April 2006/1

Bermudian giant XL Capital is to float its financial guaranty business in an initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange, the (re)insurer revealed in a statement today (7 April). Funds raised will be used to boost capital and to...

Stone Point Capital, the former private equity arm of MMC, has agreed terms to acquire the business of AXA Re and form a new reinsurer, Paris Re. AXA Re’s parent AXA SA will take a stake of between 5 and 10 percent in Paris Re Holdings Ltd...

Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) today (5 April) announced that it has revised its outlook on the reinsurance sector from negative to stable.

The G6 group of Lloyd's insurers has today (5 April) announced that it has agreed new electronic processes with four major brokers using the internationally recognised ACORD data standards.

UK-listed broker Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc (JLT) has today (5 April) revealed that Dominic Collins, executive chairman of its JLT Risk Solutions division, has resigned after more than 20 years with the company. The move follows plans for...

Aviation underwriting agency Augsburg Re is set to become a fully-fledged reinsurer if it completes a planned fundraising, The Insurance Insider can exclusively reveal. The company, which is headed by the experienced aviation underwriter...

Shares in run-off (re)insurance group Alea Group Holdings rose this morning after the company announced better than expected full-year results.

Bermudian reinsurance start-up Ariel Re has recruited the head of ACE Energy, Chris Fisher, to lead its energy underwriting division. Fisher was chosen by ACE last year to head its new retail energy unit, ACE Energy, which offers property and...

Energy mutual OIL has responded to last year's hurricane losses and spiralling premium costs by cutting coverage in half to a $500mn aggregation limit for multiple claims from a single occurrence. The company has also suggested it may look to...

Further significant catastrophes this year could restrict reinsurers access to the capital markets, according to a report by ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P). The report noted that, although earnings had been poor for property & casualty...

Embattled reinsurer PXRE Group Ltd revealed the damage slumping out of the A-rating range has already inflicted on its business, with a third of its clients cancelling contracts on 1/1 in-force business as of 13 March 2006. In a 16 March SEC filing...

Reinsurance broker Benfield Group has announced the successful completion of its first electronic transfers of reinsurance submissions using peer-to-peer standard messaging with some of Lloyd's "gang of six". The "gang of six", or G6, comprises an...

Lloyd's has given distressed insurer Quanta Capital Holdings a deadline to inject new capital into its Syndicate 4000 or face the business being closed by year-end. The Bermudian headquartered insurance group revealed in a Securities & Exchange...

Ratings agency AM Best has awarded a financial strength rating of A- (Excellent), with a stable outlook, to Hiscox Insurance Company (Guernsey) Limited. The agency said the rating was based on Hiscox Guernsey's "excellent risk-adjusted...

A report by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has warned that the Financial Services Authority (FSA) is costing UK consumers £400mn a year. Stringent regulations and a sales process that is burdened with too much "irrelevant information"...

Hampden Private Capital is now one of only two remaining Lloyd's members' agencies after acquiring the Names' advisory business from CBS Private Capital. CBS, Hampden Private Capital and Argenta Private Capital, were the three existing Lloyd's...

Lloyd's insurer Heritage Underwriting Agency closed its 2003 year of account with both of its syndicates ending ahead of previous forecasts. Syndicate 1200 closed the year with profits of 28 percent on a capacity of £80mn while Syndicate 3245 closed...

Specialist Lloyd's insurer Advent announced pre-tax losses of £74.8mn in its full-year results, which were released on 31 March. The company fell from last year's pre-tax profit of £4.5mn after suffering a £79.7mn net hit from hurricanes Katrina...

Shareholders of the Arab Insurance Group (ARIG) have approved the resumption of dividend payments at the company's AGM. Profits were up nearly $22mn last year at ARIG, representing a 19.5 percent return on average shareholders'...

Scheme creditors of collapsed Australian insurer HIH Group approved a scheme of arrangement at a vote in Sydney on 29 March, it was announced by liquidators KPMG. HIH group was the second largest general insurance group in Australia and became the...

Russian insurer Ingosstrakh is considering an initial public offering (IPO) on the London Stock Exchange, according to reports last Friday (31 March). The move would see Russia's second largest insurer become the country's first publicly traded...

Insured losses from Cyclone Larry, which struck northeastern Australia last month, are estimated at between AUS$300mn and AUS$400mn by ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P). The agency said that, although Larry had been a major disaster for the...

Lexington Insurance, a property and casualty unit of American International Group (AIG) has announced that it will reduce its coverage of catastrophe-exposed areas by 20-25 percent this year. Florida, the Gulf Coast and California are among the...

Heath Lambert has appointed two new staff members to its Aberdeen office as part of its Scottish expansion plans. Mark Webster has joined Heath Lambert as client service director and is responsible for delivering on the group's Service Excellence...

Is the UK's system of financial regulation a help, or a hindrance, to London's competitiveness with other global (re)insurance markets? Have your say with The Insurance Insider's 2006 London Market survey where the initial feedback is that...

Lloyd's is to launch its new Chinese onshore reinsurance operation in Shanghai, the Society announced in a statement today (3 April). The move follows approval from Chinese president Hu Jintao last November for Lloyd's to set up as an onshore...

The unlikely alliance between industry titans Maurice "Hank" Greenberg and Warren Buffett has led to the former AIG chief executive establishing an aviation underwriting platform in Lloyd's. Redholm Underwriting Agents began underwriting on behalf...

German insurance giant Allianz has poached GE Insurance's global aviation head Florian Karner to join the firm's Munich headquarters, Insider Week can reveal. The news comes only a week after Allianz itself lost its London Market aviation chief...

Lloyd's insurer SVB Holdings plc confirmed last week a scheme of arrangement to ring-fence past liabilities, with the creation of a new holding company Novae Group plc, and formation of an FSA-regulated insurer capitalised by proceeds from a £110mn...

Keith Rutter has returned to frontline duties in the London market this week by joining Oxygen Insurance Brokers. Rutter, the former head of Independent Insurance’s London market operations, together with his ex-colleague at NCG Professional Risks...

Thomas Tizzio has retired from American International Group (AIG) after 38 years with the company. Tizzio was most recently senior vice chairman of General Insurance and has also held the positions of senior vice president, Reinsurance, president of...