Chubb, the insurer of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, is preparing to make a $350 million payout to Maryland, paying the full amount of the coverage quickly rather than waiting for the rebuilding to begin. The check, which is the upper limit of the state’s coverage for the structure, would be the first large payout in what will likely be a yearslong wrangle over who bears the $1 billion-plus estimated cost of the bridge’s collapse. The collision, when a giant cargo ship plowed into and destroyed the bridge in the early hours of March 26, killed six people and effectively shut down Baltimore’s busy port.

Chubb, along with the state and the families of the victims of the crash, will likely sue the shipowner and others to recoup losses from the crash.

The insurer is expected to authorize the $350 million payment within weeks, according to Henry Daar, head of property claims North America for WTW, the bridge’s broker.

“I am confident that Chubb will pay the full limits of liability,” Daar said.

Claims under the state’s policy are bound to exceed the $350 million limit, he said.

Damage to the bridge alone could reach $1.2 billion, analysts at investment bank Barclays Capital estimated last month. The policy also provides some business-interruption coverage for the port, which is losing around $88 million a year in tolls, according to Daar.

Insurers can respond to claims that will blow through a policy’s limits either by writing a check for the full amount upfront, or by paying in dribs and drabs, as the work is done. That pay-as-you-go approach can rack up payments to loss adjusters and other professionals.

“I give Chubb kudos for recognizing that this is clearly going to be a full-limits loss,” Daar said. “They could spend millions and millions of dollars in fees for accountants and adjusters over the next few years, or they could pay the claim.”

Chubb’s exposure to the loss is significantly less than the headline $350 million total, in part because it sold some of the risk to reinsurers, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The insurer is expected to support Maryland in suing the owner and manager of the ship that hit the bridge, the 984-foot Dali, to try to recover losses.

The Singapore-flagged Dali has coverage through a specialized protection and indemnity insurer, the Britannia P&I club. It is one of a dozen P&I clubs that between them buy reinsurance covering up to $3.1 billion a ship.

A courtroom battle has kicked off that will ultimately determine how much of this multibillion-dollar pot of cash can be tapped. The outcome rests in part on whether the Dali was seaworthy.

Grace Ocean, the Dali’s Singaporean owner, and Synergy Marine, its manager, last month filed in Baltimore federal court seeking to limit their liability. The companies invoked a centuries-old law that caps exposure to the value of the ship and its freight pending, or the amount paid to carry the goods. In the case of the Dali, that would put a ceiling on payouts of around $44 million, the legal filing said.

If the court approved the move to limit liability, the estimated total insured loss would fall significantly from the current range of $2 billion to $3 billion, “probably to less than $1 billion,” according to Marcos Alvarez, global head of insurance at ratings firm Morningstar DBRS.

The legal move to limit liability will be strongly contested. Baltimore’s mayor and city council last month opposed any cap on the shipowner’s or manager’s liability, accusing them of negligence. “The Dali left port…despite its clearly unseaworthy condition,” the mayor and council said in a court filing.

A spokesman for the shipowner and the manager said it would be “inappropriate to comment” out of respect for the continuing investigations into the crash and any future legal proceedings.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has opened a criminal probe into the crash, including whether the Dali’s crew failed to report any problems with the vessel before it left port, The Wall Street Journal previously reported. The National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating the disaster.

The question of the ship’s seaworthiness—or otherwise—could also be a significant factor in an expected future fight between the vessel’s owner and the owners of its cargo. The ship’s owner started a so-called “general average” process in April that would share certain costs with cargo owners, including salvage and retrieving containers stranded on the ship,

The decision to start the process “indicates that the owners expect the salvage operations to result in high extraordinary costs for which they expect contribution from all salvaged parties,” the container line Mediterranean Shipping said last month in an advisory statement to customers who own freight stuck on the ship.

Cargo owners are likely to contribute to the costs now, in the interests of recovering their containers, but could seek to recover the payments later, by arguing the collision was the fault of the ship’s owner, marine lawyers said.

