January 2009/2

Lloyd’s (re)insurer Hardy has issued a bullish trading statement about prospects for 2009 whilst informing investors that its full-year 2008 results will be ahead of market expectations, with profit before tax of “at least £22mn”, buoyed by lower Ike esti

Bermudian (re)insurer Argo Group International Holdings has launched a casualty and professional risks division headed by former XL executive Nigel Mortimer to sit in its Argo Re operation on the island.

CV Starr & Co subsidiary Starr Specialty Lines Insurance Agency has formed an alliance with Zurich Financial Services Group’s US subsidiary Zurich North America Commercial (ZNAC) to offer additional capacity on...

Bermudian (re)insurer Arch Capital Group Ltd has become the latest company to add its name to the growing list of those with significantly revised losses from Hurricane Ike, with an increase of $160mn in its net loss estimate. Its previous net loss estima

Willis Re has hired 17 specialty casualty reinsurance brokers from RK Carvill & Co, including its senior management, The Insurance Insider understands.

Former Swiss Re GB CEO Tim Carroll has been unveiled as the new underwriting director at Lloyd’s (re)insurer Canopius Managing Agents Limited.

Ironshore Inc has formed a joint venture with CV Starr & Co to create Iron-Starr Excess Agency Limited, a Bermudian-based specialty lines (re)insurance managing general agency.

Chaucer - the Lloyd's insurer trying to fund raise in a bid to bolster its balance sheet and take advantage of improving rates - has seen its share price leap 35 percent this afternoon after receiving an "un-solicited indicative proposal".

Lloyd's insurer Novae Group has confirmed that it has approached fellow London firm Chaucer Holdings to open talks over a possible merger.

Former American International Group (AIG) executive Christian Milton was handed down a four-year custodial sentence and given a $200,000 fine for his role in the $500mn finite reinsurance fraud involving AIG and Berkshire Hathaway-owned reinsurer General Re.

Lloyd’s insurer Chaucer Holdings plc, has confirmed that it is looking to raise additional capital.

Swiss Re has led the slide in European insurance stocks today as its share price fell more than 20 percent amid concerns that it is set for a further round of heavy writedowns when it reports its fourth quarter 2008 figures next month.

Hannover Re has agreed to buy a book of US life reinsurance business from Scottish Re with estimated premium volume of $1.2bn in what it described as a “transformational step” for its global life unit.

Ironshore Inc has continued its raid on American International Group (AIG) with the appointment of a trio of executives to man a newly created US property/casualty operation.

Acquisitive US broker Arthur J Gallagher is to take over the policy renewal rights from Liberty Mutual's middle-market commercial property/casualty business located in the Midwest and Southeast regions in a deal potentially worth $120mn.

Ulrich Wallin has been appointed as the next CEO of Hannover Re and E+S Re to succeed present incumbent Wilhelm Zeller.

Shipowners face a hike in premiums next month after the International Group of P&I Clubs (IG) unveiled general increases on all classes of vessel in its excess of loss reinsurance renewal, as the impact of heavy claims in 2006 and 2007...

Bermudian (re)insurer Validus Holdings Ltd has joined the crowd of underwriters increasing their loss estimates from Hurricane Ike as the harsh impact of the September 2008 storm continues to mount.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has downgraded its financial strength ratings on Transatlantic Holdings’ core operating companies from AA- to A+ and lowered its counterparty credit ratings from A- to BBB+.

Bermuda-headquartered Lloyd’s (re)insurer Catlin is predicted to swing to a full-year loss for 2008, and may need a capital infusion, according to an investment note from Numis Securities.

According to sources, after a month of exclusive talks private equity firms Apollo Capital and BC Partners are on the cusp of launching a formal bid for Royal Bank of Scotland Insurance (RBSI), which is likely to value the units at close to £5bn.

Platinum Underwriters Holdings has become the latest (re)insurer to increase loss estimates from Hurricane Ike as the true impact of September’s storm continues to escalate.

Broker Aon Benfield has estimated that direct insured losses arising from the alleged $50bn Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme could reach as high as $3.8bn.

Aon Benfield, the reinsurance arm of broking giant Aon Corp is to outsource its UK back office following the £935mn merger of the two firms last year.

2008, with Hurricanes Ike and Gustav, a spate of US tornadoes, and nearly $7bn in single risk losses, is now being regarded as the second-worst year for catastrophe losses on record.

Chubb Europe completes London move; Bermudian Starr gets A rating; Japanese trio in merger talks; US P&C sector slides to loss; CEA responds to QIS4 despite impasse; Swiss Re secures $1.5bn to ease capital concerns; Torus acts as Citadel scales back

Torus aims for Lloyd's entry; Hardy boosts 2009 capacity; Munich Re launches new Lloyd's syndicate; Papworth to take Aon Benfield Fac team to Miller; Amlin sidecar 'oversubscribed'...

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) affirmed its junk ratings on three cat bonds affected by the collapse of Lehman Brothers after their total return swaps were terminated and the scheduled 15 December interest payments were met.

Randall & Quilter (R&Q), the run-off acquisition and management firm, has continued its strategy of acquiring service companies with a deal to pay up to $6.9mn to acquire Bermuda-based Quest Management Services Ltd.

