April 2007/5

AM Best has confirmed the appointment of former Lloyd’s commercial director Roger Sellek, a development first reported in Insider Week No 271.

Xchanging has priced its proposed initial public offering (IPO) at 210 to 240 pence a share, effectively valuing the company at £500mn at the mid-point price.

The failure of previous ventures has given the London market a certain notoriety for its inability to embrace new processes and methods of doing business. But is this fair? And, more importantly, are we finally seeing some real progress...

Reinsurance broker Benfield Group has successfully completed 98 percent of its 1/4 Japanese renewals electronically with the G6 group of Lloyd’s insurers.

Fast growing insurer Canopius Ltd is looking at options to expand its platform outside Lloyd’s, Insider Week can reveal.

Cat modelling firm Risk Management Solutions (RMS) has said the recent increases in Florida’s property values has exposed some cat bonds to a higher risk.

Japan’s improving economy has sparked an upgrade in the financial strength and debt ratings of Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co Ltd from AA- to AA.

Strong results prove SCOR bid undervalued, says Swiss rival

The changing of the guard among London’s mid-tier brokers continued last week after RFIB Group Ltd confirmed it had undertaken a management buy-out financed with private equity support.

Energy industry mutual Oil Insurance Ltd continued to see its membership decline as it confirmed last week that 13 more companies are set to leave.

US insurer Allstate Insurance has been ordered to pay $2.8mn to a Louisiana man whose home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

London market back-office service provider Xchanging Insurance Services (XIS) has announced it will significantly streamline the Lloyd’s Stage 2 policy wordings checks.

Bermuda-based Lloyd’s (re)insurer Catlin Group has confirmed that its Lloyd’s Syndicate 2003 will take part in Lloyd's new reinsurance operation in China.

Last week’s shock decision by Standard & Poor’s (S&P) to downgrade IPCRe from A to A- has been questioned in some quarters and sent out a strong message to peers with a focus on volatile catastrophe reinsurance business.

Standard & Poor's (S&P) decision to upgrade Lloyd's to A+ will surprise few people but it will still be a significant fillip to both the Corporation’s senior management and the insurers who underwrite through the market.

Glencairn Ltd, the Lloyd’s broker taken over by US firm Hilb Rogal & Hobbs Company Ltd (HRH) last December, has expanded by taking on the majority of Park London’s insurance and reinsurance business.

Bermudian reinsurer Arch Re has become the latest entrant into the burgeoning facultative reinsurance sector.

AXA has confirmed its acquisition of the consolidator Smart & Cook as the French insurance giant becomes one of the UK’s leading SME insurance intermediaries.

AXA is set to securitise a further portion of its motor portfolio some 18 months after its landmark FCC Sparc transaction.

PartnerRe has promoted Costas Miranthis to become deputy chief executive of its non-US operations, PartnerRe Global.

Bermuda-based life reinsurance specialist Scottish Re Group hopes to complete its $600mn rescue deal with two private equity firms within the next four weeks.

Patrick Snowball, Aviva UK’s group executive director, has resigned suddenly from the company and is set to join the insurance consolidator Towergate Partnership as deputy chairman.

The key to effective capital management in a softening market is underwriting discipline, according to Catlin Group CEO and deputy chairman Stephen Catlin.

Catlin Group underwriter Matthew Yeldham has become the latest ex-Wellington Underwriting employee to leave the group after it was confirmed he would be joining Bermudian firm Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited as its head of International Insurance.

Acquisitions of rival (re)insurers are potentially less risky than organic growth in a softening market, according to Nick Johnson, senior insurance analyst at Numis Securities.

Integro Ltd, the US insurance broker formed in response to the regulatory scrutiny into the US broking industry, has announced that Charles Waddington will join its facultative (Fac) team from Guy Carpenter & Co.

QBE Limit has expanded its aviation team hiring Tony Ambrose as an underwriter for Syndicate 5555's Products and Airports team.

Novae Group plc has opened an international general liability (GL) account with the recruitment of two senior underwriters to its Lloyd’s Syndicate 2007.

David Shipley, one of Lloyd’s leading underwriters, has stepped down from the syndicate he founded in 2000.