April 2008/4

The British Property Foundation (BPF) has called on the UK Government to invest in measures to prevent a repeat of 2007's summer floods.

US reinsurer Transatlantic Re reported first quarter profit of $115.7mn, an 8 percent rise from the same period last year.

Shares in bond insurer Ambac Financial Group plummeted after the company revealed a net loss of $1.66bn for Q1 2008 compared with a prior-year profit of $213mn.

The Travelers Companies Inc is that latest insurer to reveal it has been affected by an increase in catastrophe losses in 2008's first quarter results.

Allstate Corporation saw profits fall by over 75 percent in the first quarter of 2008 after suffering from a large rise in catastrophe losses.

US insurer Safeco Corporation, which last week agreed to a takeover by rival Liberty Mutual, reported a drop in quarterly profits for the fifth consecutive quarter as higher cat losses and lower premium income took a toll.

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

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.

Australian insurer QBE has increased its presence in Asia after establishing an underwriting operation in Singapore under the Lloyd's Asia license.

First quarter profits at Platinum Underwriters have soared by more than 40 percent on the comparable prior-year period.

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

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.

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

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.

(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.

Guy Carpenter & Co's newly formed M&A advisory team is understood to be leaving the reinsurance intermediary, following news of the firm's major restructuring first reported by The Insurance Insider earlier this month.

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

The start-up reinsurance intermediary Alpha Re has landed a $9mn property catastrophe account from larger rival Guy Carpenter & Co.

As an estimated 10,000 delegates converge on San Diego for 2008's Risk and Insurance Management Society's (RIMS) conference, fresh evidence has emerged of how brokers' revenue models are being transformed amid pressure from buyers and regulators.

Bermuda's Arch Capital Group Ltd has reported a fall in first quarter net profits from $198.6mn to $189.4mn as the combined ratio in its insurance business rose as a result of large risk losses.