January 2005/4

Less than a year after joining Aspen Re as chief risk officer, Adrian Ballardie has left the reinsurer to join Tokio Marine Global as chief underwriting officer.

Houston Casualty Company has merged its medical stop loss and group life insurance underwriting agency, HCC Benefits Corporation, into its life insurance arm, HCC Life Insurance Company (HCC Life).

Equitas has expressed its opposition to the Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act (FAIR) over fears that the proposed US legislation would fail to protect the run-off vehicle from going bankrupt.

Former Jardine Lloyd Thompson chief executive Steve McGill vowed that he will make a swift return to the London market while speaking at a Lloyd’s lecture last week.

The dormant Reinsurance Australia Corporation, ReAC, is set to rebrand and begin underwriting – five years after it was brought to its knees by the low rates and high casualty losses of the late nineties.

Brit to pay outstanding claims

Figures released by the Minerals Management Service (MMS) have revealed the continuing impact of Hurricane Ivan on Gulf of Mexico oil and gas production.

Insurers’ discipline appears to hold

Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) decided to leave (re)insurer Alea’s ratings unchanged last week, despite the group’s revelation that deteriorating results on pre-2003 US casualty business and the heavy hurricane losses would add between five and se

The Munich Re Group now expects to see 2004 profits of between €1.7bn-€1.9bn after an associated company revealed write-downs of €2.5bn in its annual financial statements.

Insurers AIG, ACE and Aegis have settled their share of energy losses claimed by oil giant BP.

XL Capital became one of the first insurers to provide specific guidance on the Boxing Day Indian Ocean tsunami when predicting a pre-tax net loss of $75mn last week.