January 2007/6

German insurance giant Allianz today (31 January) reported losses of up to EUR230mn caused by Windstorm Kyrill earlier this month.

Converium Holdings’ chief executive Inga Beale has continued to re-shape the resurgent company’s senior management with the appointment of Jakob Eugster from Benfield.

Law firm Barlow Lyde & Gilbert (BLG) is to strengthen its five-partner aerospace team with Neil McGilchrist and associates Anna Anatolitou and Maria Galan joining next month from Gide Loyrette Nouel.

The London market has to be "willing to strive, to improve, to challenge, to change" if it wants "all roads in insurance to lead to London", according to Dan Glaser.

Broking giant Aon Corp confirmed last week that it is to lose 550 jobs in its US operations as part of its ongoing efficiency drive.

Marsh Inc has been awarded China’s first Wholly-Owned Foreign Enterprise (WOFE) insurance broking license, the broking giant confirmed last week.

Benfield Group has appointed Jeremy Goodman to a senior position in its facultative operations, as it attempts to fill the void left by the high-profile defection of Elliot Richardson and a number of his team to rival Aon last September.

The reinsurance market was hit last week with news that legislation has been passed in Florida that will disintermediate significant reinsurance capacity in the state, the most profitable in the property catastrophe sector.

MBIA Corp became the latest US insurance group to settle regulatory investigations into its past transactions.

The specialty insurance group Markel Corporation unveiled its 2006 results last week which saw the group’s combined ratio fall to a mere 87 percent while investment earnings leapt to an impressive $160mn.

Aon Corp unveiled a significant restructuring of its senior international management last week which saw the veteran London head Dennis Mahoney relocate to Bermuda.

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