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.

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.

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

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.

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.

But poverty and low insurance penetration rates limit industry impact Despite the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives and the destruction of wide swathes of property across 13 countries, the insurance industry appears to have emerged relatively unsc

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.

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 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.

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”.

The Securities and Exchange Commission formally opened an investigation into Marsh & McLennan Companies’ relationship with its private equity arm, MMC Capital, and its managed Trident investment funds, last month.