August 2006/1

Aon Corp was the last of the three global brokers to report its second quarter results last week and they were perhaps the least remarkable.

Strong growth from reinsurance was a key positive from MMC's second quarter results, but overall broking revenues were down on falling insurance rates and loss of clients in its European operations.

German reinsurer Munich Re announced half-year profits of EUR2.1bn on 3 August, a leap of 143 percent from last year, driven by both strong underwriting and investment returns.

German giant Allianz has upped its 2006 earnings forecasts following a set of strident second quarter figures that include a 64 percent rise in net profit to EUR2.3bn against analysts' consensus of EUR2bn.

An improved performance in the property and casualty division fuelled a 16 percent rise in net income at Swiss Re, when it announced its half-year profits of SFr1.6bn on 4 August.

GCFac, the facultative arm of reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter, has bolstered its ranks with the launch of a structured risk team headed by former Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT) broker John Lobek.

Aon Corp has overtaken Marsh Inc to become the world's largest (re)insurance broker by brokerage revenues.

Berkshire Hathaway more than doubled its reinsurance business in the first half of 2006 as it exploited the capacity crunch felt for US property catastrophe business.