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...

The G6 group of Lloyd's insurers has recently announced that it has agreed new electronic processes with four major brokers using the internationally recognised ACORD data standards. Initial feedback from The Insurance Insider's 2006 London Market...

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...

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.

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...

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...

Analysts from Morgan Stanley predict Swiss reinsurer Converium will match rival SCOR’s revival, regaining its A rating from Standard & Poor's (S&P) later this year. David Collins, analyst at Morgan Stanley, upgraded Converium from underweight to...

The scale of the damage caused to the Lloyd's Central Fund by the failure of GoshawK's Syndicate 102 is becoming apparent with the Society paying £76mn last year to cover claims arising from the defunct insurer.

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...