February 2011/2
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Guernsey based private equity firm Terra Firma is in talks to acquire Lloyd's (re)insurer Chaucer plc, The Insurance Insider can reveal.
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LMA cool on Suez threat; Marsh unveils Maplecroft link-up; EU announces Eiopa chairperson; GCube $500mn solar expansion driven by demand; Litmus Analysis hires S&P veteran; Oxford hires PI duo after cash injection; AM Best gives Arch ratings boost; RFIB targets growth in Russian retail sector; PWC appoints insurance chief
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Insurance services and run-off capital provider Tawa plc is upping its investment in the US as it looks to build out its platform through acquisitions, The Insurance Insider can reveal.
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Novae Group, the Lloyd's insurer nearly brought to its knees 10 years ago by a torrent of US casualty reinsurance exposures, looks set to announce that it has finally dealt with its legacy past.
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The Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) has outlined a roadmap for creating a regulatory framework that is recognised as equivalent to the European Solvency II (SII) regulations.
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Solvency II implementation spending by UK regulator the Financial Services Authority (FSA) will amount to £46.4mn in the financial year starting 1 April 2011.
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UK regulator the Financial Services Authority (FSA) unveiled a 10.1 percent budget increase for the upcoming financial year as the cost of a more intrusive regulatory regime mounts.
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As Cyclone Yasi made landfall as a Category 4 storm on Australia's Queensland coast last week (3 February), reinsurance brokers transacted so-called livecat industry loss warranty (ILW) deals for traders seeking to hedge against losses.
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Investment bank JPMorgan completed an innovative longevity hedge last month, with capital markets investors welcoming its short-term duration.
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The catalyst for a turn in the pervasive soft market conditions of the insurance underwriting cycle does not have to be a major event, according to MMC chairman and CEO Brian Duperreault.
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Soft market pressures and a reduction in the use of reinsurance have left the directors' and officers' (D&O) sector vulnerable to a repeat of the pain it suffered in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
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Directors' and officers' (D&O) underwriters need to change the way they price the excess layers on towers of insurance coverage to avoid the pitfalls of past soft markets.
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Mapfre achieved an 8.7 percent increase in revenues for full-year 2010, despite a EUR 106.1mn hit from the Chilean earthquake.
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Global specialty insurer Ace has revealed a threefold increase in pre-tax catastrophe losses for 2010 to more than $400mn, along with guidance that this figure for 2011 already stands at $370mn.
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Munich Re's full-year profits slid by 5 percent to EUR2.43bn as it reported that catastrophes had cost it EUR495mn in the final quarter of 2011 and pushed its full-year combined ratio over 100 percent.
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Full-year accounts for The Hartford show that earnings have rebounded from the losses experienced in 2009, although there was significant deterioration in its P&C earnings during the final quarter.
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Markel Corp posted a 97 percent combined ratio for 2010, with large prior-year reserve releases in the final quarter enabling the firm to beat Wall Street earnings expectations.
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Specialty insurer WR Berkley's full-year net income rose by 45 percent to reach $449mn as the firm bounced back from heavy investment losses in 2009.
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US insurance group American Financial Group (AFG) reported an 8 percent year-on-year drop in full-year earnings for 2010 to $479mn, due to deteriorating results from its specialty P&C operations.
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White Mountains Insurance Group booked an 80 percent slump in net profits from $470mn in 2009 to $87mn last year, despite a relatively strong performance in its reinsurance division.
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Midway through the US and Bermudian Q4 reporting season results have broadly beaten expectations so far, according to UBS analyst Brian Meredith.
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The brutal winter storms that struck the US at the start of February will produce insured losses of between $790mn and $1.4bn, reports catastrophe modelling firm AIR Worldwide.
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Premiums in the mining industry have fallen for the second consecutive year despite a series of catastrophe losses, according to broker Willis.
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Munich Re's revised loss forecast for the New Zealand earthquake has taken the growth in reported reinsurance losses since December past the $650mn mark, analysis from The Insurance Insider shows.
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Australian insurer Suncorp has once again reaped the benefits of comprehensive sideways reinsurance protection, as it revealed its net claims costs from last week's Category 5 Cyclone Yasi will be capped at just $10mn.
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Rates for treaties covering offshore energy risks rose by 20 percent at the 1 January renewals, according to reinsurer Hannover Re.
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Marine insurers have secured further clarity from the UK High Court over one of the crucial issues posed by piracy off the coast of Somalia - the legality of ransom payments.
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The marine insurance market continues to expand in 2011, despite fears of overcapacity in the core hull and machinery (H&M) sector that has not delivered underwriting profit for more than a decade.
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A return to hard market conditions will require $74bn of excess capacity to be taken out of the US property and casualty market, according to global insurance data and analytics provider Advisen.
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The first two major global reinsurers to report, Munich Re and Hannover Re, have expressed satisfaction with their relative market showing in the 1 January renewals
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The new rules on the capital charges held against investment risk under the QIS5 version of Solvency II will have a radical impact on (re)insurers' investment portfolios, according to studies
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London-based wholesale (re)insurance broker Cooper Gay's plans to convert its European trading team into a single entity will see the firm's bonuses and incentives pooled as if they operated a single profit and loss account, according to sister title Inside FAC.
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Ryan Specialty Group has launched a managing general underwriter (MGU) for US excess casualty business - its second MGU launch in the last fortnight, and has announced another acquisition in the excess and surplus lines broking space.
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AJ Gallagher achieved a 9.5 percent increase in its 2010 earnings to $135.5mn despite its brokerage segment suffering a 1.7 percent decline in organic revenues over the year.
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With Aon already reporting solid numbers for Q4 2010, the attention will now turn to rivals MMC and Willis - with the latter due to report this Wednesday (9 February).
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Aon Corp threw down a gauntlet to its rivals MMC and Willis with a solid fourth quarter in broking revenues and margins enabling it to pip the analysts' consensus on forecast earnings.
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