February 2006/3

Hannover Re has announced a restructure of its US arm Clarendon and admitted it will weigh up the options for the future of its ongoing specialty and discontinued programme businesses. In a statement today (7 March) the German reinsurer revealed the...

Shares in (re)insurer Quanta Capital Holdings Ltd collapsed yesterday (2 March) after the company admitted it was putting itself up for sale following deteriorating losses and a downgrade by rating agency AM Best from the crucial A- to B++.

Bermudian (re)insurer Alea Group has had its rating withdrawn by agencies Standard & Poor’s (S&P) following the lead of AM Best. A statement from S&P on 14 February said: “Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said today it affirmed its BBB long-term...

White Mountains Insurance Group has become the fourth (re)insurer to announce the formation of a Bermudian sidecar vehicle following last year’s US storm losses. Helicon will sit alongside the Bermudian reinsurer Olympus Re in writing up to...

As the run-off sector continues to absorb the implications of key developments in 2005 led by the High Court decision not to sanction the British Aviation Insurance Company Limited (BAIC) solvent scheme of arrangement, the number of proposed...

Despite the “Class of 2005” raising over $10bn within months of Hurricane Katrina, capital supply is expected to have less impact on pricing than ever before, according to analysts at Numis Securities. In a note titled “The cycle has staying power”...

Last autumn’s industry record hurricane losses triggered sharp increases in property rates in the fourth quarter of 2005, according to the latest RIMS Benchmark Survey from analysts at US firm Advisen. The survey, which includes information from...

Three of the world’s top five reinsurers, Munich Re, Swiss Re and Hannover Re, all showed slight improvements in premium volume through the January renewals. The European giants said they had achieved this while targeting underwriting and price...

The UK Court of Appeal sent a sigh of relief among London market insurers earlier this month after over-turning last year’s controversial GoshawK vs Tyser decision which ruled brokers were not obliged to produce documents previously shown to underwriters.

As predicted by our sister publication Insider Week, Ewen Gilmour, the chief executive of quoted Lloyd’s insurer Chaucer plc, was appointed deputy chairman of Lloyd’s when the Society’s ruling body, the Lloyd’s Council, met earlier this month. Gilmour –

Only a month after Lloyd’s unveiled an ambitious three-year strategic plan, the Corporation parted company with its head of business strategy in early February. Since joining Lloyd’s in 2003, Stuart Degg led the development of Lloyd’s...

Despite revealing it would be tapping investors for fresh capital, SVB’s plans to form a new UK insurer and seal off its back-year legacy exposures were given a cautious welcome by analysts. Numis Securities’ analyst Nick Johnson maintained his...