December 2005/2

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. At time of going to press, AM Best...

UK insurer Royal & Sun Alliance (R&SA) is facing damaging losses of up to $300mn net as a result of Mexican hurricane losses, The Insurance Insider understands. Hurricane Wilma slammed into the coast near Cancun in mid-October causing devastation to...

Despite the perception that hedge funds currently possess an unalloyed enthusiasm for all things reinsurance, the sponsors of the new sidecar arrangements are not being overwhelmed with interest from the cash-rich funds. These so-called sidecars are...

Class of 2005 reinsurer looks to be the first start-up on AIM since PRI The Bermudian start-up reinsurer Lancashire Holdings Ltd is set to float on the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in a bid to raise the final tier of...

There were further developments at failed (re)insurer GoshawK last month as the London Stock Exchange-listed company continued to restructure to run-off, with a number of management changes, the announcement of a possible rights issue...

Creditors of KWELM are set to receive payments of $770mn this month, as the average payout from the run-offs rises to 88.7 percent.

One of the largest, and most complicated, pool schemes of arrangements is in the offing after the manager of the London-based WFUM pools has written to policyholders to give them early notice of plans to propose a unified series of schemes...

The 23rd of November saw a gala night of charity white collar boxing as The Insurance Insider, hosted “A Hard Market?” on behalf of the London insurance industry.

Analysts have reacted negatively to the Turner Report’s proposal for a National Pensions Plan (NPP), calling the scheme a “white elephant” and predicting a negative effect on life insurers.

If Swiss Re successfully completes its acquisition of GE’s (re)insurance operations next year, it seems likely it will come at a price, after the four leading rating agencies announced they may downgrade the reinsurance giant.

Swiss Re’s incoming CEO Jacques Aigrain highlighted the “remarkable fit” between his company and the (re)insurance operations of GE as the companies announced the deal last month.

If its proposed acquisition of GE Insurance Solutions concludes without a hitch next summer, Swiss Re will be able to proclaim itself as the biggest reinsurer on the planet, leapfrogging its rival, Munich Re.