April 2006/2

Troubled Bermudian PXRE announced yesterday (11 April) that it has requested the withdrawal of its financial strength and issuer credit ratings by the major agencies. The move is part of the reinsurer’s strategic evaluation process that has...

Underwriting has become key to insurers profitability in the current low-yield financial environment, according to Swiss Re’s latest Sigma report. The report found that the non-life insurance industry posted sound underwriting profits in 2004. Over...

Reinsurance broker Carvill has published details of a new index to measure hurricane damage, the Hurricane Damage Potential Index (HDPI). Carvill says that the HPDI will give a more accurate measure of a hurricane's potential to cause damage than...

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 on 7 April. Funds raised will be used to boost capital and to...

Shares in run-off (re)insurance group Alea Group Holdings rose last week after the company announced better than expected full-year results. The group posted a post-tax loss of $178.9mn for the year, however this was significantly better than the...

Omega Specialty Insurance Company Ltd (OSIL) has become the latest of the "Class of 2005" to be endorsed by AM Best, after the agency assigned it A- financial strength and credit ratings last Monday (3 April). OSIL was launched late last year by...

Talanx's proposed acquisition of the German insurer Gerling Group has been approved by the European Commission - but only if it spins-off its pharmaceutical liability insurance operations. Following the announcement last year of the agreed sale...

UK-listed broker Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc (JLT) revealed on 5 April 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 a restructure...

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...

Castlepoint Holdings Ltd is the latest reinsurer to be formed in Bermuda after US investment bank Friedman, Billings Ramsey & Co Inc raised $265mn via a private placement for the start-up operation.

Lloyd's broker Howden has appointed its co-founder Mark Pangborn to the position of deputy chairman. Pangborn set up Howden in 1994 and, together with the broker's CEO Tim Coles, led the formation of Howden Risk Partners in 2002, which specialises...

Regulation doesn't benefit clients and only threatens profitability, according to a survey of insurance brokers conducted by accountancy and advisory firm Mazars. The findings, published last Thursday (6 April), reveal that the majority of brokers...