Investments

The company also announced new directors on Corebridge’s board.

The insurer has been sharpening its focus on its core operations and making necessary preparations to split off its life and retirement unit, which is planned for the first half of this year.

The New York-based investment firm said in a letter to the company’s board Thursday that it has also been advocating for more independent directors on the board and operational improvements at the company in recent months.

The glass tower in Paris where Axa SA, one of the world’s largest insurers, has its temporary headquarters looks as if a giant feral cat has ripped chunks out of it. In recent months that jagged feeling extends inside, too, as senior executives prepared to claw off an extraordinarily profitable part of the company’s $20 billion business: the oil and gas clients whose ties to the insurer go back decades.

The merger with Delwinds Insurance Acquisition Corp. will value the combined company at $369 million, said the people, who asked to not be identified as the details are private.

Allianz SE will take a 3.7 billion-euro ($4.2 billion) charge tied to the implosion of some of its U.S. hedge funds, bringing some clarity to months of uncertainty on the legal bill for the matter.

We want insurers to transform from premium collectors to lifelong protectors. And technology is at the core of helping them achieve this.

The pandemic rollercoaster continues to rattle the insurance industry as we ride into 2022. One of the bright spots for our industry was the acceleration of technological innovation. All the uncertainty and changing consumer habits are fueling substantial changes in how insurance is marketed and sold by independent agencies.

As 2022 gets under way, insurers have opportunities to boost their visibility beyond simply increasing their marketing spending.

In other news: Online embedded insurance, Bubble launches; Obie partners with Munich Re company; Nintex, Insuresoft team up on digital transformation.

The fintech startup is working with advisers on a potential deal and is in early talks with Catcha Investment Corp., the special purpose acquisition company set up by internet entrepreneur Patrick Grove, said the people, who asked not to be named as the process is private.

Having raised nearly 20 billion yen ($175 million) in an offering that was priced at the top of its advertised range, got off to a bad start -- the biggest first-day decline in more than two decades for a company that raised at least $150 million. Daiwa Securities Co. and Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. were the lead managers for the listing.

As the wave of SPAC mergers crested in the past two years, startups that chose this path found it difficult to keep up with more established companies and investor expectations. The insurtech companies that went this route are not exempt from experiencing that strain.

A total of 63.6 million shares were sold for C$22 apiece, the Waterloo, Ontario-based company said in a release late Wednesday, the top end of the range it had targeted. The company is also selling another C$700 million in shares in a private placement to the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan and Swiss Re.

A list with the names of about 100 global investors has been shared with the 10 banks working on the deal and the institutions will approach different sets of investors, according to people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be named as discussions are private.

The to-do list for the electric-vehicle maker will be funded in part by its IPO -- the sixth-largest in U.S. history. Rivian shares soared 22% Thursday in their second day of trading, creating a stock-market value of more than $100 billion. Two months after delivering its first pickups, largely to employees, Rivian now has a market valuation exceeding that of General Motors Co.

The shares will be priced in a range of C$19 to C$22 apiece and will be listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol “DFY,” Waterloo, Ontario-based Definity said in a statement Monday.

The funding round was led by AIA Insurance Inc. as Tiki looks to expand into life insurance and plans a U.S. initial public offering.

Lemonade Car, a telematics auto insurance product, is now live in Illinois and will roll out across the U.S. soon.

Life insurers are warning Chile that they may have their day in court if a bill that allows people to demand early annuity payments is passed into law.