May 2015/4

Share price data on The Insurance Insider's universe of P&C (re)insurers

P&C (re)insurance stocks nudged up last week as The Insider 30 made a 0.80 percent gain.

The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has warned that many UK insurance companies still have a "considerable amount of work" to do in preparation for the implementation of Solvency II on 1 January 2016.

Benjamin Lawsky, superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), has stepped down after four years in the role.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has discovered "numerous examples" of poor practice in the handling of claims for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), including delays in initial loss adjuster visits of up to three weeks.

PwC has been granted access to insolvent insurer Quinn's rating mechanisms after its administrators alleged that the professional services firm had underestimated the Irish carrier's technical provisions ahead of its EUR1.2bn collapse.

The UK's highest court has handed down a landmark decision in an asbestos-related dispute that will mean insurers are ultimately liable only for the portion of the exposure that they were on risk for.

Growth at the companies included in The Insurance Insider's fast-shrinking public Lloyd's composite picked up pace in the first quarter as three of the four carriers wrote notably more business despite a softening rating environment.

Bermudian and short-tail carriers handed back less capital during the first quarter of 2015 as a flurry of (re)insurers turned to M&A in a bid to create shareholder value.

Short-tail specialists delivered compressed operating returns during the first quarter of 2015 as underwriting performance deteriorated despite another benign period for catastrophe losses.

Operating returns for Bermudian carriers came under further pressure during the first quarter of 2015, as narrowing underwriting profitability, continued strain on investment income and increasing book value squeezed margins.

Credit Suisse Asset Management is preparing to launch a second rated reinsurance entity less than a year after it helped establish Kelvin Re.

Nephila jumped from fifth to second place last year in the ranks of reinsurers assuming business from the top 10 Florida residential insurers, according to data collected by Trading Risk.

American International Group (AIG) has increased the target size of its parametric Compass Re II cat bond by $100mn to $300mn, sister publication Trading Risk reported last week.

For a brief moment last week, it looked like the stakes were about to be raised further in the $6bn+ PartnerRe M&A battle

The energy insurance sector is witnessing a flurry of executive hires and exits against a backdrop of challenging market conditions.

The space market has absorbed losses equivalent to well over half its annual premium base over the past month after three events hit the sector.

New York-listed Alleghany is living up to its reputation as a quasi-private equity house by listening to approaches for its major US-based reinsurer Transatlantic Re, The Insurance Insider understands.

Despite the general malaise around European investments there have been positive surprises from Eurozone economies, according to Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management managing director Philip Poole.

Underwriters of all lines of business should include cyber exposure in their policies and price for it accordingly, said Stephen Wares, cyber risk practice leader at Marsh.

Tower totals programme; R&Q buys captive; Brit delists; Alleghany bid; Helios top line soars; Team USA; BHSI hire; PPL confirms winner; Endurance meeting; Allstate cat losses; Canopius hires CEO; AJG acquires; China disposal; Canopius boost; AIG rehires Sutherland; ‘De-globalisation' threat; Mapfre upgrade; IUA criticises; Delegated group; New King6

RK Harrison's head of political risk and structured credit Richard Coulson has resigned to join Richard Brindle's start-up carrier Fidelis, as the Lancashire founder continues to assemble his team, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

New York investment firm Pine Brook is backing a start-up "transformer" that is aiming to emulate State National as a conduit for alternative capital to access direct insurance business, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

Ariel Re, the Lloyd's insurance platform of BTG Pactual and the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, has decided to build its own managing agency, The Insurance Insider can reveal.