News in Brief: Steadfast’s non-executive director retires

PLUS: Lloyd's posts $2.72B pre-tax profit for first half of 2014; passed over to be CEO, AIG's life insurance head resigning and directors step down from Aussie insurance company board

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Steadfast’s non-executive director retires

Steadfast Group Limited announced that Jonathan Upton, who is retiring by rotation at Steadfast’s upcoming annual general meeting on 29 October 2014, will not stand for re-election as a director of Steadfast Group.

Upton was appointed to the Steadfast Group board in 2005 as a non-executive director and served on the Nomination, Audit & Risk and Remuneration & Succession Planning Committees. For the past 34 years, he has been running his own business, Steadfast IRS, a Steadfast equity owned broker and a Steadfast Sydney hub.

Steadfast Group recently increased its shareholding in Steadfast IRS from 49% to 80% following the hubbing of two Sydney brokers into Steadfast IRS.

Upton said: “I have been honoured to serve as a director of Steadfast Group over nine years and in particular to represent the Steadfast equity brokers pre and post the Company’s initial public offering.Lloyd's posts $2.72B pre-tax profit for first half of 2014."

Lloyd's posts $2.72B pre-tax profit for first half of 2014
Lloyd's of London posted pre-tax profit of £1.67 billion (US$2.72 billion) for the first half of 2014, up 21.0% from £1.38 billion (US$2.25 billion) for the first six months of 2013.

The London-based insurance and reinsurance market posted a combined ratio of 88.2% for the first half of 2014 compared with 86.9% for the first half of 2013. 

Lloyd's acting finance director John Parry said the results had been boosted by a benign period for large catastrophe losses, among other factors.

Lloyd's gross written premium for the first half of 2014 was £14.90 billion ($24.27 billion), down 3.9% from £15.5 billion ($25.25 billion) in the first half of 2013.

Lloyd's investment income for the first six months of 2014 totalled £642 million ($1.05 billion), up from £247 million ($402.3 million) for the comparable period last year.
 
Passed over to be CEO, AIG's life insurance head resigning

Jay S Wintrob, president and CEO of AIG Life & Retirement, is leaving American International Group Inc. to “pursue other interests,” AIG said as AIG President and CEO Peter D Hancock announced a new leadership structure for the insurer.

Wintrob and Hancock had both been viewed as potential successors to former AIG CEO Robert Benmosche.

Hancock was named as Benmosche’s successor in June and assumed his new role on 1 September.

AIG also announced that Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer Michael R Cowan will retire from the company.

Additionally, Hancock announced the formation of a new operating committee consisting of senior executives.

“There is one business, and it's AIG,” Hancock said in a statement. “We need to focus as a leadership team on fundamental priorities and ensure that we execute against those priorities in the most disciplined way possible. While we have made enormous strides in improving the way we balance growth, profitability, and risk, we have more to do.”

The 13 members of the operating committee will report directly to Hancock.

Directors step down from Aussie insurance company board

Duncan Boyle and Isabel Hudson are to retire as non-executive directors on the QBE board on 31December.

The insurer also revealed that Jann Skinner and Stephen Fitzgerald have been appointed as non-executive directors effective 1 October and group chief financial officer Pat Regan will also join the board, on that date, as an executive director.

Skinner is a non-executive director of QBE Australia and is chair of the audit committee and risk and capital committee of QBE Australia.

Fitzgerald, among other roles, is on ASIC's external advisory panel.

QBE’s Chairman Marty Becker said the retirements and appointments were a continuing part of the planned board succession process undertaken over the past two years and allowed a suitable transition period for the incoming directors to benefit from the experience of Hudson and Boyle.

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