A.M.BestTV: AXIS' CEO and PartnerRe's Chairman Tout Benefits of Announced Merger

CONTACTS:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OLDWICK - JUNE 26, 2015 02:33 PM (EDT)
This ^A.M.BestTV episode examines a recent interview given by Albert Benchimol, president and chief executive officer at AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (AXIS) and Jean-Paul Montupet, chairman at PartnerRe Ltd, concerning the proposed merger between their two companies. Click on http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=ap615 to view the video program.

Both Benchimol and Montupet agreed that the proposed merger is in the best interest of both companies, since the new company will broaden the array of products and capabilities in multiple sectors; thus, creating opportunities that neither company would have on its own.

"The opportunities this merger presents for AXIS are tremendous," said Benchimol. "This new company will provide greater financial strength, expense savings, capital efficiencies and a fuller complement of products and geographies."

"This merger will create a new company that is ideally positioned to face the challenges and benefit from the opportunities, which will appear in the insurance and reinsurance industries for many years," said Montupet. "This new company will allow PartnerRe Ltd to implement the strategy that we were pursuing prior to the merger, as we were moving from a pure play reinsurance business into a primary insurance business."

A.M. Best's Vice President Robert DeRose looks upon this merger as being quite favorable for both companies. "Both organizations are good franchises and have a leadership position in the market. AXIS has the advantage of having both insurance and reinsurance operations, whereas PartnerRe Ltd has stayed focused on reinsurance. In this challenging reinsurance market, having the dual capability is certainly very important in order to manage the cycle in a prudent manner."

Other people who appear in this episode include:

• Greg Reisner, managing senior financial analyst at A.M. Best Company.

Recent episodes of ^A.M.BestTV include:

• Insurers Warn of Looming Talent Gap: Highlights from the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation's Women in Insurance Global Conference in New York, NY, where insurers said the insurance workforce is aging without an adequate influx of younger management talent: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=iicf615.


• Cyber Coverage Continues to Evolve: This recent Best's Review webinar focuses on cyber and data breach risks and how these are changing and expanding: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=cyber615.


• Insurers Look to Close the Global Coverage Gap: Highlights from the International Insurance Society's Global Insurance Forum in New York, NY, where insurance executives said they can expand coverage through innovation and private-public partnerships: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=iis615.


• Ace-Fireman's Fund Deal Targets High End Personal Lines: Personal lines insurers have turned their focus to high net worth and ultra-high net worth insureds by offering specialized personal lines coverages across borders: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=aceff615.

^A.M.BestTV covers exclusive A.M. Best information and reports, targeted topics and key developments in the (re)insurance industry every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Sign up for alerts of episodes at http://www.ambest.com/multimedia/ambtvsignup.html. View ^A.M.BestTV episodes at http://www.ambest.tv .

A.M. Best Company is the world's oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source.