August 2005/4

GoshawK – the parent company of Bermudian reinsurer Rosemont Re - issued a profits warning today as exposures from recent catastrophe losses continue to grow.

49-year-old Spiller will begin his new role on 1 January 2005, he will be based in New York and report directly to Guy Carpenter chairman and CEO, Sal Zaffino.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has upped its outlook on broker Aon to stable from negative, while reaffirming the company’s “BBB+/A-2” counterparty credit rating.

Second quarter net profit was up 6 percent at German reinsurer Hannover Re as the firm benefited from increased earnings on premiums, lower taxes and less claims related to natural disasters.

Swiss reinsurer Converium came out ahead of expectations on 9 August to post a second quarter net profit of $70.8mn, against a net loss of $660mn in the same period of 2004.

Jeremy Fall, the managing director of (re)insurance consultants Chiltington International, has left the group to form a new run-off advisory firm, Quest Consultants.

Tropical Storm Risk (TSR), the consortium of experts on insurance, risk management and seasonal climate forecasting, today (15 August) increased its forecast for Atlantic hurricane activity in 2005 by 30 percent.

Royal & Sun Alliance (R&SA) continued its positive 2005 last week, posting IFRS net profits for the half-year of £195mn, more than double the £82mn posted for the same period in 2004.

Lloyd’s has received a request for information about finite reinsurance from the Securities and Exchange Commission and the office of New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer, it emerged today.

Nicholas Gooding, head of underwriting review at Wellington Underwriting, has resigned from the Lloyd’s insurer, Insider Week can reveal.

The Cypriot jet that crashed in Greece Sunday (14 August) morning was insured in the London market for an estimated $30mn.

Lloyd’s insurer Illium Insurance will now expand its 2006 capacity through a consortium rather than a pre-emption, Insider Week can reveal.