April 2008/4

Insurance Australia Group (IAG) said it will not accept a merger with QBE Insurance, despite downgrading its full-year profit outlook.

The hard-pressed airline market showed signs of recovery at the 1 April renewals with rates rising by as much as 10 percent on some major airline accounts, according to underwriting sources.

Trading platform Insurance Futures Exchange Services (IFEX) has seen increased interest from Lloyd's managing agents in trading insurance linked derivatives.

Controlling a third of any market place gets regulators uneasy, especially in a sector as unpopular among consumers as insurance.

The sale of its London-headquartered reinsurance operations pushed US broker Arthur J Gallagher to a loss of $6mn for the first quarter despite a 10 percent rise in its revenues.

Hilb Rogal & Hobbs (HRH) said it has seen a "significant improvement" in the performance of its London market broker Glencairn.

Bermudian-headquartered insurer Lancashire Holdings Ltd will have faced its biggest test to date so far this year and its forthcoming first quarter results will give the best indication yet of the firm's strength, according to analyst Nick Johnson of Numi

Listed Lloyd's insurer Beazley Group plc reported falls in both rates and premiums in its first quarter trading update this week.

Reserve redundancies in the property and casualty (P&C) industry have passed their peak and have fallen by $1bn over the past year, according to research by analysts at Morgan Stanley.

New York State insurance superintendent Eric Dinallo is in talks with XL Capital’s troubled affiliate Security Capital Assurance Ltd (SCA) over its capital raising plans.

Bermudian (re)insurer XL Capital Ltd reported a 49 percent drop in net income for the first quarter 2008 on the prior-year period, to $276.9mn or $1.57 per ordinary share.

US insurer Chubb Corp has been criticised for its "low quality earnings" and unsustainable reserve releases by analyst David Small of Bear Stearns.