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December 2011/1

  • Swiss Re CEO Stefan Lippe will take early retirement in 2012 as the reinsurer starts the search for his successor, the company announced today (12 December).
  • Global reinsurance broker Aon Benfield is being sued by a cedant company over a loyalty fee that was alledgedly withheld after the insurer switched its account to Guy Carpenter
  • The Tokio Marine-led programmes of Mitsubishi and Nikon are expected to incur heavy losses running into hundreds of millions of dollars from the Thai floods, The Insurance Insider understands
  • International reinsurers are facing losses of up to $2bn on three surplus treaties purchased by Tokio Marine's Thai joint venture
  • Following the Thai flooding, attention has so far focused on reinsurance losses from the Japanese big three and regional (re)insurers, but global insurers' international cat programmes are also expected to take losses.
  • Up to 75 percent of losses from the Thai flooding are likely to end up with the reinsurance and retrocession markets.
  • The withdrawal of CCR - one of Thailand's market-leading reinsurers - will almost inevitably be followed by other carriers as the region faces up to the "unmodelled" scale of its loss exposures and amid predictions that not all carriers will survive unless recapitalised
  • The developing Thai flood loss has proved "the straw that broke the camel's back" for the retro market, signalling a hardening environment and a 1 January renewal that will match the reinsurance market for its difficulty and lateness
  • Figures put together by The Insurance Insider from official industry forecasts and market sources suggest that total insured losses from catastrophic events with expected losses of $100mn or more total $94bn
  • The experience of continental reinsurers Hannover Re and Scor in 2011 highlights the value of retro as a product, but also the challenge of renewing cover in a tighter post-loss market
  • Only four out of 19 US reinsurers escaped an underwriting loss in the first nine months of 2011, as combined ratios were battered in a period dominated by the frequency and severity of catastrophe losses
  • Despite the lack of firm orders, the 5-15 percent price increases broadly agreed to have been present at midyear are likely to be matched at 1 January
  • Aon Benfield's contrarian stance on US cat rates may have been rewarded in the form of a flurry of US account wins
  • Despite a first-quarter sale being targeted, the auction process for Flagstone syndicates 1861 and 1969 is unlikely to come to life until the New Year, The Insurance Insider understands
  • Despite the prospect of a late renewal described as the most difficult since 2006, reinsurers so far appear to have learned lessons from the market dislocation that occurred in the aftermath of Katrina
  • US P&C insurer Tower Group and Bahrain-based carrier Arig have made "preliminary expressions of interest" about acquiring flood-struck Lloyd's (re)insurer Hardy, The Insurance Insider can reveal
  • Reinsurers are actively quoting aggregate covers for clients looking to protect against a recurrence of the frequency losses that have dominated 2011, but it remains to be seen whether the gap on pricing expectations will be bridged
  • There is little realistic prospect of a deal being concluded between Omega and Haverford chairman Mark Byrne to buy a 25 percent stake in the Lloyd's (re)insurer.
  • American Family Mutual stands to pick up a $200mn payout from the cat bond market after its second Mariah Re bond was put on its way to being declared a total loss
  • Brit Insurance is improving the appeal of its up-for-sale UK business Brit Insurance Ltd (BIL) to potential buyers by looking at adverse development-type cover to protect against under-reserving.
  • Defunct Swiss reinsurer Glacier Re has further extended the maturity date on its loss-struck Nelson Re Class G notes, as the debate over covered losses from 2008's Hurricane Ike continues
  • New Lloyd's chairman John Nelson reached out to brokers last month saying they would be at the heart of the market's growth in the future.
  • Its been a tough few years for the direct and facultative (D&F) market, as heavy cat and industrial losses have combined with soft primary and treaty rates to make the product less compelling for cedants.
  • An estimated 6-10 cat bonds are expected to be pitched to capital markets investors this month as the ILS sector ramps up for what is predicted to be a busy 2012
  • Ironshore's Lloyd's managing agency Pembroke is set to continue its expansion in 2012 with the establishment of a £25mn stamp special purpose syndicate (SPS).
  • Lloyd's (re)insurer Chaucer is mulling whether to continue providing turnkey services to nascent Lloyd's syndicates, according to well-placed sources.
  • Aon Benfield, Guy Carpenter and Holborn are locked in a patent dispute over the proprietary catastrophe modelling software that the reinsurance brokers make available to their clients
  • Lloyd's Market Association chief executive David Gittings has welcomed the news that Lloyd's will trim its 2012 budget by 8 percent, saying that the measure shows "commendable resolve" from the Corporation.
  • Former New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer is again haunting US court rooms as another former Marsh executive is accusing the broker of hanging him out to dry as part of the infamous $850mn bid-rigging and contingent commissions settlement
  • BP has accused Halliburton of destroying evidence that showed the oil-field services giant should share part of the blame for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill
  • Five senior London market figures have confirmed they are standing for the three working member positions available in 2012
  • The memory of trading platform Kinnect continues to haunt new London market initiatives but Lloyd's - through Project Darwin - is hoping to bury the ghost once and for all
  • MarketScout: US market has turned; Thai floods $40bn; Axa to cut 1,600 German jobs; China increases; Duclos retires; Irene up to $4.5bn; HCC leads MF Global; CCR severs ties; Allianz duo defect; Munich Re CBI; Talanx IPO... finally
  • Torus acquires CV Starr business; Hudson Brown; Singapore Sling; Apollo lands; ProSight on target; Constable charged; Dual move; Torus twosome; Solvency II £2bn; R&Q's Synergy; Hard lines
  • Insurance tax experts have welcomed new proposals on overhauling the way the UK tax regime treats profits generated by overseas subsidiaries as a positive step in keeping London as a centre of excellence for global (re)insurance
  • Senator David Vitter has introduced legislation to the US Senate that would allow the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to be extended through to 2013 as long-term reform eludes legislators
  • The global property cat industry's largest customer, Zenkyoren, has told reinsurers that its ground-up loss from the Tohoku earthquake will rise again from the 790bn yen ($10.2bn) that it estimated less than a month ago, The Insurance Insider can reveal.
  • The captive run-off specialist has closed its doors after just two years of trading to focus attention on the $70bn US self-insurance market
  • The liquidators appointed to the South of England Protection and Indemnity Association (Bermuda) (Sepia) are set to cancel policies this month as the company is wound up
  • To the Cuthbert Heaths of today, this year's $90bn+ of losses may be good news...
  • Lloyd's is cautiously preparing to flex its muscles in 2012, with market capacity set to increase by around 3 percent to £23.7bn
  • Church and charity mutual insurer Ecclesiastical Insurance has placed its New Zealand subsidiary Ansvar New Zealand into run-off following a decision earlier this year to withdraw from providing new cover after the Christchurch earthquakes
  • US cat prices are expected to be up 10-15% and Europe flat as underwriters and brokers spar right up until the final bell of what are widely expected to be the most difficult 1 January cat reinsurance renewals since 2006...