April 2010/3

The closure of a large swathe of northern European airspace due to volcanic ash clouds is not thought to be a major business interruption (BI) exposure to the aviation sector, according to market experts.

Lloyd's and international (re)insurer Beazley has hired Scott Machut to head up business development at its US accident and health (A&H) division.

Securities litigation filings fell 39 percent in the first quarter of 2010 compared to a year ago, with 178 suits filed, compared to the record-breaking 294 suits filed in Q1 2009 at the height of the credit crisis backlash.

The London arm of broker Colemont International placed the insurance programme for the Airbus A300 cargo aircraft which crashed late Tuesday evening (14 April) in Mexico, The Insurance Insider understands.

Guy Carpenter's head of American operations Andrew Marcell is moving aside in favour of colleague Chris McKeown to take up the newly created role of CEO of global practices and head of placement strategy.

Andrew Appel, the former management consultant who masterminded the integration of Aon Re and Benfield Group, is to return to the parent company as part of senior management restructuring at the world's largest reinsurance broker, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

AIG subsidiary International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) is to raise almost $2bn through the sale of aircraft to Australian financial services firm Macquarie Group, as it looks to pay down its debt mountain and secure its future as a going concern.

German (re)insurance giant Munich Re has sold a large chunk of its stake in Swiss insurer Helvetia Holding, reducing its interest from 8.2 percent to “under 3 percent”.  

HCC Insurance Holdings has reported losses totalling $20mn pre-tax, $13mn post-tax, from the Chilean earthquake and windstorm Xynthia. The firm said losses from the Chile disaster account for the majority of the reported figure.

CEO Marshall Kath has resigned from Colemont Insurance Brokers and will have no role with the company going forward following its merger with private equity-backed US broker AmWINS.

Ace adds to trade credit pack; Guy Carpenter specialist moves to BMS; US government appoints new AIG directors; Green joins Jubilee A&H team; RFIB appoints Haynes to head claims team...

Torus to launch marine practice; China approves Scor for life and health

Willis has arranged the first ever Shariah-compliant space insurance policy.

Caribbean insurance broker CGM Gallagher Group - part of US-based AJ Gallagher - has merged its commercial insurance broking portfolio with Jamaica-based Zenith Insurance Brokers.

A magnitude 7.7 earthquake hit the coast of Northern Sumatra, Indonesia last week, although the temblor had little effect on the island's rubber, palm oil and liquefied natural gas industries.

Early indications are that 2010 will be an expensive year for (re)insurers, sowing the seeds for a hard market in 2011 or beyond, according to Advisen.

Standard & Poor's (S&P) has upgraded Everest Re in recognition of its falling debt levels, high liquidity and efforts to diversify its business.

The Irish Financial Regulator's application to place Quinn Insurance into full administration was today adjourned for one week by the Irish High Court.

Hank Greenberg, the former long-serving CEO of American International Group (AIG), has blasted financial regulators for failing to prevent the insurer from taking on too much risk.

This year would typically be a natural time for the initial private equity sponsors of the "class of 2005" start-up Bermudians and those remaining in the "class of 2001" to look to exit, according to accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

The 10 April crash of the Polish Air Force jet in Smolensk in Russia, where all 96 on board were lost, is not expected to impact the commercial aviation insurance market.

The UK's City minister, Lord Myners, last week dumped controversial plans for allowing US-style class actions in order to ensure the Financial Services Act 2010 passed into law before next month's general election.

Audley Gilroy-controlled start-up (re)insurer Grafton is seeing strong demand in Europe, according to sources.

American International Group (AIG) has reached a $9mn out-of-court settlement with the Ohio attorney general over accusations that it colluded with Marsh to create fictitious quotes designed to simulate competitive bidding.

Ramani Ayer, the former chief executive of Hartford Financial, will receive a $39.9mn lump sum pension payout in May, according to regulatory disclosures.

American International Group (AIG) shareholders are likely to receive nothing after the restructuring of the company is complete, according to US hedge fund heavyweight Steve Eisman.

The European Union body charged with finalising the terms of Solvency II has confirmed that the solvency requirements in its next quantitative impact study (QIS5) will be even more demanding.

Lloyd's (re)insurer Beazley Group has announced that it will change its reporting currency from sterling to US dollars from 2010.

Soft market conditions are persisting in the US market, with the latest data from the MarketScout insurance exchange showing composite rates for property and casualty coverage down four percent for March 2010.

William Gray's team at Colorado State University confirmed its December long-range forecast of an above-average year for hurricane activity in the Atlantic basin.

The Perils industry loss collation service has completed its first live cat loss estimate, putting losses from Windstorm Xynthia at EUR1.28bn.

In what is traditionally a busy quarter for industry loss warranties (ILWs) between $3bn and $3.5bn of contracts were traded in the first three months of 2010, The Insurance Insider's sister publication Trading Risk revealed last week.

US insurers Liberty Mutual and USAA will issue catastrophe bonds in Q2, sister publication Trading Risk predicted last week.

Lloyd's insurer Marketform has reported a £90mn loss for 2009, on the back of a sharp deterioration in the claims record of its Italian public hospital medical malpractice (med mal) book.

Amlin, Hiscox and Hardy have come out as the top performers at Lloyd's in Shore Capital's annual post-results note on the market's listed insurers.

The Pennsylvania Department of Insurance has lost its lawsuit against Kingsway Financial Services (KFSI), with judges finding that the firm did not technically violate the law when it disposed of the Lincoln General Insurance unit by donating it to charities.