February 2012/4

Despite cat losses equivalent to 22.5 percent of net tangible assets, Hiscox succeeded in booking £17.3mn of pre-tax profits as its retail diversification strategy and one-off reserve releases came to the rescue.

Private equity (PE) firm Gresham is in talks with Groupama's well-regarded UK broker Bollington about financing a spin-off from the up-for-sale UK parent company, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

Mitsui Sumitomo and former Ascot CEO Martin Reith are no longer in the running to buy thinly capitalised Lloyd's carrier Hardy Underwriting, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

Swiss Re's new group CEO Michel Liès provided some of the most optimistic comments on market conditions from the European reinsurers as the company reported its 2011 results, saying there was "modest but broad" market turn underway.

Berkshire Hathaway paid out $2.6bn in catastrophe claims in 2011 as its downsizing kept cat losses well short of the unadjusted $3.4bn that the group incurred in 2005.

JLT Re Aon hires; Enstar appointment; Transatlantic deadline; Adieu to Pru?; Obama proposes tax cut; Tawa targets; Greenlight investment slump; Goldman Sachs downgrade threat; Lancashire plays Accordion; Allied World launch; Axis hire; Marcoux becomes Piper; Aon $70mn move; Tyser D&F hire

The price improvement on Japanese cooperative Zenkyoren's vast excess of loss (XoL) programme may be more modest than the loss record would suggest, The Insurance Insider understands.

The Q4 results season is a little special as it marks a natural point of reflection as the full year closes.

Florida's Citizens Property Insurance Corporation is looking to buy a minimum of $1bn of private reinsurance cover that will include a $250mn cat bond underwritten by Goldman Sachs, The Insurance Insider can reveal.