December 2005/1

A panel of High Court judges has thrown out an appeal by reinsurers against Justice Morison’s 21 December 2004 judgement in favour of claimant reinsureds and defendant brokers on all points in the notorious Aon 77 dispute.

SCOR will acquire one of the last trading arms of the defunct Alea Group after announcing this morning that it has agreed terms for the renewal rights of Alea Europe AG. Under the agreement, the French reinsurer will pay Alea Europe a commission...

Bermudian reinsurer Aspen today (6 December) increased its hurricane losses to a range of $470mn to $535mn (previous upper end of $400mn) and announced plans to raise $400mn in new capital.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) has downgraded the rating on Alea Group to BBB from BBB+ today (6 December), and changed its outlook on the company from negative to stable.

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...

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.

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...

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...

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...

Loss adjusters Crawford & Company announced that it has purchased a 26 percent interest in loss adjusting and claims settlement firm Indian Puri Anuj & Associates. The move is expected to provide additional service delivery capabilities to support...

World’s third largest broker Willis announced Friday (2 December) that it had agreed to buy Swedish regional property casualty broker Nicon Försäkringsmäklarna AB. The acquisition is expected to yield annual revenue of $1.5mn.

Brokers Marsh & McLennan has “restructured, refinanced and refocused its sales force” and is ready to grow again after suffering a rough year post-Spitzer, according to an analyst. Morgan Stanley analyst William Wilt said he sees the company as a...

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...

UK listed broker Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc (JLT) has ended its year-long search for a new group chief executive with the internal appointment of chief operating officer Dominic Burke to the position. Burke trumped colleague Mike Hammond, the...

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...

Bermudian (re)insurer XL Capital has announced the establishment of a new Excess & Surplus (E&S) unit within its XL Insurance division. The new unit will be headed by newly appointed E&S president John M DiBiasi, and will underwrite through Indian...

Aon is to close six of its UK offices over the next year as part of the broker’s previously announced major restructuring drive that is set cost 750 jobs in the UK. The offices in Canterbury, Cardiff, Liverpool, Norwich, Plymouth and Shrewsbury are...

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.

French (re)insurer SCOR will take up membership of the pools Réunion Aérienne and the Réunion Spatiale on 1 January 2006. SCOR, whose application to join the pools was accepted in November, will take a 5 percent share of each pool.

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...

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...

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+.

Two former Benfield brokers have given undertakings to the Financial Services Authority (FSA) that they will not carry out any regulated activity for two years. The two brokers, Robert Phillips and Isabel Rawlence, helped design and place a Loss...

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...

Rating agency AM Best is set to seal its stamp of authority on Bermuda’s “class of 2005” (re)insurers when it publishes inaugural financial strength ratings for a number of the start-ups in the forthcoming days. According to sources, AM Best is to...