NU Online News Service, May 4, 3:07 p.m. EDT
Liam E. McGee, CEO of The Hartford Financial Services Group, says 2011 second-quarter catastrophe losses for the company may exceed the $200 million total the company was hit with in the 2010 second quarter.
Addressing the "devastating storm activity" in the month of April during a conference call to discuss first-quarter earnings, McGee says Hartford claims teams are "on the ground, working with customers."
At the midway point of 2010, the Hartford, Conn.-based insurer reported catastrophe losses of $229 million, pretax, primarily from storms in the Midwest. This year during the month of April, severe weather has battered the South with tornadoes, high winds and hail. Hundreds have died and significant insured property losses are predicted.
Catastrophe risk modeler EQECAT says the recent tornado outbreak is estimated to have caused up to $5 billion in insured losses.
The Hartford reported a 60 percent jump in first-quarter net income to $511 million. McGee says The Hartford's "hedging programs" performed well in Japan to limit "the impact of the equity market and currency volatility" that followed the March earthquake and tsunami.
McGee says the consumer markets segment of Hartford continues to be focused on growing its affinity partnership with AARP, adding new affinity partners and shifting agency business to a more profitable target customer.
Hartford's goal is to generate about $200 million in written premium in 2013 via affinity partnerships like the one it now has with the American Kennel Club, McGee says.
"We're in very active discussions with several affinity partners and plan on signing at least one additional new partner in the second quarter," the chief executive adds.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.