Global commercial insurance rates increased by 1% in the first quarter of 2024 (down from a 2% increase in Q4 2023), according to the Global Insurance Market Index released today by Marsh, the world’s leading insurance broker and risk advisor and a business of Marsh McLennan. Rates continued to be relatively consistent, with most regions experiencing small decreases in Q1. This was largely driven by a strengthening of the trend for decreases in financial and professional and cyber lines and increasing competition among insurers in the global property market. On average, rates declined in the UK, Asia, Pacific, Canada and in India, Middle East & Africa regions by 2%. Rates increased in the US and Europe by 3%, and in Latin America and the Caribbean by 5%. Other findings included:

• Global property insurance rates were up 3%, on average, in the first quarter of 2024, compared to a 6% increase in the previous quarter. In the US, companies with concentrations of assets in catastrophe zones such as the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic coast, and California have begun to see lower increases or even decreases in rates, compared to higher increases in recent years.
• Casualty insurance rates increased on average by 3%, the same as the previous five quarters, largely due to concerns about the size of jury awards in the US.
• For the seventh consecutive quarter, the overall average pricing for financial and professional lines fell. Driven by rate reductions and increased competition for business – particularly in the US, UK, Pacific, and Canada – average rates decreased by 7% in the first quarter, compared to 6% decline in the previous quarter.
• Globally, cyber insurance rates decreased by 6%, compared to a 3% decrease in the prior quarter. Insurers are increasingly focused on the strength of organizations’ cybersecurity controls, typically looking for year-over-year improvements in cyber resilience.

Commenting on the report, Pat Donnelly, President, Marsh Specialty and Global Placement, Marsh, said: “A continued moderation in insurance rates, and an increased appetite among insurers particularly for well-managed risks, will be welcomed by clients that continue to face major global economic and geopolitical uncertainty. “In a rapidly changing risk landscape, organizations will be under pressure to improve their risk management capabilities and make themselves more resilient to global shocks. We are working closely with our clients to ensure they have the right tools to navigate these challenges successfully and benefit from the continued improvement in market conditions.”  

U.S. companies would no longer be able to bar employees from taking jobs with competitors under a rule approved by a federal agency Tuesday, though the rule is sure to be challenged in court. The Federal Trade Commission voted Tuesday 3-2 to ban measures known as noncompete agreements, which bar workers from jumping to or starting competing companies for a prescribed period of time. According to the FTC, 30 million people — roughly one in five workers — are now subject to such restrictions. The Biden administration has taken aim at noncompete measures, which are commonly associated with high-level executives at technology and financial companies but in recent years have also ensnared lower-paid workers, such as security guards and sandwich-shop employees. A 2021 study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis found that more than one in 10 workers who earn $20 or less an hour are covered by noncompete agreements. When it proposed the ban in January 2023, FTC officials asserted that noncompete agreements harm workers by reducing their ability to switch jobs for higher pay, a step that often provides most workers with their biggest pay increases. By reducing overall churn in the job market, the agency argued, the measures also disadvantage workers who aren’t covered by them because fewer jobs become available as fewer people leave their positions. They can also hurt the economy overall by limiting the ability of other businesses to hire needed employees, the FTC said. The rule, which doesn’t apply to workers at non-profits, is to take effect in four months unless it is blocked by legal challenges. “Noncompete clauses keep wages low, suppress new ideas and rob the American economy of dynamism,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said. “We heard from employees who, because of noncompetes, were stuck in abusive workplaces.” Some doctors, she added, have been prevented from practicing medicine after leaving practices. Business groups have criticized the measure as casting too wide a net by blocking nearly all noncompetes. They argue that highly paid executives are often able to win greater pay in return for accepting a noncompete. “It’ll represent a sea change,” said Amanda Sonneborn, a partner at King & Spalding in Chicago who represents employers that use noncompetes. “They don’t want somebody to go to a competitor and take their customer list or take their information about their business strategy to that competitor.” But Alexander Hertzel-Fernandez, a professor at Columbia University who is a former Biden administration Labor Department official, argued that lower-income workers don’t have the ability to negotiate over such provisions. “When they get their job offer,” he said, “it’s really a take-it-or-leave-it-as-a-whole,” he said. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said Tuesday that it will file a lawsuit to block the rule. It accused the FTC of overstepping its authority. “Noncompete agreements are either upheld or dismissed under well-established state laws governing their use,” said Suzanne Clark, the chamber’s CEO. “Yet today, three unelected commissioners have unilaterally decided they have the authority to declare what’s a legitimate business decision and what’s not by moving to ban noncompete agreements in all sectors of the economy.” Two Republican appointees to the FTC, Melissa Holyoak and Andrew Ferguson, voted against the proposal. They asserted that the agency was exceeding its authority by approving such a sweeping rule. Noncompete agreements are banned in three states, including California, and some opponents of noncompetes argue that California’s ban has been a key contributor to that state’s innovative tech economy. John Lettieri, CEO of the Economic Innovation Group, a tech-backed think tank, argues that the ability of early innovators to leave one company and start a competitor was key to the development of the semiconductor industry. “The birth of so many important foundational companies could not have happened, at least not in the same way or on the same timeline and definitely not in the same place, had it not been for the ability of entrepreneurs to spin out, start their own companies, or go to a better company,” Lettieri said. The White House has been stepping up its efforts to protect workers as the presidential campaign heats up. On Tuesday, the Labor Department issued a rule that would guarantee overtime pay for more lower-paid workers. The rule would increase the required minimum salary level to exempt an employee from overtime pay, from about $35,600 currently to nearly $43,900 effective July 1 and $58,700 by Jan. 1, 2025. Companies will be required to pay overtime for workers below those thresholds who work more than 40 hours a week. “This rule will restore the promise to workers that if you work more than 40 hours in a week, you should be paid more for that time,” said Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su.    

Chubb Ltd. posted higher first-quarter net income on higher income in both the life and property/casualty segments and a double-digit rise in net investment income. First-quarter net income rose to $2.14 billion from $1.89 billion a year ago. Consolidated net premiums written rose to $12.22 billion from $10.71 billion. The property/casualty combined ratio improved to 86.0 from 86.3. "Core operating income was up double-digit, driven by (property/casualty) underwriting income up over 15% with a published combined ratio of 86, investment income up more than 23%, and life insurance income up almost 10%," Evan G. Greenberg, chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement. "We produced double-digit premium revenue growth from across the globe with strong results in our commercial and consumer P&C and Asia life businesses." Chubb recently said it agreed to acquire Healthy Paws, a U.S.-based managing general agent specializing in pet insurance, from Aon plc. The deal will allow Chubb to expand in a niche market with substantial growth potential, the insurer said at the time. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, Chubb said. It is expected to close in the second quarter. Underwriting entities of Chubb Ltd. have current Best's Financial Strength Ratings ranging from A++ (Superior) to A- (Excellent).    

Orion180, a leading innovator in the insurance industry, is pleased to announce the expansion of its homeowners insurance services to Arizona. This marks a significant milestone as the company's first venture into the Western United States, reinforcing its mission to establish a comprehensive nationwide presence. Orion180 currently operates in Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina through its two insurance carriers. The company provides insurance solutions through its admitted carrier, Orion180 Select, in noncoastal areas and its surplus lines insurance carrier, Orion180 Insurance Co., in coastal areas. Coverage varies by state. Through Orion180 Select Insurance Co., an admitted insurance carrier domiciled in Indiana, this company aims to meet the unique insurance needs of homeowners in the state of Arizona. Kenneth Gregg, CEO and founder of Orion180, expressed his enthusiasm about the new market entry: “Our expansion into Arizona signifies a critical step forward in our strategic efforts to serve a national customer base. This is our inaugural entry into the Western U.S., and it accentuates our planned expansion into Florida, Ohio, and several other markets in need. We are committed to providing innovative, reliable insurance solutions in new and diverse markets.” Gregg further emphasized the strategic nature of this expansion: “Arizona is not just a new market for us; it represents a bridge to broader national coverage and a testament to our adaptability and determination to meet the evolving needs of homeowners across America. We are eager to establish a robust presence in Arizona and look forward to building lasting partnerships with homeowners and independent agents within the state.” Independent agents interested in partnering with Orion180 to offer insurance coverages in Indiana or Georgia can find more information by visiting Orion180.com. About Orion180 Orion180 is a people-focused, technology-driven insurance brand that offers proprietary technology, real-time data, and straightforward underwriting practices, enabling independent insurance agents to provide their customers a premier insurance experience. Orion180’s operating companies are:

