February 2014/4

The average movement for US-listed (re)insurance stocks was flat overall last week after carriers noted mixed fortunes, mimicking the S&P 500 Insurance index.

It was a generally flat picture for the European composite last week, as share prices climbed by just 0.47 percent on average, underperforming the Stoxx 600 index, which rose by 0.83 percent.

Lloyd's stocks were a mixed bag last week, with half the carriers making gains while the other half experienced declines.

After getting a headstart to 2014, shares for London-listed broker JLT fell 2.27 percent last week, pegging back its year-to-date performance to +1.67 percent.

The state of Vermont has passed a law that will make it easier for US carriers to commute their legacy books to be run off in the state.

The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) has urged US legislators to reject a bill that would delay an overhaul of the US flood insurance subsidy scheme, arguing that the programme is too costly and fails to deter building on flood plains.

Oil extraction equipment maker Cameron International has failed to convince a US court that a jury should decide the outcome of its case against a unit of insurer Liberty Mutual, which relates to a disputed $50mn claim dating back to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster.

American International Group (AIG) has been thwarted in an 11th-hour attempt to block the approval of Bank of America (BoA)'s $8.5bn settlement for more than 500 claims from investors over toxic mortgage-backed securities.

Around 40 London market cargo insurers are considering suing the Japanese ship manufacturer Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) after one of its vessels split in half and caught fire, destroying its $440mn cargo.

Selective Insurance said that almost 30 percent of its 2014 reinsurance programme was written on a collateralised basis as it added $100mn to the top of its cover.

Munich Re is set to raise circa $100mn from a new Queen Street cat bond as the insurance premium on the deal has fallen due to strong investor demand, sister publication Trading Risk has reported.

American Strategic Insurance Group has become the first Floridian insurer to tap the cat bond market in 2014 with its debut offering, the $125mn Gator Re.

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Hannover Re can draw on just over $320mn of retrocession cover from its longstanding quota share programme for 2014, sister publication Trading Risk reported in its February edition.

Swiss Re, the world's second-biggest reinsurer, has reported a steeper drop in gross premium volume at the 1 January renewals than its European big three peers Munich Re and Hannover Re.

Listed UK and European (re)insurers have mostly chosen to return spare capital to shareholders in the form of special dividends, in contrast to their US counterparts, which favour share buybacks.

XL Group joined the growing list of US-listed (re)insurers unveiling new or increased share repurchase programmes this year, as it said on Friday (21 February) that its board had authorised it to buy back up to $1bn of its ordinary shares.

Axis has become the latest cedant to retain more of its professional lines book as demand for the treaty product continued to fall.

The advent of non-traditional capital in the casualty treaty space could change the landscape of the market because of its structural advantages when it comes to pricing risk, according to Andrew Newman, global head of casualty at Willis Re.

Chicago-based insurer CNA has confirmed that it has axed the Bermuda office of Lloyd's subsidiary Hardy two months after Inside FAC first revealed the move.

Aspen chief executive Chris O'Kane has extolled the high returns generated by property facultative business but warned of constraints in growing the book.

Bermudian reinsurer Maiden Holdings is aiming to boost underwriting results by growing its specialty facultative business in the US.

A number of Lloyd's syndicates have benefitted from reserve releases from the 2010 year of account, which absorbed much of the international earthquake losses of early 2011, as they closed their 2011 year of account.

Scor's Channel syndicate and White Mountains' Sirius syndicate are moving closer to securing their own managing agencies at Lloyd's and leaving third-party managing agency Asta, The Insurance Insider understands.