A huge operation is under way to remove the bridge wreckage stuck on the ship and at the bottom of the Patapsco River. The first containership since the crash left the port last weekend. A fleet including 36 barges, 27 tugboats and 22 floating cranes has so far removed more than 3,000 of an estimated 50,000 tons of wreckage from the site, according to a recent official update.

   

ACORD, the standards-setting body for the global insurance industry, today released the first-of-its-kind study Carrier Mergers & Acquisitions: Major Transaction Value Analysis. The study, which examined the largest M&A transactions over the last decade by insurers in Property & Casualty, Life, and Reinsurance, sought to answer key questions about motivations behind M&A activity, long-term value creation, and barriers and enablers in achieving success. The study, presented in London today by Bill Pieroni, President and CEO of ACORD, screened nearly 15,000 transactions, focusing on publicly disclosed transactions valued at $1 billion or greater. The deals analyzed in-depth represented a total value of nearly $290 billion, accounting for more than one-third of the value of all carrier M&A transactions worldwide. Transaction size Among other factors, ACORD assessed the M&A transactions by deal size and shareholder value at risk (SVAR) to understand how these contributed to long-term outcomes. Dividing the transactions into quartiles by deal size revealed a “Goldilocks principle” at work — in the long run, mid-sized deals performed better than the largest or smallest transactions studied. The second-smallest quartile — comprised of transactions averaging about $1.4 billion — was the only cohort that outperformed the relevant index over the period studied. The larger and smaller quartiles both underperformed the market. “While the largest deals may garner headlines and high hopes, they typically are not the most likely ones to create value in the long term. A transaction that is too large may simply be too big for the acquirer to successfully digest,” said Pieroni. “One that is too small, on the other hand, may not draw sufficient attention and oversight. Insurers must carefully consider their ability to manage existing operations without disruption, while effectively integrating the benefits they hoped to achieve by the transaction.” Segmenting the M&A transactions by SVAR showed similar results, revealing a “sweet spot” for long-term value creation when moderate amounts of shareholder value were at risk. Buyer motivations ACORD analysis also supported the identification four major buyer motivations for carriers:

• Scale and Scope: Amortize fixed costs and improve resource access by increasing absolute size, and/or expanding scope across strategic and tactical dimensions.
• Core Expansion: Increase share across areas in which the insurer already executes, such as products, geographies, channels, and customer segments.
• Capability Acquisition: Optimize the risk, cost, and time associated with developing new or enhanced internal capabilities.
• Diversification: Expand portfolio by acquiring new revenue and earning sources.

“The variations in long-term performance were interesting, and sometimes surprising,” Pieroni continued. “The outcomes of these deals differed widely across lines of business, even when motivated by the same rationales.” In total, P&C carriers experienced higher-than-average returns after M&A transactions in all four motivation categories, with 70% of the P&C deals creating value throughout the analysis period. Diversification was by far the most successful motivation among P&C insurers — driving average TSR appreciation roughly twice as high as other motivations— but was less successful in other lines of business. Life insurers faced difficulties regardless of the rationale behind the deal, with just 36% of all life M&A transactions creating value. Reinsurers experienced mixed results, creating value in just half of acquisitions overall, with high performance limited mostly to deals motivated by core expansion. ACORD’s Carrier Mergers & Acquisitions study will be presented at ACORD Industry First on May 21st. To register for this virtual event, please visit www.acord.org/industryfirst.

