January 2005/2

The increasing role of the run-off sector in the global (re)insurance industry has been reflected in the formation of the first US trade body for active and run-off companies, receivers and liquidators, and their representatives.

Lloyd’s members’ agency Hampden Agencies moved swiftly last month to recruit two senior Names executives made redundant by rival agency CBS Private Capital Ltd.

World’s number two reinsurer Swiss Re got a year-end thumbs up from AM Best as the ratings agency affirmed its A+ financial strength and “aa” credit ratings on the Zurich based company.

AJ Gallagher has plundered from the management of Jardine Lloyd Thompson’s US based reinsurance operations, JLT Re Solutions, Insider Week can reveal.

Berkshire Hathaway confirmed last week that its reinsurance arm General Re has received a request from the Securities and Exchange Commission for information relating to its sale of “non-traditional or loss mitigation insurance products”.

Strong results in the US property casualty sector were sustained throughout the first three quarters of 2004, as companies stood firm against the battering from the quartet of hurricanes that swept the Caribbean and South Eastern States last autumn.

Analysts at Banc of America Securities provided a New Year boost to MMC by upgrading their stance on the world’s largest insurance broker from “neutral” to “buy”.

The US insurer WR Berkley revealed last month that it had uncovered evidence of “inappropriate solicitation practices” as part of its internal investigations into the group’s business practices.

US insurer HCC Insurance Holdings confirmed last week that the lion’s share of funds raised in its recent share offering would go to its insurance company subsidiaries.

The word’s largest tyre company Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company revealed on 3 January that it had settled a 12-year dispute with its insurers over environmental claims.

Reinsurance broker RK Carvill has sold its US West Coast operations to its president Brendan Roche for an undisclosed sum.

The SEC has launched a formal investigation into the much-vaunted IPO of China Life, China’s largest life insurance company.