February 2007/4

Strong growth at subsidiaries Guy Carpenter, Kroll and Mercer pushed Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc (MMC) to book fourth quarter 2006 revenue growth of 9 percent to $3.1bn, as it reported consolidated net income of $226mn for the period.

Lloyd’s insurer Chaucer Holdings has closed its 2004-year of account with a 17.2 percent profit, up from the previously forecast 15.9 percent.

If the recent Florida insurance legislation had been passed in a foreign country, US (re)insurers would be asking the State Department to intervene, according to Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, chairman and CEO of CV Starr & Co.

Novae Group plc looks set to open an international general liability account later this year, Insider Week understands.

In a further sign of growing innovation between the (re)insurance industry and capital markets, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) is to begin trading hurricane futures and options in conjunction with reinsurance broker RK Carvill.

Broking giant Aon Corp confirmed last week that it expects to lose a total of 3600 jobs as part of its ongoing post-Spitzer efficiency drive.

Despite an initial rejection of its overtures, the French reinsurer SCOR has built a 32.9 percent stake in its takeover target Converium Holding AG after striking a deal with the corporate raider Martin Ebner.

UK-listed broker Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc (JLT) received a £14.2mn present last week following the merger of Continental brokers SIACI and Assurances et Conseils Saint-Honoré (ACSH).

Another Bermudian (re)insurer to bounce back from 2005 was Arch Capital, which almost tripled its full-year profits from $256.4mn then to $692.6mn for last year.

Lloyd’s reinsurer Advent Capital said it expected to make a profit of £22.8mn for last year, reversing the £74.8mn deficit a year earlier.