August 2007/3

Giant US insurer American International Group (AIG) has entered into an agreement to acquire Wurttembergische und Badische Versicherungs-AG (Wuba), its subsidiaries including DARAG Deutsche Versicherungs- und Ruckversicherungs-AG (DARAG) from associates o

Berkley Insurance Co, a subsidiary of US (re)insurer WR Berkley, is opening an Australian operation to write casualty facultative and treaty reinsurance.

Reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter has appointed Rupert Bedford as head of broking for the UK operations of GCFac, the firm's dedicated facultative reinsurance unit

Broker Aon Corp has confirmed that Geoff Bromley, the former chairman of Guy Carpenter’s European and Asian operations, will join Aon Re Global as vice chairman, as first revealed by The Insurance Insider.

Andrew Carrier, the former active underwriter of Kiln’s Lloyd’s Syndicate 557 and the reinsurance division of its Syndicate 510, will join Bermudian firm Peleus Re later this year.

“Class of 2005” start-up Flagstone Reinsurance Holdings Ltd reported Q2 profits hit by $31mn losses from the UK floods in June and $23.5mn from the Australian storm and flooding.

Newly-listed Bermudian (re)insurer Validus Holdings’ reported a strong set of inaugural results as a public company last week.

German (re)insurance group, Allianz has raised its estimate for the UK’s summer floods by EUR135mn to EUR158mn in total for June and July.

UK (re)insurer Aviva reported heavy losses of £235mn for the UK floods in June, dwarfing those of competitor Royal & Sun Alliance (R&SA), which reported flood losses of £55mn for the second quarter.

Highly leveraged insurance brokers and service providers are subject to high credit risk and may face downgrades, rating agency Moody’s Investor Services warned last week.

The UK’s largest privately-owned insurance group, Towergate Partnership (Towergate) announced a 31 percent increase in gross written premium despite softening market conditions.

The independent UK broker Heath Lambert Group plc has appointed corporate financiers Hawkpoint Partners to advise on options which could involve a refinancing to pay down debt and raise capital or a complete sale, The Insurance Insider revealed last week.