April 2008/4

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

Former Brit Insurance CEO of global markets Mike Sibthorpe is to join rival US-based WR Berkley, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

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.

(Re)insurance broker Willis Group Holdings has announced the launch of a new tool which will allow clients to rate and compare carriers on standards such as claims settling and policy administration.

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.

Cooper Gay, the London-headquartered broker currently in talks to buy Heath Lambert's wholesale operations, is mulling the possibility of an initial public offering (IPO) as early as this year, according to reports.

Lloyd's (re)insurer Amlin plc posted a 10 percent fall in gross written premium (GWP) for the first quarter of the year compared to the same 2007 period driven by renewal rate reductions, the company confirmed.

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.