February 2005/5

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

Last Thursday (24 February) saw the launch of Trade Credit Re (TCRe), a new entrant in the trade credit insurance market.

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.

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.

(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.

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

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.

As predicted in the December 2004 edition of our sister publication The Insurance Insider, Jubilee Managing Agency Ltd has announced the acquisition of the Cassidy Davis business from St Paul Travelers’ Lloyd’s operation.

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.

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

Simon Clapham, the active underwriter of Brit Syndicate 2987, left Brit Insurance Holdings last week.