April 2009/1

Lloyd’s (re)insurer Hiscox has revealed strong growth in its top line for the first quarter as it benefited from the improved reinsurance pricing environment and the strong dollar on its expanded underwriting platform.

Charles Taylor Consulting plc will pay up to £7.85mn to acquire the struggling London based insurance and run-off services company, Axiom Consulting, it confirmed today (8 May).

Swiss Re profits slumped by 75 percent to SFr150mn for the first quarter, as the reinsurance giant took SFr2.1bn in net unrealised investment losses.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (MMC) saw group revenues fall 13 percent but operating margins significantly improve in its Risk and Insurance Services (RIS) division, as its recent cost-cutting drive appears to have borne fruit.

Reinsurance giant Munich Re booked a fall in net profit from EUR777mn to EUR420mn for the first quarter of the year, as its investment portfolio was hit again.

Randall & Quilter (R&Q) weathered a brutal year for acquirers of run-off (re)insurance businesses to post a profit before tax of £8.8mn for 2008 and an 8 percent growth in net assets.

American Financial Group raised its 2009 earnings projection after posting "record" first quarter net earnings of $103.8mn.

Global reinsurer Hannover Re produced solid results for Q1 2009 and declared an end to the worst of the financial crisis, as net earned premiums surged ahead 24.6 percent to EUR2.1bn.

Expansive Bermudian (re)insurers Flagstone Re and Validus Holdings booked increases in net profits for the first quarter, but reported conflicting fortunes on their underlying business.

Ambitious London market broker Cooper Gay has reported a 22 percent rise in 2008 revenues to £83mn, up from £68.1mn in 2007, fuelled by the arrival of new broking teams.

Troubled US insurer The Hartford Financial Services Group has slumped to a $1.2bn first quarter net loss, as it took a heavy charge to reflect the impact of equity market declines on future profits in its life operations.

RenaissanceRe (RenRe) has become the latest international underwriter to secure a Lloyd's platform after receiving approval from the Franchise Board for Syndicate 1458, in a move first revealed by The Insurance Insider.

European reinsurer Scor said first quarter profit declined 30 percent to EUR93mn as investment writedowns combined with the impact of European Windstorm Klaus.

A strong performance from Willis Group's international and London market operations ensured a healthy 29.8 percent adjusted operating margin for the global (re)insurance broker in its first quarter.

Argo International Holdings is set to unveil Julian Enoizi – the former head of CNA’s European operations – as CEO of its Lloyd’s arm Heritage Managing Agency Ltd, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

QBE has appointed Jonathan Beck as class underwriter for Kidnap and Ransom (K&R), within its specialty division.

UK regulator the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has approved the launch of Reale Insurance Brokers Limited – a new broker in the Market Insurance Brokers (MIB) group of companies.

Novae Group – the Lloyd's insurer which withdrew from merger discussions with rival Chaucer Insurance Holdings earlier this year – increased its revenues by almost a third, posted another impressive return from investments and said it was enjoying rate ri

American International Group (AIG) has moved to calm the choppy waters around the unwinding of its doomed financial products business (AIGFP) by persuading a senior executive at the division to reverse his resignation in order to avert potential legal act

ACE Ltd and Arch Capital Group Ltd reported contrasting Q1s, with the former posting a 50 percent rise in net profits that it said was aided by firming rates and the latter seeing net profits dip 26 percent as a result of impairments on its investment por

Willis Group is not in dispute with shareholders in its affiliate Gras Savoye & Cie over the valuation of the French broker.

XL Capital saw its revenues fall sharply and earnings dented in the first quarter but said a “back to basics” approach was beginning to pay dividends with a healthy 93 percent combined ratio in its core P&C operations (93.6 percent 1Q, 2008).

WR Berkley has confirmed the launch of its Lloyd's platform headed by former Brit Insurance executive Mike Sibthorpe, a move first revealed by The Insurance Insider.

What looks to have been a benign first quarter for losses helped a trio of Bermudian (re)insurers book relatively solid underlying results, but was not enough to spare US insurer WR Berkley from falling to a net loss for the period.