Underwriting Manager

4 september 2026. The day's insurance news across the GCC: regulation, governance, AI in insurance, and people moves. Curated, attributed, and linked to the source. Market Confirmed GCC Lloyd's puts its first number on the Iran conflict at £1.4bn. Lloyd's has booked about £1.4bn ($1.9bn) of claims from the Middle East conflict in its half-year results, the first figure the market has published since the fighting began in February. Chief executive Patrick Tiernan said it is not a capital event, and the market still made £3.5bn of pre-tax profit on a 90.8% combined ratio, but the loss sits in marine, energy and political violence, which are the same lines GCC cedants place into London. Market Single-source GCC Washington's maritime reinsurance facility has yet to write a voyage. The US Development Finance Corporation's $40bn maritime reinsurance programme, backed by Chubb, AIG and Berkshire Hathaway, was built to keep energy moving through Hormuz and has not insured a single transit. The diagnosis was wrong: cover never disappeared, it was repriced, and owners are staying out because of the physical risk rather than the premium. Market Corroborated Saudi Arabia GCC War cover is now worth about $8 on a barrel of Gulf crude. Lloyd's List puts the insurance component of the current oil price at $7 to $8 a barrel, with additional war premium running as high as 10% of vessel value and roughly $2bn of claims across more than 70 cases since the conflict began. The high-risk zone has also been pushed some 800km further north up the Red Sea after attacks on Saudi-linked tonnage, which widens the exposure rather than relocating it. Company Confirmed UAE Sukoon Takaful takes its products into ajman bank. The two have signed a memorandum of understanding to distribute Sharia-compliant takaful through the bank's customer base. Sukoon Takaful chief executive Ahmad Abu Shanab framed it as widening access, and the practical read is that bancatakaful is still the cheapest distribution a UAE takaful operator can buy. Company Single-source UAE RB Jones Global opens a facultative reinsurance MGA in Dubai. The H.W. Kaufman underwriting arm has launched a Dubai-based facultative reinsurance MGA, according to The Insurer. Local fac capacity is being rebuilt in the region rather than referred to London, which matters for cedants trying to place difficult single risks while war and political violence terms stay tight. Company Single-source Bahrain Solidarity Bahrain covers the Defence Force's medical staff. Solidarity Bahrain has signed a medical insurance agreement with the Royal Medical Services of the Bahrain Defence Force, covering its doctors, nursing staff and allied health professionals. RMS calls it the first arrangement of its kind in Bahrain and the wider GCC, and it points to where group medical growth in the smaller markets is coming from: employers who used to carry the cost themselves. Company Corroborated Saudi Arabia Al Sagr gets back to break-even underwriting. Fitch puts Al Sagr's first-half combined ratio at 100.9% against 111.1% for 2025, with a marginal SAR2.1m profit and return on equity recovering to about 1.2%. The outlook has moved to stable, but Fitch expects the ratio to stay near 100% for the full year, and a sub-1% market share leaves the company taking whatever price the Saudi motor and medical markets set. Each item is a short editorial summary with a link to the original source. Items marked Rumour · unverified are unconfirmed and should be treated with caution. Compiled automatically; corrections welcome.

H.W. Kaufman Group names Michael Hattaway President of RB Jones. Hattaway to lead highly sophisticated RB Jones underwriting programs across north america. NEW YORK (MARCH 11, 2026) - RB Jones, a leading Managing General Underwriter providing specialty risk coverage solutions for brokers, agents and wholesalers, today announced that Michael Hattaway has joined the organization as President. He will be based in New York City and report to H.W. Kaufman Group Co-President Jodie Kaufman Davis. "Michael is a seasoned executive who brings nearly two decades of experience building, scaling and leading profitable underwriting organizations across the E&S marketplace," said Jodie Kaufman Davis. "He comes to RB Jones with an entrepreneurial mindset that will be instrumental in continuing to further the growth of RB Jones." Hattaway will oversee RB Jones underwriting operations and expand relationships with clients and insurance company partners while driving business growth within the Marine, Energy, Property and Professional Liability sectors. He will also pursue an aggressive talent acquisition strategy, ensuring that RB Jones attracts and retains the industry's top underwriting professionals. Prior to joining RB Jones, Hattaway spent nearly eight years at Scion Underwriting Managers. He successfully grew Scion from a start-up to a national underwriting platform. Under Hattaway's leadership, Scion became highly respected for its underwriting discipline, strong EBITDA performance and sustainable partnerships with reinsurers. Previously, Hattaway held senior leadership roles at Hallmark Financial Services, Liberty International and W.R. Berkley's Facultative Resources. "RB Jones has become a destination for highly specialized solutions with the incredible potential to elevate the business even further," said Hattaway. "Kaufman is committed to meaningfully invest in RB Jones. I see the role as a critical opportunity to expand the RB Jones portfolio and meet the increasingly complex demands of the marketplace." The hiring of Hattaway follows recent momentum across a multitude of RB Jones programs, including: * Launching a new Allied Healthcare Program, which is an exclusive professional liability offering designed to address the evolving risks facing healthcare and social service providers. * Expanding capacity for Property programs, including a Middle Market and Flood facility. * Introducing new Inland Marine programs, including Builders Risk & Installation, Contractors Property Block and Contractors Equipment coverage. About RB Jones RB Jones, which serves as the specialty underwriting business unit for H.W. Kaufman Group, develops and administers exclusive insurance programs on behalf of leading U.S. insurance carriers and global syndicates. RB Jones specializes in Commercial Marine, Excess Energy, Commercial Property, Large Property Schedules, Middle Market Property, Flood, Professional Liability, Specialty General Liability, Commercial Umbrella/Excess Liability, and other unique products. More information can be found at www.rbjonesinsurance.com. About H.W. Kaufman Group H.W. Kaufman Group is a privately held global insurance organization with offices in the United States, Canada, U.K., Europe and the UAE. The company employs thousands of professionals and conducts business in more than 90 countries worldwide. More information can be found at www.hwkaufman.com.