February 2010/3

Unveiling record underlying profits for 2009, Lloyd's (re)insurer Beazley has confirmed previous estimates of a negative impact on its £33mn 2009 profits...

(Re)insurance litigator leaves RPC for rival; Brit appoints chief information officer.

Clydesdale provides financing for Windsor; Allied World sets up new division; Katherine Barker to head Armour US subsidiary; Chris Blackham returns to insurance industry at Howden...

Guy Carpenter is set to part company with UK chairman Mark Hewett, it emerged last week.

Lloyd's insurer Chaucer has lured top Argo International underwriter Mark Lawrence to head up its new launch international liability division.

Guy Carpenter's Asia-Pacific Climate Impact Center (APCIC) over-estimated tropical cyclone activity in the Western-North Pacific region in 2009, the broker said in a review.

Scor reported increases in volumes and pricing across its portfolio during an upbeat renewals update last week.

American International Group (AIG) may be forced to take more than $8bn of MetLife stock in lieu of cash if it wants to get life subsidiary Alico off its hands, according to US reports.

Bermuda-domiciled Lloyd's insurer Hardy has received a stable ratings outlook from AM Best, ahead of its full year results due at the beginning of March.

PartnerRe announced a string of additional structural changes last week, following the closing of its acquisition of Paris Re.

Fitch has downgraded Berkshire Hathaway's insurance subsidiaries, as the Warren Buffett-backed conglomerate completed its $16bn mega-acquisition of railway operator Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF).

Underwriters need to improve how they handle their transactions with brokers and maintain underwriting discipline to weather the soft market better, the Lloyd's performance director Tom Bolt has warned.