January 2015/2

Despite the rating bloodbath at the 1 January renewals, there was some respite for second-tier global reinsurers, which may now see more business as cedants look to manage their counterparty credit exposure, senior broking executives have explained

As the dust settles on the January renewal, reinsurers and brokers are still dealing with the fall-out of the initial non-renewal of Tria last month and the swift reauthorisation of the US terrorism backstop in the New Year

Global reinsurance broker Aon Benfield has predicted a continuation of the multi-year slump in US property catastrophe rates at the 1 April, 1 June and 1 July 2015 renewals, The Insurance Insider has learned

Liberty Mutual placed a tranche of three-year property catastrophe reinsurance cover as it took advantage of the ultra-soft property catastrophe market in the January renewals, The Insurance Insider has learned

Tysers, the independent Lloyd's broker, has settled an unfair dismissal dispute brought by former COO Quintin Heaney after he was sacked in 2013.

Allianz Global & Corporate Specialty (AGCS) completed the second part of a transition from buying standalone risk covers to a single multi-line aggregate structure at 1 January, The Insurance Insider can reveal

US government-sponsored domestic loan and mortgage company Freddie Mac is suing a number of insurers for more than $110mn after they refused to pay out over one of the largest frauds in US history.

Wall Street banks are struggling to find companies interested in participating in the Montpelier Re sales process as the deadline for first-round proposals approaches, The Insurance Insider understands

The UK government remains committed to making the London (re)insurance market as competitive as possible, a senior Treasury minister has said.

President Obama signed into law legislation earlier this month (12 January) to renew government terrorism backstop the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (Tria) for six years, in a move roundly applauded by the (re)insurance industry.

Despite raising the "for sale" sign almost two months ago, no buyers have appeared that are willing to take on Towergate's £1bn debt mountain

Last month John Parry was confirmed as director of finance at the Corporation of Lloyd's, having previously been acting director of finance since July 2014. Here, he discusses the key risks facing the Corporation's treasury and investment management, and what changes he's made to the asset allocation

JLT has warned the upcoming energy insurance renewal season will be the most "brutally Darwinian" since 1999 as the depressed oil price causes a retraction in demand just as capacity reaches a new high.

AmTrust's $150mn share offering earlier this month is likely to stir further activity from short sellers seeking to paint a picture of a company facing a capital shortage

US open market property bellwether Verizon renewed on 1 January with double-digit rate reductions despite its value growing by 6 percent, market sources told sister publication Inside FAC.

Validus subsidiary AlphaCat Managers has raised $409mn of new capital for its ILS funds and renewed its sidecar, AlphaCat 2015, at $155mn.

Guy Carpenter has estimated that the convergence market grew by a third in 2014, rising from $45bn to $60bn in size.

The great unanswered - and probably unanswerable - question of this renewal is whether reinsurers are at a painful point in the cycle or at the start of a new unwelcoming epoch.

Retro giant CatCo has bought a $175mn industry loss warranty (ILW) to cover US and non-US exposures on its book of business, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

The major renewal participants attempted publicly - and to a lesser degree privately - to put their spin on events.

Despite the continued price softening at 1 January, there was evidence of reinsurer resolve on terms and conditions (T&Cs), perhaps implying that carriers have learnt the lessons of the late 1990s.

Colin Mayo has taken his US commercial property underwriting team from Rockhill Insurance Company to launch a new business with Ariel Re, The Insurance Insider can reveal

There was some evidence of additional cover purchased at 1 January as reinsurers reinvested the budget freed up by price softening.

The agreed £2.8bn ($4.2bn) deal to combine global specialty (re)insurance powerhouses XL and Catlin was driven by a desire to position for structural change in the sector by being a first mover in M&A

Multiple compression was rife across the P&C (re)insurance industry in 2014 as doubts over the sector's future profitability placed downward pressure on price-to-book (P/B) valuations.

P&C (re)insurance stock performance worsened in 2014 after deteriorating market conditions dampened investor sentiment and appetite for the sector.

Quindell hires; UK insurance wages lag; Lindt Café siege; UK motor turns; Hudson leaves Mitsui; Australian bushfire; Solvency II headache; PartnerRe Asia…

Brian Secrett, head of catastrophe reinsurance at PartnerRe, is leaving the Bermuda-domiciled reinsurer, The Insurance Insider can reveal

Samir Shah, the executive who overhauled American International Group (AIG)'s reinsurance purchasing, is moving to the new role of head of capital markets and catastrophe risk, The Insurance Insider has learned

A swift integration following the completion of the $4.2bn XL-Catlin deal could present rapid organic growth opportunities, according to Catlin chief executive Stephen Catlin.

Argenta began a sales process for its Names agent late last year, The Insurance Insider can reveal

The 1 January renewals saw rate softening almost across the board, with the UK motor market that was flat to +10 percent rather absurdly talked about as the hardest market in the world.

Let me tell you a story. The world is full of things that will certainly happen one day, but which probably won't occur in our lifetimes

Berkshire Hathaway has written 100 percent of QBE's global catastrophe aggregate and risk aggregate treaties, cutting out the rest of the market, The Insurance Insider can reveal

The 1 January renewal gave reinsurers a sense of collective déjà vu as hopes of improved conditions were confounded by a near re-run of the 2014 renewals, with much of the industry now resigned to a long soft market