Texas-based Southwest Insurance Partners Inc (SWIP) - the insurance investment vehicle led by HCC Insurance founder Stephen Way - has plans for a private offering to raise up to an additional $100mn in capital, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

At the time of going to press, London market insurers had received the first Madoff-related notifications on errors and omissions (E&O) and directors' and officers' (D&O) policies.

Three cat bonds are expected to be brought to market in late January/February raising hopes of dealflow through the insurance linked securities (ILS) pipeline that has been blocked since September last year.

Zambian mining company Mopani Copper Mines Plc is now pursuing London-headquartered (re)insurance broker Cooper Gay in the UK High Court's Queen's Bench for an estimated $1.5mn in damages after failing to recover from its insurers last year.

The liquidated estate of US workers' compensation insurers Mission Insurance Companies yielded a further $121mn for policyholders, bringing the total amount distributed to approximately $1.5bn.

American International Group (AIG) has taken another step in its asset disposal programme with an agreement to sell its Canadian life insurance unit to BMO Financial Group (BMO) for around $308mn.

Reinsurers wishing to utilise solvent schemes of arrangement involving US cedants have been dealt a blow by a provision in the proposed framework setting collateral requirements for non-US entities.

IBM has won the race for Lloyd's messaging hub contract, fighting off information technology rival ATOS in the final selection process.

Our monthly column keeping a check on recent US and EU legislative and regulatory developments, in association with Sidley Austin LLP...

Broking giant Marsh & McLennan Cos (MMC) has reached a $7mn settlement agreement with nine US states, closing a chapter on four years of investigation into an alleged nationwide bid-rigging scheme.

Californian-based brokerage Edgewood Partners Insurance Center (EPIC) has reached a confidential settlement with Arthur J Gallagher & Co, resolving the international broker's pending lawsuit alleging conspiracy and poaching of staff.

The record £5.25mn dished out to broker Aon Ltd earlier this month is part of a wider probe by UK regulator the Financial Services Authority (FSA) into the adequacy of anti-bribery systems and controls at brokers.

The nascent catastrophe derivatives markets have now traded more than $440mn of notional volume since their inception in late 2007.

Lloyd's insurers will now be able to write direct general insurance business on Guernsey after the market received a licence from the offshore jurisdiction's regulator.

Belgian reinsurer Aviabel has agreed to pay its share of the EUR45mn helicopter crash claim by North Korea’s state insurance company that led to a long-running fraud dispute.

German hedge fund Augur Capital has acquired former East German state marine (re)insurer Deutsche Versicherungs-und Rückversicherungs-AG (DARAG), in a potentially landmark deal that could see the discontinued...

US private equity firm Apollo, in partnership with BC Partners, is poised to lodge a formal bid later this month to acquire a majority stake in Royal Bank of Scotland's up-for-sale insurance units, after a month of exclusive talks.

UK-based Compre Holdings Ltd has acquired two of Sweden-based Länsförsäkringar AB’s reinsurance subsidiaries in run-off – Stockholm Reinsurance Company Ltd and Wasa International Insurance Company Ltd...

Sportscover has ended its turnkey relationship with Argenta Syndicate Management after receiving approval from Lloyd's and the FSA to launch a new managing agency for its Syndicate 3334.

As (re)insurers prepare to unveil fourth quarter and full-year financials in the coming weeks, recent announcements by Advent, IPCRe, PartnerRe and Harbor Point suggest further pain for the industry from deteriorating losses from Hurricane Ike.

Reinsurance rate increases at 1/1 renewals were relatively modest, and confined largely to peak risk in the US, as a relatively small overall depreciation in industry capital, capacity and risk appetite helped to contain price rises.

Shares in Lloyd's underwriter Chaucer Holdings recovered sharply over the holiday period as speculation built that it could be the next quoted Lloyd's insurer to be aquired.

The Lockton family and private equity firm Stone Point Capital have injected fresh capital into Lockton International, the London-headquartered broker acquired in 2006, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

On recent New Year's days I have had great satisfaction in reflecting on my investment performance during the year just closed. Even my playful portfolio of shares based on the tips of my regular newspaper over the year will have......

Expansive US insurer AMTrust Financial Services is planning a Lloyd's syndicate launch later this year, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

Insurance-linked investment fund Clariden Leu is launching a specialist industry loss warranty (ILW) fund for 2009, seeking to capitalise on a retro capacity crunch.

As stock market indices around the globe recorded the worst calendar year declines in their histories, spreads widened to epic proportions and corporate bond values took a nosedive, major players in the US life (re)insurance market...

Bermudian run-off acquisitions firm Enstar Group completed its $341.3mn acquisition of Travelers' UK-based unit Unionamerica Holdings Ltd at the end of December.

The steady flow of senior executives out of American International Group (AIG) continued into the New Year as the heads of the beleaguered insurance giant’s environmental unit left to launch a new business at Bermudian Ironshore.

On top of the estimated $10-12bn of directors' and officers' (D&O) and errors and omissions (E&O) credit crunch-related losses, the embattled professional and management liability insurance sector is bracing itself...

Expansive Lloyd's insurer Jubilee has officially launched its global property business under the leadership of former Travelers underwriter Martin Pope - a move predicted by The Insurance Insider last July.