Habayeb will report directly to Everest president and CEO Jim Williamson and join the company’s executive leadership team. 

Habayeb will replace Mark Kociancic, who is set to retire from the company after five years following the first-quarter reporting cycle. 

Kociancic is expected to continue with Everest as a special advisor during the handover period to support an orderly change in financial leadership. 

Habayeb brings more than 30 years of experience in senior finance positions across the insurance and financial services sectors. 

Most recently, he was the CFO of Corebridge Financial, where he managed all finance and actuarial functions. 

Before his time at Corebridge Financial, Habayeb served in CFO roles at various divisions of American International Group, including General Insurance and Life & Retirement.  

In the Life & Retirement business, he played a central role in the initial public offering that resulted in Corebridge Financial operating as a separate listed company. 

Previously, Habayeb served as CFO of AIG subsidiary company International Lease Finance Corporation. 

Prior to that, he was a partner in Deloitte & Touche’s Capital Markets Group, working on structured products and financial services.  

Williamson said: “Elias is an outstanding financial leader whose experience, strategic insight and record of value creation will be instrumental as we strengthen Everest’s foundation for sustained performance.  

“With a renewed focus on our core businesses, Everest is well positioned to capture the opportunities ahead and deliver consistent, lasting returns for our shareholders. 

“I also want to thank Mark for his many contributions, leadership and partnership during a transformative period for Everest. We wish him the best in his future endeavours and look forward to collaborating through a seamless transition.” 

Last month, Everest Group agreed to divest the renewal rights for its Global Retail Commercial Insurance portfolio to AIG.  

The post Everest Group appoints Elias Habayeb as new EVP and CFO  appeared first on Life Insurance International.

CIH, based in Chicago, US, delivers risk management assistance to clients involved in agriculture and commodity sectors. 

Its services include consulting, brokerage and insurance, all integrated through a proprietary technology platform, enabling users to monitor, analyse and manage risk within a single system. 

The company’s approach features regular educational advisory sessions combined with real-time access to insurance and derivatives markets.  

This set-up allows organisations to address commodity price exposure and implement risk management strategies as needed. 

According to CIH, its model brings together advisory and execution functions into one platform, covering both insurance and derivatives options.  

The company’s technology platform is said to provide a unified method for clients seeking to manage commodity price risk effectively. 

CIH CEO Pat Gregory said: “Through our partnership with Falfurrias Capital Partners, we have worked together to strengthen our technology, expand our service model and position CIH for continued growth. 

“Joining Tokio Marine will allow us to extend our reach, broaden our capabilities and deepen the support we provide to clients navigating complex commodity markets.” 

CIH is also presently an insurance agent for Tokio Marine HCC.  

Through this acquisition, Tokio Marine stated that it will gain a complementary business that enhances its specialty offerings in the US agricultural sector and broadens its non-insurance risk solutions capabilities.  

The integration will further strengthen Tokio Marine HCC’s agricultural operations, diversify the group’s earnings and deliver greater value to customers in the agricultural industry. 

The deal is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close during the first quarter of 2026. 

TMHCC CEO Susan Rivera commented: “The team has built an impressive business that combines deep agricultural expertise with innovative technology to help clients manage price volatility.  

“This partnership expands our ability to deliver comprehensive risk solutions beyond traditional insurance and supports Tokio Marine Group’s long-term strategy to grow through diversified, fee-based services.” 

The post Tokio Marine to acquire agriculture risk management company CIH  appeared first on Life Insurance International.

Financial terms of the deal remain undisclosed.  

The acquisition is intended to enhance technology capabilities in Majesco’s Group & Benefits and Retirement & Pension units, expanding its presence in these market segments. 

After combining operations, Majesco will serve more than 375 customers. This includes more than 100 customers in the life and annuities and health (L&AH) segment and over 275 across the property and casualty (P&C) segment.  

The expanded product set will address the requirements of insurers working in both P&C and L&AH.  

Currently, more than 40% of insurers are active in both sectors. 

Vitech CEO James Ousley said: “The united team will bring the talent, extensive knowledge, market experience and innovative solutions crucial for insurers’ profitable growth.” 

Majesco is part of Thoma Bravo’s portfolio, while Vitech is backed by CVC, a private markets investment firm.  

As part of this acquisition, CVC Funds will take a minority stake in Majesco to support the growth and further development of the combined business. 

