August 2006/2

SCOR is facing further legal action in its long-running dispute with Highfields investment funds, the former main minority shareholder in IRP Holdings Limited, the Dublin-based quota share sidecar it established in the aftermath of 9/11.

ICP Ltd, a proposed new investment vehicle specialising in the Lloyd’s sector, has effectively withdrawn its plan to IPO on London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM) after failing to raise sufficient funds.

Michael Wade continues to look at options for the proposed reinsurance venture, Tiger Re that, if successful, could see the veteran Lloyd’s figure return once again to the London market.

Swiss reinsurer Converium continues its recovery with another improved quarterly performance, reporting net income of $62.5mn on 8 August, compared with $46.9mn in the prior-year period.

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

Bermudian giant XL Capital announced the latest step in a series of organisational changes on 1 August with plans to develop an integrated European platform for its reinsurance operations.

Endurance is the latest as reinsurers trade risk with capital markets The growing popularity of reinsurance securitisations was demonstrated last month with news that Bermudian (re)insurer Endurance Specialty Insurance has acquired $235mn of...

Chubb records 'outstanding' quarter US insurer Chubb Corp reported an "outstanding" second quarter of 2006 with net income rising to $598mn, compared to $495mn for the prior-year period.

Lloyd's has upped the ante in the search for a new approach to the annual venture capital structure with the establishment of a working party of leading market figures to address the issue.

Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc (JLT) plans to overhaul its staff pension scheme in a bid to reduce the £146mn deficit which hangs over the company.

AIG profits drop 29 percent; Hannover Re contemplates Scottish Re bid; Allianz raises forecasts on strong second quarter; Fairfax shares fall; Odyssey Re misses SEC filing deadline; MMC continues to face Spitzer spectre; et al:

AM Best affirms Lloyd's ratings; Heritage latest Lloyd's insurer to list on AIM; Boucher quits Endurance; Lloyd's insurers continue capacity buy-outs; Strong half for R&SA; Gallagher recruits Battman; Central Fund levy forecast to fall in 2008; et al:

The decision by Aon Ltd to outsource its entire back office Client Operations division could provide the framework for a new approach by London market brokers to processing their business.

Beleaguered Bermudian reinsurer PXRE Group admitted it was heading towards run-off after announcing on 8 August that its net income had slipped to a mere $2.1mn for the second quarter.

Aon Corp has overtaken Marsh Inc to become the world's largest (re)insurance broker by brokerage revenues - at least that is the claim of the Chicago-headquartered broker.

German reinsurer R+V was awarded EUR3,528,357 in damages on 10 July from the former Lloyd's-based managing agency Risk in the latest round of their long-running dispute.

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.

Arrival of Sirocco Re and Timicuan Re takes post-Katrina sidecars over $3bn Lancashire Holdings became the latest company to launch a sidecar with Sirocco Re, a $95mn capitalised vehicle, which will write a quota share of the "Class of 2005"...

Willis Group has confirmed that it has recruited a team of Jardine Lloyd Thompson's (JLT) Financial and Professional lines brokers led by Julian Martin, the recent leader of JLT's UK D&O team.

The Competition Commission is holding an inquiry into Hampden Private Capital’s acquisition of the Names' advisory business of CBS Private Capital.

Fast expanding Lloyd's (re)insurer Ascot Underwriting is considering setting up an overseas operation to ease the penetration of its products into new markets.

The relentless quest by (re)insurers to manage down their reinsurance exposures has inspired a new approach to crystallising the industry's recoverables.

As exclusively revealed by our sister title Insider Week on 24 July, Aeolus Re is to become the latest reinsurer to begin operations on Bermuda following the raising of $500mn of capital.

Island's (re)insurers enjoy soaring property cat rates in benign quarter, some KRW deterioration ACE sets scene with strong second quarter Bermudian-headquartered ACE Ltd revealed a strong second quarter on 25 July with net income...

The stretched Florida insurance market has received some light relief with the announcement of a proposed state-run insurance pool along with the lowering of some of this year's hurricane predictions.

The proposed manager of the WFUM Pools Scheme of Arrangement, PRO Insurance Solutions, has issued scheme documentation and announced that the creditor voting meetings will take place on 27 October 2006.

In a potentially pioneering transaction, Lloyd's syndicates will have access to a pool of securitised reinsurance capacity next year following the launch of Thunderbird Re, a Cayman Islands domiciled special purpose reinsurer.

Private equity firm Stone Point Capital LLC is close to completing the buy-out of Alexander Forbes' International Operations, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

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.

The proposed Part VII transfer to move business out of Winterthur Swiss Insurance Company has run into objections in the High Court.