ILS

Citigroup analysts expect Swiss Re to have SFr10bn excess capital next year and to repay the Berkshire Hathaway hybrid debt in 2011.

Hannover Re is set to use retained earnings to fund an increase in capital of as much as 26 percent to pursue growth opportunities in the second half of the year.

Catastrophe bond returns have increased for the sixth consecutive week as a lack of significant windstorms and a glut of unused insurance-linked securities (ILS) capacity push demand for the products to record levels.

Berkshire Hathaway CFO Marc Hamburg has hit back at reports that it "goofed" on its mark-to-market valuation of derivative risks.

Aon Benfield Securities has appointed Chris Parry as a director in its investment banking division, as it continues to grow the practice.

Lehman Brothers is suing American International Group (AIG) for $9mn it says the insurer owes on credit default swap covers it took out on three firms that subsequently filed for bankruptcy, according to reports.

The two cat bonds that came to market in July both increased in size significantly during the marketing phase, demonstrating healthy demand from investors for new insurance-linked securities (ILS) issuance.

Swiss Re, XL and Berkshire have led narrowing credit spreads across the sector as equity markets fight back.

Notwithstanding an active 2009 catastrophe season, insurance-linked securities (ILS) pricing is likely to soften later this year, in what is typically an active time for issuance.

Reinsurer Scor has settled its long-running dispute with Highfields Capital Management - the former main minority shareholder in its 2001 sidecar vehicle Irish Reinsurance Partners (IRP) Holdings Limited.

Cat derivative operation IFEX has added to its suite of event-linked futures, listing Eastern seaboard and North East US tropical wind contracts on the Chicago Climate Futures Exchange (CCFE).

Improving capital and surplus at Swiss Re met with a favourable response from analysts, as it looks more likely to repay the capital injection made by Berkshire Hathaway earlier this year from its own resources.