Allied World to Realign Most of Its Operations

October 23, 2014

Allied World Assurance Co. Holdings announced a realignment of most of its operations, the same day it disclosed 2014 third quarter earnings that reflected gains in pricing but hits on income due to catastrophe losses and acquisition costs.

Scott Carmilani, president and CEO of the Swiss insurance and reinsurance company, said during Allied World’s earnings call on Oct. 23 that the reorganization of many of its segments is designed “to better serve customers and trading partners.”

Right now, the Allied World is divided into: its U.S. segment, which includes Canada; International, all other regions including Bermuda,;and Reinsurance.

As of Dec. 31, 2014, Allied World’s segments will include: North American Insurance, which is all North American business including the U.S., Canada and Bermuda; Global Markets Insurance, relating to business outside of North America; and Reinsurance, which will remain unchanged.

This also means some executives within Allied World will see some tweaking of their responsibilities.

All three executives will report directly to Carmilani, the company said.

Meanwhile, Carmilani noted during the call that Allied World is finalizing agreements to snatch up the Hong Kong and Singapore operations of Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance for $215 million, following the company’s minority strategic investment, through Allied World Financial Services, in Blue Vista Capital Management.

As far Allied World’s results, the company reported nearly $31 million in net income during the quarter or $0.31 per share, versus $122.8 million or $1.18 per share in the 2013 third quarter. Allied World attributed the reduced numbers to catastrophe loss and acquisition costs.

Carmilani acknowledged the best results came from Allied World’s U.S. operations, but said that “ongoing corrective actions” have been helping throughout the company. One highlight Carmilani was quick to tout during the investor call: continued rate increases across its casualty business.

“This is now the ninth consecutive quarter in which we managed rate increases across our casualty business of 5 percent or more,” he said.

Here are Allied World’s results in detail: