August 2009/5

International specialty (re)insurer HCC Insurance Holdings has succeeded in a knock-out bid for the remaining third-party capacity on its £54mn Lloyd's Syndicate 4040.

Swiss Re has continued shedding non-core assets with the sale of its CyberComp workers' compensation unit to AmTrust Financial Services.

Ratings agency AM Best has downgraded the financial strength ratings (FSR) of Tower Hill Preferred Insurance Company - one of Florida's largest writers of residential property insurance.

Lloyd's managing agent Chaucer said it is confident of a continued pipeline of new business for its Lloyd's turnkey operations, following the news that Antares Syndicate 1274 is to fly the nest.

Lloyd's (re)insurance broker RFIB has broadened its energy offering with a new office, RFIB Energy Australia, which will be headed by former head of Benfield Corporate Risk’s Perth office, Simon Race.

American International Group (AIG)'s new CEO, Robert Benmosche, expressed his readiness to bury the hatchet with former AIG chief executive Maurice "Hank" Greenberg - who was a vocal critic of the beleaguered insurance giant's last CEO, Edward Liddy.

Apart from revealing stellar results this week, Bermudian reinsurer Ariel Re announced it is to open a branch office in Zurich to write global credit and surety reinsurance from the 2010 renewal season.

Run-off (re)insurer Alea Group booked a net loss of $44.7mn in the first six months of 2009, compared to the small profit of $819,000 it eked in the first half of 2008.

Willis Group has named Vic Krauze as president of Willis HRH, its North American retail business.

Xchanging, the London market and international business process outsourcing specialist, has secured a £110mn syndicated term loan and revolving credit facility.

UK insurance services provider Charles Taylor Consulting (CTC) posted a pre-tax profit of £5.6mn for the first six months of the year, compared to £5.2mn in H1 2008, as total revenues climbed to £45.8mn.

The International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) said that despite the problems thrown up in the wake of the Lehman Brothers collapse, the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market is likely to keep developing.