Premium growth for AM Best’s medical professional liability (MPL) composite moderated to 3.6% in 2023, but overall financial results were buoyed by favorable net investment income, according to a new AM Best report. The premium growth was spurred by price firming following a prolonged period of soft market conditions and challenging industry dynamics that dampened demand. The new Best’s Market Segment Report on the U.S. MPL segment noted that improved underwriting results stalled last year, driven in part by rising loss adjustment and other underwriting expenses. MPL insurers continue to face many of the same headwinds that they have in recent prior years, including a potential rise in claims costs due to social inflation and erosion of tort reforms, as well as the growing complexity of medical care. MPL carriers also continue to work to mitigate ongoing challenges such as escalating burnout rates, staffing shortages, and further growth of alternative care providers, all of which could have a negative impact on claims frequency. “These headwinds, coupled with changes in tort reform, social inflation and continued rising claims severity could impede the segment’s progress,” said Sharon Marks, director, AM Best. “But these issues are also expected to help focus and maintain the MPL segment’s attention on premium adequacy, underwriting discipline, and prudent reserving.” AM Best revised its outlook on the U.S. MPL insurance segment to stable from negative in November 2023, citing improved rate adequacy, the diminishing impact of pandemic-related exposures, persistently redundant loss reserves, higher reinvestment rates, and improved overall returns.

In its Q1 2024 results, AIG has reported net income attributable to its common shareholders of $1.2 billion, marking a massive improvement compared to the $23 million recorded in the prior year quarter. the increase in net income was primarily driven by net realized gains on Fortitude Re funds withheld embedded derivative, compared to net realized losses in the prior year quarter. The firm’s adjusted after-tax income (AATI) in the opening quarter was $1.2 billion, flat compared to Q1 of 2023, reflecting higher underwriting income million and net investment income in General Insurance and improved results in AIG’s Other Operations. However, this was mostly offset by a 20% decrease in Corebridge’s earnings included in AATI due to the reduction in AIG ownership over the last year. Meanwhile, AIG’s total net investment income for Q1 2024 was $3.9 billion, an increase of 11% from $3.5 billion in the prior year quarter. The firm explained that this was primarily driven by higher income from fixed maturity securities and loans due to higher reinvestment rates, partially offset by lower alternative investment returns and lower income on Fortitude Re funds withheld assets. Looking at the General Insurance segment more closely, Q1 2024 net premiums written were $4.5 billion, marking a decline of 35% from the prior year quarter on a reported basis, but an increase on a comparable basis, with 1% growth in Commercial Lines and Personal Insurance relatively flat. At the same time, Q1 2024 underwriting income increased $94 million from Q1 of 2023 to $596 million and included $106 million of total catastrophe-related charges, representing 1.9 loss ratio points, compared to $264 million, representing 4.2 loss ratio points, in the prior year quarter. Thus, the combined ratio for the opening quarter improved by 2.1 points from 2023 to 89.8%, largely driven by a 1.9 point decrease in the loss ratio to 58.0%. AIG Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Peter Zaffino, commented, “AIG began 2024 with very strong momentum in delivering on our strategic and operational progress while achieving exceptional financial results, reflecting the foundational capabilities we have cultivated over the last several years. “In addition to outstanding profitability, this quarter was highlighted by the significant capital management actions we completed, placing AIG in a position of strength ahead of Corebridge Financial’s deconsolidation from AIG.” Zaffino continued, “General Insurance had another quarter of impressive Commercial Lines profitability benefiting from continued strong underwriting performance and low levels of catastrophe losses as we continue to manage volatility in our results. “Throughout 2024, we expect to continue to build on our momentum as we execute AIG Next, deconsolidate Corebridge and deliver underwriting excellence and profitable growth, further enhancing value to AIG shareholders and positioning AIG for the future.”

