February 2005/5

Australian insurance company QBE announced record after tax 2004 profits of A$820mn last Thursday (24 February), an increase of 43 percent on the A$572mn it made in the previous year.

Growing losses from last autumn’s hurricanes contributed to property catastrophe specialist IPC Re reporting lower than expected fourth quarter results last Tuesday (22 February).

Bermudian Platinum Underwriters Holdings, the parent company of St Paul spin-off Platinum Re, last week (22 February) reported 2004 net income of $84.8mn or $1.81 per diluted share, down $60mn on the previous year, as the impact of record natural catastro

Bermudian RenaissanceRe reported 2004 net operating income of $110mn, well down on the restated $525mn booked in 2003, as the impact of the devastating hurricane season hit home.

Lloyd’s insurer SVB Holdings Plc has drawn-down a further £32.4mn from the special £103.6mn group reserve it established last year to absorb mounting losses from its syndicates’ legacy US casualty exposures.

(Re)insurance broker Cooper Gay announced record results this month (17 February) with total income up 3 percent to £52.1mn and pre-tax profits increasing by more than 2 percent to £8.3mn.

Promina, the spin-off of Royal & Sun Alliance’s Australasian operation, reported a 53.7 percent increase in pre-tax net profit to A$458mn in its first full year as a standalone company.

London Stock Exchange quoted reinsurer Alea Group Holdings has removed its group underwriting director and US operation chief executive in a management reshuffle weeks before it is due to publish its 2004 results.

The end of February brought news of more MMC executives defecting to rival organisations including reinsurance broker Benfield Group’s capture of Marsh’s head of global marine and energy practice John Lapsley.

Bermudian headquartered Endurance has appointed Gunther Saacke to head up the property and casualty treaty reinsurance operation in its London office.

After a tumultuous six months, the Board of directors of Swiss reinsurer Converium have replaced chief executive Dirk Lohmann with the company’s managing director Terry G Clarke.

D&O insurers’ willingness to void cover for one of the most common source of claims – exposures arising from financial restatements which then spark securities class actions – has led Chubb Insurance Company to apply to a Canadian Court to rescind its cov