Joining Mr Philips are Jeff Heaver, Mike Sparkes, Daniel Keehan and Katie Gill, who as a team have over 54 years of property owners’ underwriting experience.

“Bringing in an established, experienced real estate insurance team is one part of our plan to broaden and enhance our product range in 2012. The real estate proposition complements our corporate, commercial and regional portfolios, and we look forward to working with our brokers to build our presence in this market,” said Graeme Rayner, Head of Property and Casualty Underwriting at Mitsui Sumitomo at Lloyd’s.

Andrew McKee, CEO of Mitsui Sumitomo at Lloyd’s said: “This is another step forward that perfectly demonstrates our aspirations to create a footprint in Europe that is more reflective of Mitsui Sumitomo’s global insurance market standing.”

JLT confirms acquisition of Chile’s fourth largest broker

JLT has confirmed its acquisition of a majority interest in Alta SA, the holding company of Orbital de Seguros, Chile’s fourth largest insurance broker.

The initial deal is for a 50.1% interest in the share capital of Alta SA with an option to acquire a further 25% in 2020.

The initial stake cost £10m and the consideration for the put and call option exercisable in 2020 will be based on the profitability of the business at that time.

Vyvienne Wade, CEO of JLT Latin America said: “I am delighted that Orbital and Alta Re are now part of the JLT group. Both are leading firms in Chile's well established market and they add significantly to our capabilities in the region. This transaction once again demonstrates JLT's commitment to developing markets.”

As well as Orbital Corredores de Seguros, Alta is the holding company for Alta Re, a reinsurance broker that commenced operations in April 2010. It has been a member of the JLT International Network since 2010.

Alta generated net revenue of approximately £5.1m in 2010 and produced a profit before taxation of approximately £2.1m. Alta is led by CEO Jose Ignacio Lathrop and Chairman Federico Tagle, both will continue in their existing roles.

"The combination of Orbital and JLT will create an even stronger force in the market, providing clients with enhanced access to international markets, experience and specialty skills built on the firm foundations both companies have for client service and innovation,” said Mr Ignacio.

XL launches independent property valuation service to ensure correct cover

In order to help solve the issue of under and over insurance for property cover XL has launched a new and independent international property valuation tool.

The new Global Property Valuation Service sees XL team up with American Appraisal, the insurance valuation firm, to allow clients to assess the insurable value of any tangible asset. This can include the value of a building along with its equipment and content.

XL said the solution will provide independent and unbiased valuations to its customers.

The service will cover calculation of insurable values to support asset replacement cost, primary construction, occupancy, protection and exposure data analysis, assistance in calculation of loss estimates and anticipated rebuilding time to assist selection of indemnity periods.

“In today’s difficult economic environment it is essential to ensure that property portfolios have adequate cover. Under-declared values are a significant issue, which can result in unexpected costs. The Global Property Valuation Service eliminates any element of surprise due to unforeseen occurrences,” said Matthias Horntrich, Chief Underwriting Officer at XL International Property.

Ian Gough, Managing Director, American Appraisal, said: “We are delighted to be working with XL to offer this valuation product. We can offer onsite valuations combined with a range of desktop valuation options—based on a client’s data—and will draw up a detailed appraisal programme to ensure organisations have the necessary data to meet the needs of all stakeholders.”

Miller appoints Head of Risk

Miller has appointed Seema Bradbury as Head of Risk where she will be responsible for identifying and managing risks, with a particular focus on operational, legal, regulatory, financial and strategic risks.

Ms Bradbury will also provide risk management guidance to the Miller governance committees, as well as to its board.

Prior to joining Miller, Ms Bradbury held risk management positions at both Beazley’s and Lloyd’s.

Martin Davison, Chief Financial Officer, said: “We continue to invest in our governance and support functions, which support our key focus of delivering top quality service to our clients. Proactive risk management is central to that, and Seema’s role will be to safeguard Miller, our clients and all of our stakeholders by identifying both threats and opportunities in relation to our business objectives and proactively managing them.”

Zurich launches web-based literature platform to help clients manage risk

Zurich has launched a web-based literature platform to provide corporate insurance buyers, brokers and the broader marketplace with easy access to information on risk insights, industry insights and research papers.

The platform, called the Virtual Literature Rack (VLR), aims to help users understand and manage the risks faced by business as well as provide Zurich Global Corporate product information, brochures and fact sheets.

Areas covered by the VLR include captives, emerging and supply chain risks as well as risk engineering.

The VLR is free to use and organisations can register for the tool at www.zurichvlr.com. All documents can be viewed online, emailed or printed.

Clyde & Co and Barlow Lyde & Gilbert to merge

Law firms Clyde & Co and Barlow Lyde & Gilbert will merge on 1 November to create a firm with 270 partners, 1,300 lawyers and fee earners and 2,350 total staff operating from 27 offices worldwide.

The new firm will be named Clyde & Co. In a joint statement the companies said it will offer ‘an insurance and reinsurance practice with unmatched expertise in every class, throughout the value range and across the world's markets’.

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