• Orion180 Insurance Co., a surplus lines (non-admitted) insurance company domiciled in Indiana and doing business in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina.
• Orion180 Select Insurance Co., an admitted insurance company domiciled in Indiana that is approved to provide coverage in Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Mississippi and Georgia.
• Orion180 Insurance Services LLC, a managing general underwriter that partners with carriers and reinsurers to deliver homeowners insurance and other insurance solutions.

Orion180 has developed its own proprietary mobile application and technology platform, MY180, while also supporting third-party data integrations with insurance industry partners.

Prices for surgery, intensive care and emergency-room visits rise after hospital mergers. The increases come out of your pay.

Hospitals have struck deals in recent years to form local and regional health systems that use their reach to bargain for higher prices from insurers. Employers have often passed the higher rates onto employees.

Such price increases added $204 million to national health spending, on average, in the first year after a merger of nearby hospitals, according to a study to be published Wednesday by American Economic Review: Insights.

Workers cover much of the bill, said Zack Cooper, an associate professor of economics at Yale University who helped conduct the study. Employers cut into wages and trim jobs to offset rising insurance premiums, he said. “The harm from these mergers really falls squarely on main street,” Cooper said.

Premiums are rising at their fastest pace in more than a decade, driven up by persistently high inflation across the economy. Rising costs have fueled contentious negotiations that have led some hospitals and insurers to cancel contracts, leaving patients in the lurch.

Hospital mergers make the price pressures worse.

“When those hospitals have market power, they can use that to extract high prices from insurers and those costs are ultimately passed onto consumers,” said Amanda Starc, an associate professor of strategy at Northwestern University, who wasn’t involved in the new study.

Hospitals say mergers create efficiencies and combine resources to make strategic investments and improve quality. Operating costs drop by 4%-7% on average at acquired hospitals after a deal, research shows. Quality stays the same or declines after mergers, studies have found.

The American Hospital Association’s general counsel, Chad Golder, said the study was incomplete because it didn’t include prices for some big insurers.

For the study, researchers analyzed claims from three of the nation’s largest insurers: CVS Health’s Aetna, UnitedHealth’s UnitedHealthcare and Humana.

They found that mergers raised prices by 1.6% over the two years afterward, on average, and by 5.2% where deals gave hospitals hefty market power under federal guidelines.

Hospital prices have been a longstanding target in Washington. The Trump administration issued rules to force hospitals and insurers to make prices public.

The Biden administration and the Federal Trade Commission have targeted hospital mergers as part of a broader antitrust push, including guidelines for problematic deals completed last year.

Federal officials have moved to stop recent proposed mergers, including a deal scuttled in December in the San Francisco Bay Area. John Muir Health called off plans to buy a third local general hospital after the FTC sued to end the deal.

“The proposed transaction would have provided substantial benefits for patients and the community,” the hospital system said.

The FTC returned to court in January to try to stop Novant Health, one of North Carolina’s largest hospital systems, from buying two more hospitals in the state. The deal would give Novant about two-thirds of a local market known as the Eastern Lake Norman area, the FTC said.

Novant is fighting the lawsuit. Novant has pledged to pour millions of dollars into the hospitals and expand services, including surgery and neonatal intensive care.

The study published Wednesday analyzed price changes before and after 322 mergers between 2010 and 2015. Researchers also compared prices during the same period at similar hospitals not involved in deals.

Researchers looked separately at prices for outpatient services owned by hospitals, such as imaging and ambulatory surgery centers. It is a large and growing share of hospital business, Cooper said.

In sparsely populated areas, outpatient prices climbed more after mergers. Where there are fewer people, the study found fewer outpatient surgery centers to compete for patients’ business.

“The hospital’s the only show in town in those areas,” Cooper said.