The integration will bring together established L&AH-focused products such as IDAM, L&AH Intelligent Core, Intelligent Sales and Underwriting, V3locity Core and Campaign Management, as well as digital portals.  

These solutions target customer needs in the US, Canada and UK.  

The joint offering aims to streamline operations, support faster launches of new products, improve productivity and allow adaptation to market and regulatory changes. 

Majesco CEO Adam Elster said: “We are thrilled to bring together the pre-eminent technology solutions in the Group & Benefits and Retirement & Pension sectors, which will help the L&AH segment, and our customers fast-track their growth, operational efficiencies, innovation and customer excellence strategies.  

“Together with our P&C intelligent solutions, we will strengthen our offering of cutting-edge, intelligent and market-leading solutions that redefine businesses for a new era of insurance.” 

The post Majesco to buy cloud-native pension software provider Vitech   appeared first on Life Insurance International.

According to GlobalData’s 2025 UK SME Insurance Survey, 40.2% of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) hold cyber insurance. Adoption of cyber insurance rises sharply with business size, ranging from 13.1% among sole traders to 63% among medium-sized enterprises (with 50–249 employees). SMEs hold off from purchasing cyber insurance mainly because they consider it unlikely that their business will be a target of a cyberattack (40.5%), while a further 16.4% find insurance unnecessary as they believe their company is already well protected.

What is the main reason for your company not to have cyber insurance? 2025

Meanwhile, recent data from the Association of British Insurers highlights the magnitude of the problem, with cyber insurance claims payouts reaching £197.3m ($257.8m) in 2024, more than triple the £59.7m ($78m) disbursed in 2023. As hackers become more adept with their techniques, both the number and severity of claims have spiralled. The average claim paid was over £276,000 ($360,637.45) in 2024—up from under £113,000 ($147,652.29) in 2023. Malware infection was the most significant claims reason, accounting for almost a third of claims and a much higher 64.5% of payouts.

Average payouts are likely to go up as there is no sign of abatement. 2025 has been characterised by a string of high-profile attacks, with known brands Harrods, Marks & Spencer, and Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) impacted. In fact, JLR was not covered by cyber insurance, signaling that while adoption levels are higher among larger businesses, coverage is still not universal among large corporations.

Businesses with no cyber insurance in place may not necessarily have a safety net to manage the costs and reputational damage associated with a cyberattack if one arrives. Given that these incidents can be particularly costly, some businesses may well end up having to close their operations for good. Cyber insurance policies offer better resilience as they can assist with forensic investigation and data restoration, legal fees, regulatory fines, lost revenue during downtime, and crisis management.

Brokers will play a crucial role in educating clients on the importance of cyber insurance. Further findings from GlobalData’s 2025 UK SME Insurance Survey reveal that the main trigger to purchase a cyber insurance policy was because a broker advised them to (26.7%), closely followed by media reports of cyberattacks (26.2%). Businesses with no cyber insurance are highly vulnerable to the impacts of a cyberattack; this is particularly true for SMEs due to their perceived weaker security, while they are inherently less resilient. Insurers should look to develop more tailored solutions given that many smaller businesses operate on tight margins, often viewing cyber insurance as an unnecessary expenditure.

The post UK cyber insurance adoption is low yet cyberattacks are escalating appeared first on Life Insurance International.

The initiative will make it possible for insurers across the country to share data on fraudulent claims and coordinate investigations, beginning with car insurance as the first area of focus. 

This platform will be developed in partnership with the Insurance Crime Intelligence Network of Australia (ICINA), ICA’s counter-fraud and scams division. 

It will support secure sharing of information about fraud patterns among participating insurers.  

Work on the platform is expected to start in early 2026 by using data analytics to alert investigators in real time if suspicious activity is detected. 

The system will allow insurers to work together on cases involving organised insurance fraud and address fraudulent activity by repeat offenders. 

Comparable systems using Shift Technology are already in use by insurance associations in several countries including the UK, Canada, France, Hong Kong and Singapore.  

Privacy, security and governance measures form a central part of this programme, the joint press release said.  

Data shared between insurers will use privacy-focused methods, strict role-based access controls and end-to-end encryption. 

A governance framework will oversee operation of the platform, with legal supervision and technical controls designed to comply with Australian regulatory requirements and relevant certifications. 

