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...

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...

Net premiums fell 13 percent in 2005 for the US reinsurers included in reinsurance broker Benfield's US Quarterly report (BUSQ). The report stated: "While appetite for retentions increased at primary companies, leading to reduced cessions, the BUSQ...

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...

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) announced on 5 April that it has revised its outlook on the reinsurance sector from negative to stable. S&P placed the reinsurance industry on negative outlook on 28 September last year in the aftermath of...

The G6 group of Lloyd's insurers announced last Wednesday that it has agreed new electronic processes with four major brokers using the internationally recognised ACORD data standards. The G6 or "gang of six" comprises an alliance between...

As the hurricane season raged last year, Lloyd's proudly revealed that it had made a £1.38bn profit in the first half of 2005. The impact of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma (KRW) was unlikely to see the performance sustained, but the Society's...

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...

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...

The Insurance Insider and Reynolds Porter Chamberlain invite you to attend a Post-Katrina Technical Briefing, taking place at Balls Brothers, Minster Court, London on Thursday 4 May 2006.

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...