   

UnitedHealth Group said on Monday that hackers stole health and personal data of potentially a "substantial proportion" of Americans from its systems in February, as the largest U.S. health insurer scrambles to contain the damage. The intrusion at its Change Healthcare unit, which processes about 50% of U.S. medical claims, was one of the worst hacks to hit American healthcare and caused widespread disruption in payment to doctors and health facilities. The disclosure suggests patients' healthcare information remains vulnerable. An initial review of the compromised data showed files with protected health information or personally identifiable information "which could cover a substantial proportion of people in America," the company said in a statement on its website. That theft on Feb. 21 occurred despite a ransom payment. "A ransom was paid as part of the company's commitment to do all it could to protect patient data from disclosure," UnitedHealth Chief Executive Andrew Witty told CNBC on Monday. "This attack was conducted by malicious threat actors, and we continue to work with the law enforcement and multiple leading cybersecurity firms during our investigation." Hackers usually seek sensitive data such as patient records, medical histories, or treatment plans for use in further criminal acts or ransom demands in such breaches. While a full analysis of the breached data would take "several months," there is no evidence to suggest that doctors' charts or full medical histories of individuals were stolen, UnitedHealth said. It did not say exactly how many people's data was stolen, but that it was monitoring online forums where hackers tend to leak or trade such data packets. The cybercriminal gang behind the breach, known as AlphV or BlackCat, has not responded to multiple requests for comment. Another hacker group posted 22 screenshots on the dark web for about a week, some of which contained UntiedHealth customers' protected healthcare and personal data, the company said, adding it was unaware of any other leaks at this time. That group, which calls itself Ransomhub, told Reuters earlier that a disgruntled affiliate of Blackcat had given it the data. Soon after the hack came to light in February, Blackcat said on its website it had stolen 8 terabytes of sensitive records from Change Healthcare - only to later delete that statement without explanation. "We know this attack has caused concern and been disruptive for consumers and providers and we are committed to doing everything possible to help and provide support to anyone who may need it," UnitedHealth CEO Witty said in the company post.      

Brown & Brown posted a rise in first-quarter profit on Monday as the insurance brokerage earned more in commissions and fees, while investment returns also improved. The insurance industry has cemented its reputation as 'recession-proof' as corporate and government spending for policies is typically steady and does not fluctuate due to cutbacks in budgets or amid an economic slowdown. Insurance brokerages such as Brown & Brown serve as a bridge between an insurer and customers, helping clients find a policy which best suits their needs. The company's core commissions and fees increased to $1.19 billion in the three months ended March. 31, from $1.08 billion, a year earlier. Meanwhile, a higher interest rate environment has also helped investment income at insurers, who invest a chunk of their cash in safe-haven assets. The broader equity capital markets have also rallied this year. The company's investment income climbed to $18 million in the reported quarter from $7 million in the year-ago period. Brown & Brown is one of the largest independent insurance brokerages in the U.S. specializing in risk management. It operates through four business segments - retail, national programs, wholesale brokerage and services. The company's total revenue rose 12.7% to $1.26 billion in the quarter. It posted adjusted earnings of $1.14 per share, up from 96 cents a year earlier.    

Chubb today announced a definitive agreement to acquire Healthy Paws, a U.S.-based managing general agent (MGA) specializing in pet insurance, from Aon plc, a leading global professional services firm. The transaction positions Chubb to expand in a niche market with substantial growth potential. Financial terms of the deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter, were not disclosed. "We are delighted to welcome Healthy Paws to the Chubb family," said John Lupica, Vice Chairman, Chubb Group and President, North America Insurance. "Together, we will be able to extend the reach and amplify the impact of this esteemed pet insurance brand in a vastly underpenetrated market. As part of Chubb, Healthy Paws will empower more pet owners to fund medical care and navigate the rising costs of veterinary care." Since 2013, Chubb has been the exclusive underwriter of the Healthy Paws pet insurance program for Aon. The long-standing Chubb and Healthy Paws relationship positions the combination for accelerated growth while supporting a seamless transition for employees, customers and other business partners. "Chubb has been an important part of our journey for more than a decade and is an ideal partner to enable us to continue our mission on a larger scale and offer even greater value to the pet community," said Jon Harris, who is currently President and COO of Healthy Paws and will continue leading the business. "There are tremendous opportunities ahead to expand the positive impact we have on pets and pet parents." Founded in 2009, Healthy Paws has been a trailblazer in the pet insurance domain and currently serves more than 500,000 dogs and cats in the U.S. The company provides program and claims administration via a digital proprietary platform.          

