndicate 3210, the first Japanese syndicate to be established in Lloyd’s in 2000],” he said.

“We would like to grow in these businesses but at the same time we would also like to grow or improve our businesses on the continent, especially in Germany and France. This includes ‘local’ business, not just Japanese-related business.”

“At the same time, we are seeking opportunities to expand the operations in Europe through M&A,” Egashira continued.

After its own mega-merger, MS&AD Group, which was incorporated on April 1, is now the world’s seventh largest non-life insurer by premium income (Yen2.52trn) and the number one carrier in Japan. However, Egashira said the group had work to do on improving its profitability [its RoE target for 2013 is 7%] and that it was keen to “realise synergies” within the three companies MS&AD comprises.

“We are trying to establish a ‘share service company’ within the group so that the three companies that have integrated can share all the services of the company,” he said. The aim is for this to be in place by 2013. Egashira also said that MS&AD could save approximately Yen50bn a year from 2015 by integrating its IT systems.

“We are also trying to integrate and consolidate our offices and bases and make efficient use of our personnel as well,” he said although he said redundancies would not be necessary in order to achieve the latter.