ICINA CEO Andrew Gill said: “The insurance industry has fought fraud for decades, but fraudsters have adapted to our digital transformation. Today’s organised networks exploit online services with increasing sophistication, driving up costs for honest customers. 

“Today’s announcement is the industry’s most comprehensive response to fraud. By connecting insurers through secure, real-time intelligence sharing, we are creating an early warning system that identifies fraudulent patterns across the entire market – stopping criminals before claims are paid.” 

The post ICA partners with EXL, Shift on insurance fraud detection platform  appeared first on Life Insurance International.

Stellaris Venture Partners led the round, with Y Combinator and Arali Ventures also participating. 

Pibit AI, which has more than 125 employees, plans to invest in further development of its AI systems and integration capabilities. 

Its road map outlines expansion of additional application programming interface features, risk models and more data collaborations to adapt the CURE platform for emerging risks and new business areas.  

The CURE platform is designed to coordinate all stages of the underwriting process in a single system, handling submissions, research, document processing, risk evaluation and workflow management. 

It includes modules such as ClearCURE for triage, ResearchCURE for real-time data updates, DocumentCURE for document processing, RiskCURE for portfolio analysis and WorkflowCURE for task management. 

Automation is used alongside human oversight in Pibit AI’s system to support verification and contextual assessment at each step.  

Pibit AI founder and CEO Akash Agarwal said: “Pibit.AI was built around one idea: that AI should empower underwriters, not replace them. Too many systems prioritise speed over trust.  

“We are building something that is transparent, explainable and decision-ready – a system that gives underwriters confidence in every output while helping them move faster than ever before.” 

Clients of Pibit AI include HDVI, RMS Insurance Brokerage, Shepherd Insurance, Kinetic and Method Insurance Company.  

The company reported that customers have achieved up to 85% more speed in underwriting cycles, 32% growth in gross written premium per underwriter and an improvement of as much as 700 basis points in loss ratios. 

The post Pibit AI raises $7m to develop AI-driven underwriting platform  appeared first on Life Insurance International.

Apax Partners is aiming for a valuation close to €600m for the European life insurance consolidator.

Buy-out group Apax Partners expects to receive binding offers in the coming weeks, with the goal of reaching an agreement in early 2026, the sources said.

BFF, BPCE and Generali declined to provide comments, reported Reuters.

GamaLife, based in Lisbon, Portugal, was established in 2019 by Apax Partners.

In 2022, GamaLife acquired Zurich Insurance Group’s Italian life and pensions portfolio, which included life insurance policies and pension funds amounting to €7bn.

In 2023, Reuters reported that Generali had announced the purchase of the Spanish arm of Liberty Mutual, a US insurer, for €2.3bn.

At the time, Generali indicated that the transaction was expected to decrease its group regulatory solvency ratio by 9.7 percentage points. Citigroup and Credit Suisse acted as financial advisers for the deal.

Earlier this year, BPCE agreed to acquire Novo Banco. Novo Banco has a distribution deal with GamaLife, the media outlet reported.

This month, Generali announced the appointment of Giulio Terzariol as director generale – group deputy CEO, reflecting changes in its executive team.

According to the company, this adjustment is connected to its Lifetime Partner 27: Driving Excellence strategy and aims to improve governance across its main business areas.

Terzariol is responsible for overseeing Generali’s insurance operations and Banca Generali, in collaboration with the group CEO.

In October 2025, Alleanza Assicurazioni and Banca Generali formed a partnership to expand their offerings through ‘insurbanking’ solutions.

This partnership is designed to integrate Alleanza’s distribution network with Banca Generali’s expertise in private banking and investment.

The post Generali, BFF Bank and BPCE advance in GamaLife acquisition bidding process appeared first on Life Insurance International.

Financial specifics of the deal remain undisclosed.  

The transaction is intended to increase King Risk Partners’ presence in Massachusetts in line with its strategy of expanding through selected acquisitions. 

Acacia Insurance operates from Waltham and has provided services to clients throughout New England for more than 30 years.  

The agency works with both individuals and businesses, arranging insurance cover for homes, motor vehicles, high-value possessions and a variety of business risks that require specialised solutions. 

Acacia Insurance principals Adam Ellis and Dan Frankel commented: “Joining King Risk Partners is an outstanding opportunity for our team and clients. 

“We share a dedication to integrity, accountability and excellence. With access to King’s extensive infrastructure and resources, our clients will gain an even broader range of options, while we are able to devote even greater attention to providing the personalised support they value.” 

