December 2005/1

Heritage Underwriting Agency has forecast a loss for the full year with its net asset value per share dropping by 15 percent as a result. The group’s estimate for hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma net losses on Syndicate 1245 is £3.7mn. This has...

Michael Segal, the founder of Chicago-headquartered independent insurance broker Near North, was sentenced to ten years in prison for purloining money from his firm. Segal, who was convicted in June 2004 of 26 counts of racketeering, fraud, and...

Lloyd’s insurer Chaucer has offered PXRE an exit route from its discontinued Lloyd’s business by agreeing to buy the troubled Bermudian’s subsidiary PXRE Ltd, which provides the capital for Syndicate 1224. The Syndicate, which stopped underwriting...

Canopius has agreed to buy the renewal rights to Alea’s North American facilities (re)insurance business, which will now be written through its Syndicate 4444. Under the agreement Alea will get 5 percent of gross written premiums over the next two...

Atrium Underwriting today (5 December) reported its latest forecasts for 2003 and 2004 years of account on syndicates 570 and 609 and updated its hurricane losses for this year. The account year forecasts for managed syndicates are materially...

Brit Insurance has become the latest (re)insurer to raise capital in expectation of 2006’s improved underwriting conditions. The firm announced that it has agreed to raise £150mn tier two long-term subordinated debt. As well as enabling Brit to take...

Despite raising sufficient capital to ensure a capacity of £150mn on its Syndicate 780 next year, Advent Capital has seen ratings agency Moody’s downgrade its rating on the syndicate following the devastating losses from this year’s storms.

Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has reduced its stance on Wellington Underwriting Agency’s Syndicate 2020 following the sudden increase in its estimates to Hurricane Katrina. “The downgrade follows the Nov. 24, 2005 announcement of a 69 percent increase to...

Lloyd’s insurer Kiln has increase its 3Q storm losses, adding £10mn to Katrina exposures and reporting an initial range for Hurricane Wilma of £7.5mn to £12.5mn. In total Kiln now estimates that the pre-tax cost of these three hurricanes for its...

Losses to the Lloyd’s market from the trio of devastating hurricanes this year will top $5bn, according to latest estimates revealed last Wednesday (30 November). The Society also admitted that the likelihood of turning a 2005 profit was now...

Pressure is growing on senior management at Bermudian (re)insurer XL Capital after recent comments by equity analysts and rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) – which last Monday (28 November) downgraded the company by a notch from AA- to A+.

Validus Reinsurance Ltd, the Bermudian reinsurance start-up backed by the former MMC chairman and chief executive Jeffrey Greenberg, is set to go live later this week after raising $1bn in equity financing, Insider Week understands.