Neptune Flood, the nation's largest private flood insurance company, today announced its acquisition of Charles River Data, a renowned Boston-based data science consulting group. This strategic move aims to bolster Neptune Flood's already cutting-edge Triton underwriting system through advanced data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence capabilities. Charles River Data contributes a prestigious background rooted in big tech and academia, enhancing Neptune's ability to analyze and underwrite flood risk with even greater precision and speed. "The integration of Charles River Data's expertise will enable us to expand our analytical capabilities, ensuring faster and more accurate flood risk assessments for our customers," said Trevor Burgess, CEO of Neptune Flood. "This acquisition aligns perfectly with our commitment to leveraging the best technology to revolutionize insurance." Matt Duffy, Chief Risk Officer at Neptune Flood, emphasized the synergy between the two companies. "Joining forces with Charles River Data empowers us to enhance our Triton system with new layers of predictive analytics, machine learning, and generative AI, further solidifying our position at the forefront of the insurance technology industry," said Duffy. Mike Dezube, CEO of Charles River Data, expressed enthusiasm about the opportunities this acquisition presents. "We are thrilled to join Neptune and contribute to a platform that is transforming an industry through data and AI. Our expertise in data science aligns seamlessly with Neptune's vision of accuracy and efficiency in underwriting flood risk, and together, we will bring the industry forward setting new standards as we go". Mike spent eight years as a data scientist at Google before co-founding Charles River Data with Gleb Drobkov, most recently a consultant at BCG X. Mike will join as Neptune's Chief Data Science Officer and Gleb as Neptune's Chief Strategy Officer. This acquisition marks a significant milestone in Neptune Flood's growth strategy, following a series of technological innovations aimed at improving customer experience and operational efficiency. The company's commitment to investing in cutting-edge technology has positioned it as a leader in the flood insurance sector, capable of responding to the evolving needs of its customers. About Neptune Flood: Neptune Flood is a technology-driven insurance company specializing in providing affordable, comprehensive flood coverage. Using an advanced AI-driven platform, Triton, Neptune leverages data analytics and machine learning to process over 30,000 quotes per day and offer efficient underwriting solutions and superior customer service, making flood insurance accessible for all. About Charles River Data: Based in Boston, Charles River Data is a leading data science consulting group with deep expertise in big tech and academia. The company specializes in developing sophisticated analytical tools and models that enable businesses to harness the power of data for strategic decision-making.    

Insurtech Lemonade Inc. narrowed its first-quarter net loss to $47.3 million from $65.8 million a year earlier as artificial intelligence enabled its “relentless pursuit of automation at every stage,” the company said in a shareholder letter. The number of employees declined 11% year-on-year as in-force premium increased 22% to $794.2 million, which “speak volumes for the widespread impact of technology throughout the company,” Lemonade said. Net earned premium increased to $84.4 million from $68.2 million a year earlier.

Net loss and loss adjustment expenses rose to $65.9 million from $63.6 million.

The company reported 2.1 million customers, up 13% from the prior-year quarter. Last year Lemonade Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer Daniel Schreiber said a new partnership with venture firm General Catalyst would cover up to 80% of customer acquisition costs under a time-shifting “synthetic agents” program intended to increase growth without depleting cash, much as quota share reinsurance does. Lemonade offers renters, homeowners, pet, car and life insurance. It operates in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands and France.    