The acquisition will extend King Risk Partners’ reach in the north-eastern US by bringing Acacia under its umbrella, while offering insurance options to clients. 

King Risk Partners CEO Scott Popilek commented: “Acacia’s commitment to making the unexpected uneventful for its clients resonates deeply with our mission. 

“We are delighted to welcome the Acacia team into the King family. By combining our scale and capital with Acacia’s local reputation and hands on approach, we will deliver a unique value proposition to the New England market.” 

The post King Risk Partners expands in New England with Acacia Insurance acquisition  appeared first on Life Insurance International.

Pending regulatory approval, Addington-Smith is expected to assume his new position in early 2026.

Addington-Smith will be based in London, UK, and will take over from Chris Lay, who is scheduled to retire as Marsh UK and Marsh McLennan UK CEO in the first quarter of 2026 after more than four decades at the company.

Marsh noted that the appointment of a new Marsh McLennan UK CEO will be announced at a later date.

Addington-Smith will report to Flavio Piccolomini, CEO of Marsh McLennan International.

In his capacity as CEO, Addington-Smith will guide the strategic direction and execution of Marsh’s commercial activities in the UK.

This includes oversight of risk management, corporate and commercial client services, risk consulting and specialty insurance broking.

He will also coordinate with Marsh McLennan’s leadership to deliver the company’s offerings in strategy, risk and workforce matters to clients.

Addington-Smith said: “It is an honour to return home to lead Marsh’s UK business at a time when organisations are navigating commercial challenges such as economic volatility and inflation, while also deciding how best to take advantage of emerging technologies such as AI.”

Addington-Smith has been with Marsh since 2010, initially serving as Marine leader for Asia, following previous experience as a senior marine insurance broker in both Hong Kong and London.

Currently, he is Marsh Asia president and has held several leadership roles including leading Marsh Specialty in Asia.

Once Addington-Smith transitions to his new role, the current Marsh McLennan Asia CEO will take on the additional responsibility of Marsh Asia president.

Marsh CEO and president Martin South said: “James is an exceptional leader with a proven track record of client-focused innovation, working with both specialty and retail clients. It is very appropriate that someone with such a strong international career will lead our strategically important UK business, a global centre for insurance broking and innovation.

“I would also like to thank Chris for his tremendous contributions and impact on our firm, and his many years of leadership in our industry.”

The post James Addington-Smith to become Marsh UK CEO in early 2026 appeared first on Life Insurance International.

The move will give insurance agencies new options to automate customer service, quoting and call routing, improving client service and operational efficiency in insurance workflows. 

Liberate’s voice AI is engineered for the insurance field and differs from general-purpose call bots.  

With this technology, phone call volumes can be managed more effectively, quoting activities streamlined and client interactions handled without increasing staff numbers.  

Liberate voice AI merges AI with real-time data from agency software and call routing processes for independent agencies, managing general agents and carriers. 

Liberate CEO and co-founder Amrish Singh said: “We are hyper-focused on helping independent agencies adopt AI, and partnering with HawkSoft moves us closer to accomplishing that mission. 

“This integration gives agencies a powerful way to find, convert and retain more clients for less cost.” 

The combined system enables agencies to automate a broad range of routine front line interactions directly through their management software.  

Features include automated phone services available at all times in both English and Spanish.  

Clients are identified using HawkSoft data and routed to their assigned representative, and agencies can connect this solution to any existing phone system without technical modifications.  

The system logs full transcripts of each conversation into HawkSoft records to support tracking needs. Hold times and the likelihood of missed calls are reduced as common inquiries are answered automatically. 

HawkSoft CMO Rushang Shah commented: “Our partnership with Liberate accelerates how independent agencies deliver service at scale. By embedding voice AI with HawkSoft’s management system, agencies can triage quick questions instantly while freeing their teams to focus on high-touch conversations – uncovering risk needs, strengthening relationships and elevating the client experience end-to-end.” 

HawkSoft, established in 1995, provides management systems designed for independent insurance agencies that focus on workflow effectiveness and support for staff and policyholders. 

Liberate offers a range of communication tools including voice AI, email AI, SMS AI and digital intake features that can be deployed in weeks to help automate phone and digital communications, gather details for quotes and address service requests.  

The post Liberate and HawkSoft team up on insurance-native voice AI automation  appeared first on Life Insurance International.