Billionaire businessman Don Hankey made headlines in early April when his company, Knight Specialty Insurance, provided the $175 million bond that Donald Trump posted in his New York civil fraud case.

“I wouldn’t say I’m a big Trump fan,” Hankey told The Wall Street Journal this week. “I’ve voted for him in the past. And I think he’s business friendly. And that’s what I’m looking for.”

It isn’t the first time Hankey has financially backed a troubled real-estate developer.

In Los Angeles, where he is based, Hankey’s companies have bankrolled some of the area’s most ambitious—and sometimes eccentric—mansion developers. Sometimes, they did so just as those developers began to fall into financial jeopardy.

Perhaps most notably, Hankey provided more than $100 million in financing for The One, a scandal-plagued Bel-Air megamansion once slated to ask as much as $500 million. The 105,000-square-foot estate was eventually sold at auction for a comparably paltry $126 million in 2022 after its developer, the bombastic and volatile spec-home builder Nile Niami, defaulted on loan payments.

Priyesh R. Bhakta, president of Hankey Capital, said Hankey isn’t put off by strong personalities, so long as the underlying business fundamentals are strong.

“There are eccentric personalities in our business…we will tolerate those eccentricities if they’re smart and their business plan makes sense,” he said.

Not So Much ‘The One’

In L.A. real-estate circles, Hankey is perhaps best known for backing Niami, whose decadelong odyssey to build The One, complete with its own nightclub and five swimming pools, captivated the real-estate industry amid delays, cost overruns and defaults. When Hankey issued the initial loan of $82.5 million, The One was about 80% complete. The financing was slated to help Niami pay back other creditors and apply the finishing touches.

Bhakta said that Hankey made the loan because the company was confident that the U.S. single-family home market would continue to deliver $100 million-plus deals, as the economy created more and more billionaires. At the time, he said, Niami was considered a pioneer in the spec-home market. He had three or four unsold mansions on his books. Hankey figured that once Niami sold those, the developer would have a favorable cash position.

Ultimately, The One unraveled along with Niami’s personal life. Following a 2017 divorce from his longtime partner Yvonne Niami, the developer began to get a reputation in the real-estate industry as a party boy with erratic ideas.

“Sometimes, you look at someone’s track record, but that doesn’t necessarily correlate directly to what their future is going to look like,” Bhakta said. “In this case, his [wife] turned out to be the more rational person in that relationship and she kept him grounded. When he didn’t have that grounding, he kind of went crazy and unfortunately things unraveled there.”

Rayni Williams, a luxury real-estate agent who worked with Niami on the deal, said Hankey gave Niami more chances than many lenders might have. “I think he was rooting for him to succeed,” she said.

In October 2021, after issuing Niami several extensions on his loans, Hankey filed a foreclosure action on The One, with the balance of the loan having ballooned to more than $100 million. Niami responded by putting the property into bankruptcy. The property was ultimately sold at auction for a fraction of its onetime projected asking price, leaving a string of lenders vying for their money back from the proceeds.

While Hankey was first in line to be repaid, his position was challenged in court by another of the creditors, an entity associated with Canadian investors Julien and Lucien Remillard. In court papers, that entity accused Hankey of “unfair and unscrupulous predatory business practices,” alleging it had engaged in a “scheme to secure payment of exorbitant default interest payments and potentially misappropriate a valuable asset while leaving other creditors ‘high and dry.’ ”

So far, Hankey has recouped some of his cash, but is fighting for the remaining balance in court. Neither the Niamis nor the Remillards could be reached for comment.

Bhakta said he couldn’t say much about the case because it is pending. “We’re still defending ourselves there,” he said. “But [litigation] comes with the territory.”

Foreclosure Is ‘The Reality of the Business’

While Bhakta said it is rare, Hankey Capital has foreclosed on some of its developer clients.

“We really try to avoid having to foreclose, but unfortunately, that’s the reality of the business,” Bhakta said.

