(Re)insurers’ top line up 5% in Q1

Benjamin Franklin once said that out of adversity comes opportunity and so it appears for our (re)insurance universe, with significant top-line growth coming after a tumultuous and catastrophe-ridden 2011… Read more

Lloyd’s big-guns diverge on 2012 rates strategy

The top-listed Lloyd's insurers revealed generally upbeat commentary on the January and April renewals in their first quarter interim management statements, but also revealed a noticeable divide on rate prospects… Read more

Munich Re expects to deploy stable wind capacity

Munich Re said it plans to deploy similar capacity in the upcoming US hurricane renewals as it has in past years after cutting back its property cat writing earlier this year… Read more

Allstate buys extra top layer but terms tighten

Allstate Corp successfully added a $475mn top layer to its 2012 nationwide excess of loss cat programme while keeping its overall reinsurance spending to a modest 2 percent increase on last year… Read more

Three biggest writers have 45% share of cat market

Lloyd's, Munich Re and Swiss Re have just over a 45 percent market share in property cat business, analysis from The Insurance Insider shows… Read more

Run-off bidders Enstar and Catalina out of Flagstone auction

Legacy big hitters Enstar and Catalina are out of the Flagstone sale process, leaving Tower Group and ANV as the remaining bidders, The Insurance Insider can reveal… Read more

• Omega investors wait for Argenta proposal
• CNA reassures investors that Hardy has halved cat book
• Lloyd’s M&A spotlight turns to Novae

Scor doubles its contingent capital coverage to EUR150mn

Global reinsurer Scor has doubled the amount of event-driven contingent capital it can draw down on in response to large natural catastrophe losses to EUR 150mn from EUR75mn.… Read more

• McKeown to head Bermudian ILS fund
• Travelers seeks $150mn in Longpoint cat bond
• Not all collateralised cat reinsurers are equal

Fresh evidence of Thai loss creep emerges

Thai flood losses on the overseas per risk treaties of the Japanese big three (re)insurers have deteriorated still further, The Insurance Insider can reveal.… Read more

• Sony confirms $805mn Thai floods loss
• 2012 tornado losses reach $3.5bn
• CBI insurers face nervous wait from nylon 12 shortage

DLA Piper hires two Dewey insurance partners in Hong Kong

DLA Piper's Hong Kong office has hired two insurance, corporate and regulatory partners from beleaguered law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf, along with around three associates… Read more

• Bond Pearce hires Clyde & Co insurance partner
• M&A lawsuits continue at high pace
• Fraud case against Greenberg cleared for trial

Bernardino says more regulation for loss adjusters

Gabriel Bernardino, head of the European insurance watchdog Eiopa, has added his voice to calls for more regulation of loss adjusters and said the profession is likely to be "further recognised" at EU-level in the near future.… Read more

• NFIP may require further short-term extension
• Eiopa overrules confidentiality clauses on third-party models
• Forgotten Pillar III: 84% of European insurers not ready

Lloyd’s insurer fails new Solvency II traffic lights

52 managing agents pass new three-light test, but one gets red light. Who is it?… Read more

• Lloyd’s pushes back key Solvency II date
• Omnibus II passes crucial committee vote
• Nelson broadside at SII implementation

Greek motor book highlights robust legacy demand

More than 20 companies have expressed an interest in purchasing a portfolio of run-off Greek motor insurance, highlighting the strong competition for legacy assets that still exists in the London market, according to sources.… Read more

• Run-off bidders Enstar and Catalina out of Flagstone auction
• Catalina appoints Morgan Stanley for capital raise
• Eagle Star bidding war predicted

Global Aerospace leads $35mn Indonesian hull loss

The Sukhoi Superjet plane crash in Indonesia yesterday (9 May) is set to cost hull insurers $34.6mn, sister title Inside FAC revealed earlier.… Read more

• Horizon settlement contributes to rating incline
• Hardy takes $25mn Sony hit
• QBE’s Harries to lead new casualty and professional/financial lines unit

World Space Risk Review 2012

At the time of writing, it's over six months since the Atlantis flew its final mission, bringing an end to Nasa's iconic 30-year Space Shuttle programme. With only two major, albeit tragic, failures of the vehicles in some 135 missions, the programme has helped… Read more

The Insurance Insider Bermuda Roundtable 2011

When The Insurance Insider last set down on the shores of Bermuda, the market was in the immediate aftershock of the Great Tohoku earthquake. It was late March and at our first Bermuda reinsurance roundtable of 2011 the talk was naturally dominated by the impact of the Japanese tragedy… Read more

The Insurance Insider Reinsurance Roundtable

When we gathered some of the industry's leading lights in this great coastal retreat last year, we heard tales of how hefty H1 nat cat and man made losses might hasten the end of the latter stages of the late-soft market cycle… Read more

InsideFAC Monte Carlo Roundtable 2011

It was great to see so many of the D&F fraternity gathered in Monte Carlo this year, doing the rounds in what, even for the principality, was especially hot weather. In the run-up to this year's roundtable one issue really seemed to dominate the thinking of those in the market, namely who's buying?… Read more