January 2014/4

JLT Towers Re has won the sizable New South Wales Treasury Managed Fund reinsurance account after winning the Queensland Government Insurance Fund in 2013, sister publication Inside FAC revealed last week.

Over £8mn has so far been paid to investors mis-sold advice about the disgraced fund manager Arch Cru by independent financial advisers (IFAs), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said today (27 January)

Broker stocks came under selling pressure last week, with all the major intermediaries seeing a drop in their share prices

In what was a widespread theme last week, European (re)insurance stocks also suffered in the challenged equity markets

There was a mixed performance among the listed Lloyd's carriers last week, as half of our universe underperformed the benchmark FTSE 100 index

It was a turbulent five days for US-listed P&C (re)insurance stocks last week as the majority lost ground, shadowing falls in the wider stock markets as investors became uneasy over prospects for emerging market economies

A group of US homeowners who were allegedly subjected to inflated force-placed insurance premiums have objected to a $291mn class action settlement proposed by JP Morgan Chase and specialty insurer Assurant

Two more US court cases involving American International Group insurers in dispute over facultative reinsurance of asbestos claims have surfaced in the last month, sister publication Inside FAC reported

The average payout awarded in US class action settlements is getting higher but fewer are being agreed, according to consulting firm Nera

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has proposed new guidelines that would require its members to purchase professional indemnity (PI) cover from a carrier with a financial strength rating of at least B or higher

London-listed insurance-linked securities fund DCG Iris reported a total return of 2.2 percent in the six months to 30 November 2013, as the fund's manager said that it had boosted results by shifting into private reinsurance deals and reducing its cat bond holdings

US regional carrier The Cincinnati Insurance Companies has significantly increased the size of its Skyline Re cat bond cover to $100mn from $61.2mn last year

The ILS market broadened its investor base and the scope of cover it was willing to offer sponsors in 2013, Swiss Re Capital Markets acknowledged in its annual review of the burgeoning sector.

London-listed (re)insurer Lancashire has established one of the industry's largest market-facing reinsurer sidecars after deploying more than $250mn of limit through its Kinesis Re I vehicle during the January renewals.

Insured losses of C$200mn from the December ice storm have pushed the 2013 loss tally for Canadian natural catastrophes up to a record-breaking C$3.2bn, according to data from PCS Canada quoted by the Insurance Bureau of Canada

On the eve of the full-year 2013 reporting season, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW) analyst Christopher Hitchings last week raised his 2013 profit before tax (PBT) forecasts for Lloyd's carriers by an average of 7 percent.

UK car insurance prices rose 1.4 percent during the final three months of 2013, according to a new premium tracker launched on 27 January by the Association of British Insurers (ABI).

A rare contradiction between the two main UK car insurance price surveys that unsettled insurance stocks last week reflects differences in the data they are based on, and could stimulate interest in a new barometer of motor premiums launched this week by the Association of British Insurers

Amid the possible ratings movements in 2014, one of the most keenly anticipated is a possible upgrade of Lloyd's FSR by ratings agencies AM Best and S&P, as both firms hold the Corporation's ratings on a positive outlook.

Ratings agencies AM Best and Standard & Poor's (S&P) made relatively few changes to their assessments of major (re)insurers in 2013 amid mild catastrophe losses, solid earnings and macroeconomic recovery.

Shares in US insurance giant Travelers traded down heavily last week as evidence of slowing momentum on pricing overshadowed a strong earnings beat for the fourth quarter.

Melanie Alexander, the chief operating officer and co-founder of US broker Brown & Brown's London-based subsidiary, Decus Insurance Brokers, has become the second senior executive to quit the firm in less than three months

Phil Hernon, the managing director of Enstar-owned broker Kinsale, is to leave the group with immediate effect, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

Despite having already decreased its spending on facultative reinsurance over the past two years, FM Global is looking to further shrink its fac purchasing ahead of 2015, sister publication Inside FAC reported.