In the case of L.A. developer Nicholas Keros, in 2019, Hankey’s company foreclosed on and took title to a five-bedroom spec mansion in the prestigious Bird Streets area of the Hollywood Hills. The roughly 14,000-square-foot property had walls of glass, walnut millwork, a steam room, a dry sauna and an infinity pool.

Hankey took a loss on the property, selling it for $25 million. That was less than the roughly $23 million loan the company made to Keros plus the approximately $5 million to $10 million investment made by Hankey to finish construction on the house once the foreclosure was completed, Hankey said. Keros couldn’t be reached for comment.

While other spec home properties Hankey has financed have sold for significantly less than initially projected, Bhakta said Hankey usually gets its money out safely. He said the company tries to keep its basis on each project low, rarely lending more than around 60% of the perceived value of a home.

Kris Halliday, a luxury home builder from Australia, said Hankey provided a $25 million bridge loan so that Halliday could repay a construction loan before he sold the 20,000-square-foot Malibu spec home he completed in 2022. The property had floor-to-ceiling motorized glass walls, a 2,000-gallon aquarium and a 20,000-gallon koi pond. Its initial asking price was $74.8 million.

After a series of price cuts, the house sold to an unidentified buyer at auction last year for just $26.5 million. While Halliday said he was “very disappointed” with that price, it was enough to make Hankey whole again. He said he couldn’t fault the lender for the outcome.

“My experience with Hankey was everything they promised, and they delivered [the money] in the timeframe that they said they would do it,” he said.

The Richest Man You’ve Never Heard Of

A Los Angeles native, Hankey, 80, originally made his name as the king of subprime car loans. His Westlake Financial Services works with tens of thousands of U.S. car dealerships to provide car loans to borrowers with bad credit.

In an interview, he said he started in that business in the 1970s after his father died, leaving behind an interest in a Ford dealership. A self-described “finance guy,” he and his mother bought out the other partners in the dealership and slowly turned it into one of the most profitable in the region, turning to car-loan financing for additional revenue. For car buyers with bad credit but a good down payment, Hankey would finance purchases.

“Instead of losing deals, we decided to carry our own paper,” he said.

Hankey said he got interested in real estate after making a play to buy the property where the dealership was located. He had heard that the owners had plans to turn it into a shopping center.

“I made an effort and finally was able to buy the real estate underneath the Ford dealership to secure my land,” he said. After seeing how much the land appreciated in value, he became a “big believer” in real estate, he said.

The Hankey empire has since expanded to encompass real estate, insurance (through Knight Specialty Insurance), finance and technology companies. It posted revenues of $4.6 billion in 2023, according to its website, and had $23.4 billion in assets. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index pegs Hankey’s net worth at about $7.5 billion.

White-haired with a deep tan, Hankey and his wife, Debbie Hankey, own a mansion in Malibu, Hankey said. He said he is an avid horseman and tennis player, and gets chauffeured around in a Mercedes Maybach.

Bhakta said Hankey, despite his advanced age, is in the office before sunrise almost every day, often by 5:45 a.m. “He tries to be the first one here,” he said.

The Hankey Group of companies includes eight companies, two of which invest in real estate: Hankey Investment Company, which owns and develops its own real estate, and Hankey Capital, a bridge-loan provider, Bhakta said. Hankey Capital has about $1.4 billion in outstanding loans today, Bhakta said. Its bread and butter is “helping high net-worth families acquire real estate,” Bhakta said, noting that most of the company’s borrowers have at least about $50 million in net worth.

Those families are willing to pay slightly higher interest rates if it means being able to close quickly. Bhakta said Hankey’s rates could be as much as 3% higher than a traditional bank or other private lender. Made up mostly of commercial loans, Hankey Capital’s loan portfolio is about 15% composed of single-family mansion bridge loans, Bhakta said. It is an area that most traditional lenders shy away from, Bhakta said.

“It’s very risky,” Bhakta said.

Hankey to Trump’s Rescue

Hankey said he reached out to Trump’s representatives after having read about the former president’s race to secure a nearly $500 million bond in his civil fraud case. The courts later said they would accept a far smaller bond of $175 million.

