Insurance

This year’s 40% stock dive has cut its price-to-earnings ratio to just above 6, slightly more than the Shanghai Stock Exchange Property Index’s multiple of 5.7 and a far cry from the 20-plus commanded by insurance peers Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and AIA Group Ltd.

Old Mutual Group Ltd. plans to make acquisitions within the next five years to boost its market share in the West Africa region, where insurance penetration still has significant headroom for growth.

Armadillo was founded this year by two insurance industry executives. Matan Slagter, who was most recently with AIG, and Lansdon Robbins, a serial entrepreneur, recently launched the home warranty solution in 20 markets.

What’s driving your digital claims transformation program: COVID? Competition? Or cost? Whatever the answer, we could be in danger of leaving the customer out of the equation in the rush to digitize and automate insurance processes. It could be time to take a more user-centric approach, reimagine the customer journey and find out what customers actually want.

The transaction, which involves Cigna’s businesses in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, New Zealand, Taiwan and Thailand as well as its interest in a joint venture in Turkey, comes months after Chubb was repeatedly rebuffed in its bid to take over Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. for about $25 billion.

In other news: Allstate closes $400M sale of New York life, annuity business; USAA partners with Blink by Chubb; Zurich North America implements Chisel AI.

Boomers are moving and buying renters insurance but carriers are struggling to retain them during the transition. Only a little over half of Boomers and Pre-Boomers who have moved from homeowners to renters stay with the same insurer.

Vethelpline offers insurance members and now subscribers, 24/7 access to veterinary experts and veterinarians who can answer care questions through an app with a chat feature or through a phone consultation.

Insured losses from the storm, the second-most intense hurricane to hit the state of Louisiana, will probably range between $28 million and $30 million, the reinsurer said in a statement Tuesday. It estimated its own cost from claims related to the storm at about $750 million.

Haven Technologies will make the platform behind MassMutal’s Haven Life available as a software-as-a-service insurtech.