Eight daily newspapers including The New York Daily News and The Chicago Tribune sued OpenAI and Microsoft on Tuesday seeking to stop the tech companies' from using copyrighted articles to train artificial intelligence chatbots. The copyright infringement suit claims the maker of ChatGPT copied stories from the newspapers "with impunity," never seeking permission or payment for the use of millions of articles that were used by the popular chatbot to respond to questions. ChatGPT, which relies on vast amount of data scraped from the internet, has become a direct competitor to the newspapers at a time when the news industry has been pummeled by sinking advertising and subscription revenue, the lawsuit argues. In addition, according to the suit, ChatGPT at times falsely attributes reporting to the newspapers in the answers it generates, tarnishing the reputation of the news outlets. For instance, the suit cites an example in which ChatGPT states that The Chicago Tribune has recommended an infant lounger the paper never endorsed. In fact, the product the chatbot mentions had been linked to infant deaths and recalled. In another example noted by the suit, ChatGPT was asked if smoking cures asthma, and the chatbot fabricated that The Denver Post published research indicating that smoking can be a cure for asthma. That assertion is obviously false, and the paper never published such research. "This issue is not just a business problem for a handful of newspaper or the newspaper industry at large," lawyers for the newspapers wrote in the suit. "It is a critical issue for civil life in America." In a statement, OpenAI said it takes "great care" to support news organizations in building its products. "Along with our news partners, we see immense potential for AI tools like ChatGPT to deepen publishers' relationships with readers and enhance the news experience," said a spokesperson for OpenAI. Microsoft, OpenAI's biggest financial backer, did not respond to a request for comment. Attorneys for the newspapers, which are all owned by the New York investment fund Alden Global Capital, are asking for unspecified monetary damages and for the practice of using its copyrighted work to end. The suit additionally asks for the destruction of any AI models OpenAI uses that incorporate works published by the newspapers — something AI experts have said would be nearly impossible to accomplish without completely rebuilding its models, an incredibly arduous and costly endeavor. Re-training an AI model could cost "on the order of a hundred million dollars for earlier models, and a billion or even multiple billions for future models," said Gary Marcus, a professor of psychology at New York University and the author of the forthcoming book Taming Silicon Valley: How We Can Make Sure That AI Work For Us. Marcus said trying to filter out copyrighted material from a dataset can be complicated because even if there was a master list of all the URLs that had to be removed, sites like Reddit often include versions of copyrighted stories in posts, meaning there is "no guarantee that you won't have scraped copies from elsewhere on the internet," Marcus added. It is the latest legal headache for OpenAI, which was hit with a similar copyright infringement lawsuit from The New York Times last year. Together, the legal challenges are set to be a high-stakes court battle pitting one of the world's leading AI companies against news publishers, duking it out over an area of law that experts say is unresolved and murky. To the newspaper publisher, the case appears straightforward: OpenAI, they claim, stole its copyrighted material. "This lawsuit is about how Microsoft and OpenAI are not entitled to use copyrighted newspaper content to build their new trillion-dollar enterprises, without paying for that content," according to the suit. Yet OpenAI has long claimed that its so-called "large language models," hoover up vast amounts of data from all corners of the internet under what is known as the "fair use" doctrine. Under that legal theory, copyrighted works can be used without permission if certain criteria are met, like if it is substantially changed, or if the new work does not compete with the original. The "fair use" doctrine allows researchers, teachers, critics and others to rely on copyrighted works without permission and payment. Yet legal scholars have said it is far from certain that the law is on the on the side of AI companies, and it will likely take years of court battles and a long appeals process to determine whether leading technology firms like OpenAI have violated the law or not. Other publishers have chosen to take a more conciliatory path with the company. The Associated Press, German publisher Axel Springer, which owns Politico and Business Insider, and, recently, The Financial Times, have all struck licensing agreements with OpenAI to be paid for use of copyrighted material.  

Delos Insurance Solutions, which uses wildfire science and satellite imagery expertise to solve homeowners' wildfire insurance availability issues, today announced it will offer wildfire insurance to more California policyholders with vacant properties. Delos is expanding its coverage availability through a new partnership with certain underwriters at Lloyd's of London. Delos is one of a select number of Lloyd's coverholders in the United States, which are authorized to place business into the world's oldest insurance marketplace.

The U.S. Census Bureau's definition of vacant homes includes unoccupied secondary homes and rentals, abandoned or foreclosed homes, and investment properties. The California Association of Realtors estimated in 2022 that approximately 1.2 million units, consisting of apartments and single-family homes, are vacant throughout the state.

To fulfill its commitment to bring insurance coverage to a broader range of California homeowners, Delos works closely with its committed carrier partners to dramatically expand insurance options for homeowners struggling to find coverage.

"The Lloyd's underwriters we are working with have established successful books of vacant home business in California, and we are excited to partner with them to use their strong market foundation to safely grow the business," said Delos CEO and Co-Founder Kevin Stein. "With this product and the partnership with Lloyd's underwriters, we can help homeowners fill the coverage gap that exists between their traditional homeowner's policy and their vacancy status. We are committed to creating insurance products that will help more homeowners in California, who may otherwise go uninsured, find insurance coverage."