Bhakta said Hankey considered providing Trump’s bond financing even at the higher amount, though he said the former president didn’t have the cash on hand to collateralize it. As a result, Hankey’s team began evaluating Trump’s real estate, including Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Palm Beach. One red flag, he said, was that the property is zoned exclusively for use as a private club and couldn’t automatically be turned into a single-family compound. That significantly impacts its value, he said.

If that zoning restriction remains, “it wouldn’t have the same value that [Trump] thinks it has,” Bhakta said. “Thankfully, we didn’t go down that road,” he said.

Ultimately, once the bond requirement was reduced, the bond could be fully collateralized by Trump’s liquid assets, meaning cash, stocks and bonds, Bhakta said. “It was a very good business decision,” he said.

Hankey declined to comment on the terms of the bond, but a person close to the Trump Organization said the auto billionaire’s firm is making a 1% commission on the deal, netting it $1.75 million.

The New York attorney general’s office has taken issue with Hankey’s bond, noting that his company isn’t registered to issue appeal bonds in New York. It has questioned whether Knight is financially capable of fulfilling its obligation to pay the bond if Trump defaults.

Bhakta described the scrutiny as “a proctology exam.” He has yet to decide, he said, if the limelight has been “a net positive.”

“We have gotten hate mail, all of us. But, by the same token, we’ve gotten praise mail,” he said. “We’re big boys about it, trying to take it with a grain of salt and just keep our head down and keep working.”

Hankey said he didn’t expect the level of scrutiny that the company has been put under. “I thought this might go down quietly,” he said.

Global reinsurer Munich Re has announced a preliminary net profit of €2.1 billion for the first quarter of 2024, as the firm highlights a better than expected operational performance across all lines of business. Munich Re will release its full Q1 2024 results on May 8th, but has today provided some preliminary figures which suggest a very strong start to the year for the company. At €2.1 billion, the German reinsurer notes that the Group significantly surpassed the mean value derived from the estimates of 11 financial analysts of €1.476 billion for the quarter. In property and casualty reinsurance, Munich Re has reported a combined ratio approximately 75%, which the firm attributes mostly to below-average major loss costs. This marks an improvement on the 86.5% combined ratio achieved in Q1 2023. In its life and health reinsurance arm, the carrier has reported a total technical result of roughly €600 million for Q1 2024, a solid improvement on the €320 million seen a year earlier. ERGO, the firm’s primary insurance business, achieved a net result of €300 million, compared with €219 million a year earlier. On the asset side of the balance sheet, Munich Re highlights that a favorable capital market environment helped it achieve a high investment result, with an ROI of approximately 3.8%, and a positive currency result. “Munich Re still anticipates a net result of €5bn for the 2024 financial year. Surpassing this target has become more likely due to the Q1 result,” says the reinsurer. In February, Munich Re announced a net result of €4.6 billion for the 2023 financial year.      

INSTANDA, the global provider of no-code insurance platform technology, today announced Jamie Boyer will now serve as the organization’s group configuration lead. Boyer previously served as INSTANDA’s senior configuration analyst. “Jamie has been instrumental in helping implement INSTANDA’s leading-edge technology to carriers and MGAs looking for speed-to-market and operational improvements,” said Tim Hardcastle, CEO and co-founder of INSTANDA. “His passion for putting the power back in the hands of businesses lends itself to his ability to connect with clients and bring their visions to fruition.” As global configuration lead, Boyer will lead INSTANDA’s global team responsible for working and consulting with clients to build out their products and navigate their software journeys. He will report to INSTANDA’s Head of Client Delivery EMEA Adam Bollands. Before joining INSTANDA in 2018, Boyer was a principal consultant with 1insurer, formally Innovation Group Software, and a project manager for Innovation Group North America. With more than 20 years of experience in insurance and IT, Boyer has an extensive understanding of customer-facing policy and claim implementation matters, as well as a deep knowledge of administration software, reporting and analytics options within real-world insurance environments. Additionally, Boyer’s ability to explore creative, practical problem-solving is an invaluable asset to INSTANDA and its partners. “Before INSTANDA, I was skeptical about nocode technology. I quickly realized through demonstration that a configurable solution was possible for businesses to take ownership of the process without the need for an extensive IT department,” Boyer noted. “As INSTANDA continues to stake its claim as a major player in insurance innovation, our goal will be to take a more global, consistent approach to configuration efficiencies.” Boyer, who resides in Tampa, Florida, was INSTANDA’s second North American hire in 2018. He received his bachelor’s degree in management information systems from Miami University. About INSTANDA INSTANDA offers a complete digital platform for innovative insurers, including more than 80 carriers, MGAs and brokers in Europe, North America, UK, Japan, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Australia. Named one of the world’s Top 50 InsurTechs for 2023 by CB Insights, INSTANDA is the insurance industry’s first no-code core insurance platform that allows innovative insurers to digitize their entire business as well as break into new markets with quick-to-market new products while simultaneously overcoming the drawbacks of legacy IT systems and driving digital transformation. For more information, please visit instanda.com/us/ and follow us @instandaF2X on Twitter and INSTANDA on LinkedIn.

