August 2013/4

Despite concerns over pricing pressures and the dwindling pot of redundant reserves available for release, the rating outlook on the global reinsurance segment remains stable, according to AM Best.

P&C reinsurers are being both "defensive and offensive" as they scramble to build a track record in third-party management in response to the wave of capital markets capacity entering the sector, according to AM Best.

Argo's former excess and surplus lines (E&S) president Lou Levinson is set to re-emerge in the market at International Financial Group (IFG) as president of its wholesale insurance business.

Beleaguered US insurer Meadowbrook has been given a temporary reprieve by lenders to its bank credit facility after defaulting on its debt covenants.

Shareholders of American Safety Insurance (ASI) have approved the sale of the Bermuda-based company to the recommended bidder Fairfax Financial Holdings, ending a protracted and at times bitter takeover battle.

Pioneer Underwriting, the managing general agent (MGA) owned by London-headquartered independent broker BMS, has appointed former Lloyd's chair Max Taylor as chairman of its board.

Senior XL London market international casualty underwriting executives Denis Burniston and Colin Ivory are set to join Allied World Europe, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

A wildfire in California's Yosemite National Park, which has so far engulfed 225 square miles of territory, destroying 23 buildings and threatening 4,500 more, looks set to spread northwards, risk modelling firm AIR Worldwide said on 25 August.

Irish personal lines insurer FBD reported a bigger-than-expected 12 percent drop in its half-year profit, as weaker investment returns offset continued premium growth amid tough economic conditions.

Zurich CFO dies; National General listing; Plumeri returns

Former RSA chief executive Andy Haste has joined forces with private equity firm Advent International to mount a potential bid for the general insurance arm of the Co-operative Group, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Venezuelan state-owned hydrocarbon company PDVSA has refused to keep QBE's O'Farrell syndicate on as the lead of its $1bn programme and at least one major Lloyd's writer has since refused to take on the leadership.