Delos vertically integrates its wildfire science expertise and data from its suite of wildfire models into its underwriting and portfolio management. Its patent-pending technology empowers the company to pinpoint properties in "stressed" areas – which traditional insurers avoid due to potential wildfire concerns – that do not pose a high risk of loss. Delos has been very successful at recognizing low risk areas within stressed regions, and has never non-renewed a home for wildfire exposure.

Delos' platform aggregates and analyzes exposure and concentration data to quantify a home's actual wildfire risk. It is enabled by a proprietary geospatial AI algorithm and more than 200 data layer inputs, such as detailed weather and wind data, drought and precipitation history, and multi-level overlays of amount, type, and health of vegetation.

As a specialist managing general agent, authorized to underwrite on behalf of insurance companies, Delos can update its predictive wildfire model's data set with new information within six weeks. This allows the team to adapt and react to new evolutions in wildfire peril and remain profitable even as climate change amplifies catastrophe risks.

About Delos Insurance Solutions Delos Insurance Solutions uses cutting-edge technology to offer insurance protection to homeowners in communities abandoned by other insurers because of wildfire risk. Founded in San Francisco in 2017 by aerospace engineers, Delos uses satellite imagery and artificial intelligence to identify insurable homes within territories deemed too risky by the rest of the insurance market. Delos is a managing general agent (MGA) offering policies on behalf of insurers rated "A" (Excellent) by AM Best. For more information, visit getdelos.com.

Everest Group Ltd.'s first-quarter net income more than doubled from the previous year, to $733 million from $365 million on improved underwriting and strong net investment income generation. "Group underwriting income increased 50% over the prior year to a quarterly record of $409 million with a combined ratio of 88.8, driven by both of our underwriting franchises," Juan C. Andrade, Everest president and chief executive officer, said in a statement announcing the results. Net written premiums increased to $3.90 billion from $3.33 billion. The combined ratio of 88.8 improved from 91.2 in the prior year. The first-quarter combined ratio was 87.3 for the reinsurance segment and 93.1 for insurance. Net investment income improved to $457 million compared with $260 million, driven by a larger asset base and strong core fixed income returns. The company's reinsurance segment saw pretax catastrophe losses of $80 million net of estimated recoveries and reinstatement premiums, driven primarily by the Baltimore bridge collapse. The insurance segment's pretax catastrophe losses were $5 million, net of estimated recoveries and reinstatement premiums, which it said was "relatively in-line with the prior year." "Our reinsurance business continued to differentiate Everest during another outstanding January 1 renewal as the flight to quality accelerated," Andrade said. We gained market share with targeted clients, positioning the portfolio for attractive levels of profitability. In our insurance division, we advanced our disciplined expansion across global markets, while remaining focused on prudent risk selection and the bottom line." Everest recently promoted Jill Beggs to reinsurance executive vice president and chief operating officer of the reinsurance division, and Jiten Voralia to head of North America treaty reinsurance. Both appointments were effective immediately.

Commenting on the upcoming June reinsurance renewal in Florida, Marc Grandisson, President, and CEO of Arch Capital Group, expects the state’s market to be “well priced” and “very good” on a risk-adjusted basis. As covered by our sister publication Artemis back in April, according to an array of data, Florida domestic market property insurance companies are set to experience improving performance, as the effects of recent legislative reforms take hold and market conditions improve. For 2023, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) noted that Florida domestic property insurance companies reported a combined net underwriting that almost broke even, widely toted as a very positive signal given consecutive years of massive underwriting losses. Speaking on the reforms, Grandisson observed that some of the adjustments are coming through, however, inflation is picking up, as is the potential for more storm activity in the southeast of the US. Grandisson continued, “I think that people are trying to sort out what they will do at this point. We (Arch) already have existing relationships that we think will get us a little bit ahead of the game, in terms of participating in the marketplace. “But the bottom line is we expect the Florida market to be well priced and very good on a risk-adjusted basis. Nothing indicates anything else other than that.” He went on to note that Florida is still the largest property cat exposure for everybody around the world, despite the reforms which are aimed at alleviating issues associated with AOB and so on Grandisson went on, “Even if you make some corrections we still have a couple of years before we start thinking about heavy softening in the market. There might be some here and there, but we still believe the market will be healthy as a reinsurer.” In related news, Arch recently reported a Q1 2024 net income available to its common shareholders of $1.1 billion, marking an increase of $395 million compared to the same quarter of 2023. As for Arch’s combined ratio in Q1 of 2024, the figure refined to 78.8%, down from 80.6% in Q1 of 2023. Meanwhile, the firm’s underwriting income in this year’s quarter was $736 million, a 29.1% increase from the previous year.

Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, said Tuesday that it was shutting down its health care centers, a network that only last year it said it planned to expand. The retailer said in a blog post that its 51 health centers across five states would close. The centers were next to Supercenter locations. The plans won’t affect the more than 4,600 pharmacies and more than 3,000 vision centers within Walmart stores. Walmart started the health clinic initiative in 2019 in Dallas, Ga., with centers providing primary care, labs, X-rays and electrocardiograms, counseling, and dental, optical and hearing services. Many were in smaller towns where customers might lack access to quality care, and the company had said it was focused on affordability. In 2021, Walmart started offering a virtual option when it acquired MeMD, a telehealth provider. “This is a difficult decision, and like others, the challenging reimbursement environment and escalating operating costs create a lack of profitability that make the care business unsustainable for us at this time,” the company said Tuesday. Walmart said it was still deciding when it would close each center. In addition to Georgia, centers are in Arkansas, Florida, Illinois and Texas. Workers within the centers will be paid for 90 days and will be eligible to transfer to other Walmart or Sam’s Club locations, the company said. Offering health care is more difficult than selling consumer goods like laundry detergent and car parts, said David Silverman, a retail analyst at Fitch Ratings, noting the layers of government and insurance providers involved. “The attempts to enter these spaces and some of the failures of doing so really underscore the challenges and complexities of operating in the U.S. health care space,” Mr. Silverman said. In March 2023, Walmart said it planned to double its health center locations. It said that by the end of 2024, it expected to have more than 75 Walmart Health Centers and expand to states like Missouri and Arizona. In 2021, Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase ended their high-profile joint health care venture, which sought to explore new ways to deliver health care to their employees. In March, Walgreens said it had closed 140 of its VillageMD clinics and planned to close 20 more.    

Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd. posted lower first-quarter net income as lower underwriting profit — due partly to the Baltimore bridge disaster — outpaced investment gains. First-quarter net income available to ordinary shareholders fell to $98 million from $118 million a year earlier. Gross written premiums rose to $1.23 billion from $1.05 billion. The combined ratio worsened to 86.6 from 80.9. Underwriting income fell to $90 million from $122 million. Net investment income rose to $77 million from $60 million. "We benefited from continuing favorable trading conditions in many of our classes of business achieving 17% growth in year-over-year gross written premium," Mark Cloutier, executive chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement. "In addition, we achieved risk adjusted rate change and adequacy metrics on the aggregate portfolio that were better than planned." The results include a provision within catastrophe losses for Aspen's exposure to the Francis Scott Key Bridge event, which was "within expectations given the size of this industry event," he said. The current accident year losses include a "modest" provision for losses on certain policies exposed to credit risk, he said. "The strong performance for the quarter aligns well with our expectations of producing mid- to high-teen returns across industry cycles and loss event sets, Cloutier said. Aspen earlier posted higher fourth-quarter net income as premiums fell as the group limited its exposure to classes such as directors and officers and financial lines. In the fourth quarter, overall GWP were broadly in line with the prior year as active management of the portfolio in response to market conditions brought reductions in financial and professional insurance lines, offset by targeted growth in property/casualty lines, Aspen said at the time.