December 2014/4

Share price data on The Insurance Insider's universe of P&C (re)insurers

P&C (re)insurance stocks rebounded last week, with our Insider 30 index recording a 2.77 percent gain.

The insurance industry has been stunned by the US Senate's failure to reauthorise the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (Tria), Lloyd's chief risk officer and general counsel Sean McGovern has said.

The International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) has launched a public consultation on the development of a global insurance capital standard (ICS).

The criteria for properties eligible for inclusion in Flood Re have been widened to include band H, the highest property tax band in England and Scotland.

A claimant law firm touting for Quindell investors that suffered losses following the UK insurance services firm's catastrophic share price falls this year claims it has received "almost" 350 responses.

UK insurance group RSA has put a sizable chunk of its underperforming German operation into run-off as CEO Stephen Hester continues to streamline the business and its balance sheet, The Insurance Insider has learned.

Earlier this month, AmTrust filed a defamation suit against short sellers and an equity research firm accusing the defendants of attempting to manipulate the Nasdaq-listed insurer's stock price by publishing "false and misleading" statements.

As 2014 draws to a close, investment managers at insurers can look back on a year of steady performance after lower treasury yields boosted the total return of their portfolios, despite widening spreads in the high yield market.

Insured losses from natural catastrophes and man-made events fell significantly in 2014, according to research from Swiss Re's Sigma research unit.

Just two new start-up syndicates will begin operating in 2015, half the number that launched throughout 2014.

Despite the overall Lloyd's market reducing in size, capacity behind young syndicates has expanded by more than 20 percent for 2015 as new players enter the market and some recent start-ups continue to expand.

Our survey has revealed that while overall Lloyd's capacity has dipped slightly, the market's weakest underwriting performers have been approved to grow in 2015.

Vibe Syndicate 5678, the live underwriting start-up backed by billionaire George Soros and private equity house Pine Brook, has topped The Insurance Insider's growth league table after increasing its capacity more than six-fold for 2015.

Stamp capacity for the Lloyd's market as a whole is set to fall by 0.8 percent next year, although by numbers alone the amount of syndicates pre-empting outweighed those shrinking or holding their capacity steady.

The expiration of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (Tria) is likely to have a significant impact on the workers' compensation market, with buyers facing a potential capacity crunch if Congress fails to act swiftly on a renewal of the US government terrorism backstop in the New Year.

The loss estimate for the fire that razed the Campofrio meat-processing factory last month has increased by 30 percent to $400mn, sister title Inside FAC reported.

The US Senate's failure to re-authorise the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (Tria) before its year-end 2014 expiry date is causing an uptick in submission flow for standalone terrorism cover.

A major fire that destroyed over two-thirds of an apartment block under construction in Los Angeles is likely to cost insurers in the range of $40mn-$60mn, sources told sister publication Inside FAC.

Hannover Re has structured and placed an extreme mortality swap with capital market investors, the German carrier announced.

American Strategic Insurance (ASI) has added to its estimated losses for the first 10 months of 2014 to take the total to 90 percent of the trigger point for its $200mn Gator Re bond, sister publication Trading Risk revealed last week.

Barbican group CEO David Reeves said the Lloyd's insurer and the Credit Suisse insurance-linked securities (ILS) team hope to develop their partnership further and may aim for full syndicate status for special purpose syndicate (SPS) 6120.

Third Point Re is winding down its catastrophe fund and investing in strategic partner Hiscox Bermuda's Kiskadee funds instead.

Third Point Re will relocate a number of its senior management team to New Jersey as it prepares to launch an onshore platform to better access US business and boost its float, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

Capsicum Re has won the major UK motor treaty accounts of Hastings Direct and eSure, The Insurance Insider has learned.

Platinum received an $82 per share offer for the company in June before the unknown bidder backed off amid concerns about a potential regulatory crackdown on offshore insurers. Normal 0 false

Proposed start-up Pine River Re has been disbanded after the hedge fund reinsurer failed to secure the A- rating it was seeking from AM Best, The Insurance Insider revealed last week.

US managing general agency V3 Insurance Partners has secured capacity from Berkshire Hathaway for its web-based workers' compensation programme that will allow it to significantly expand in 2015.

All-risk aviation reinsurers are renewing most treaties flat or with low single-digit rate increases, despite taking losses in 2014, The Insurance Insider understands.

Marine treaty rates look set to drop at speeds in line with the property cat reinsurance market at 1 January despite more than $300mn of deterioration on the Costa Concordia loss, The Insurance Insider understands.

Australasian cedant IAG looks set to secure a meaningful rate reduction on its gargantuan catastrophe treaty despite a big deterioration on its losses from the New Zealand earthquakes of 2010/11, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

Ceding commissions on pro-rata US casualty reinsurance will continue to rise in the January renewals, but the rate is slowing from last year, The Insurance Insider understands.

But bonfire of terms and conditions fails to materialise as underwriters show resolve

Expansive broker and risk manager Integro has completed its second acquisition this month with a deal to buy entertainment specialist Ventura Insurance Brokerage on undisclosed terms.

Ace's senior casualty underwriter Clive Archer has joined live Lloyd's start-up Vibe Syndicate 5678, The Insurance Insider has learned.

Peak Re affirmed; Talanx in Chile acquisition; Xchanging completes; Ace acquires; Aegis stops writing; Farmers Mutual buys; Capita wins Flood Re tender; Skuld endures claims; PPL verdict in New Year; HIIG promotes Way; Progressive is ‘defensive'; Latin American D&F; JLT places lagoon cover; PL renewal rights; RLI adds Scanlan; Catlin induction; Extreme mortality cover; GCube deal 

XL's surprise bid for Catlin has served as a reminder both that none of the London-listed carriers are too big to be taken out and that the sector has many attractions for those on the acquisition trail.

A wide canvass of banking sources suggests that if Catlin does decide to pursue a sale in 2015 then its acquirer will probably have to be XL.

The Insurance Insider looks at the rationale for the surprise £2.5bn deal funded predominantly by XL's large cash reserves....

Former QBE underwriter Ash Bathia is in the early stages of raising capital for an insurance start-up, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

In the days before power showers, the UK's preferred method of daily ablution was the humble bath. Getting into the tub might involve a sharp intake of breath, but once accustomed to the temperature the bather could lean back and luxuriate in its pleasantly perfumed warmth.

Lloyd's stamp capacity is set to contract for the first time in six years under the weight of mounting soft market pressure, putting an end to a long run of compound growth witnessed in prior years.