Three former workers in a Northern California office of the Zurich American Insurance Co. who were fired after taking “off-the-record” paid time off were awarded more than $80 million in damages by a Sacramento jury Thursday, Sacramento attorney Lawrance Bohm announced. The case stemmed from a lawsuit originally filed in 2018 that went to trial after Zurich American declined settlement offers starting at $150,000 for each of the three plaintiffs who worked at the insurer’s Gold River offices, Bohm said in an interview. “I’m jubilant,” Bohm said. “It is shocking for an American-based insurance company that provides coverage to 90 percent of the Fortune 500 to have made a zero-dollar offer... This is vindication.” Zurich American spokeswoman Robyn Ziegler said in an email response to The Sacramento Bee that the company does not comment on litigation, “So I have no comment to offer you.” Wednesday’s verdict included damages for economic harm, reputational damages and $25 million in punitive damages for each of the employees — Melinda Brantley, Nicholas Lardie and Daniel Koos — who were part of Zurich American’s workers’ compensation division, Bohm spokesman Daniel Harary said in announcing the $80,252,412 verdict details. Bohm’s spokesman said the three plaintiffs were fired in December 2017 after they followed a supervisor’s policy of taking “off the record” time off as an incentive for hard work. The days off were called “Omen days,” referring to then-Assistant Vice President Chris Omen, court papers say. “Omen offered free paid time off (‘PTO’) based on performance,” court papers say. “Employees in Omen’s department referred to the free paid time off as ‘Omen Days.’ “Omen’s free paid time off was used to reward employees who were performing at a high level or reached certain goals. The free paid time off rewards did not require any requests or entries in the official PTO system. “If an employee used paid time off approved by Omen, the employee was instructed not to use any of Zurich’s official paid time off. On most occasions. Omen instructed the employee to ‘take a day off or delete the time off requests in the system and stated that ‘it’s on me,’ indicating that the employee earned the free paid time off. “The entire Rancho Cordova branch was aware of and benefited from this unofficial rewards program.” The three were fired days before Christmas 2017 after a brief investigation by the company, Bohm said. Zurich American argued in court filings that the employees were fired after “time theft” that resulted in the three being paid a total of more than $100,000 over two years. “Theft is not justified simply because your boss told you to do it,” the company argued. “Plaintiffs are three former managers at Zurich insurance company who were discovered to have under reported paid time off (PTO) at work. “They admitted to engaging in this activity and explained it away by saying that their supervisor told them to do so.” Bohm said Zurich American “maliciously defamed three very good people from our Sacramento community,” and that his clients did not want to be involved in a lawsuit. Bohm initially offered to settle the case for $150,000 for each plaintiff but was rebuffed, he said. In 2021, he tried again, offering to settle for $500,000 each but was turned down. Finally, before trial began in Sacramento Superior Court last month, he offered to settle for $2 million per plaintiff but was told no, he said. “Zurich has had years to prevent this and do right,” Bohm said, adding that company supervisors spent 71 minutes investigating the allegations against the employees before firing them. “For a company that prides itself on fairness, that’s frightening,” he said. “Thousands of us in California have claims being handled by Zurich. “If this is the way it treats its employees what does that mean about what we can expect from them when we need them?”