January 2016/3

Chubb's share price fell by 14.99 percent last week after its $29.5bn takeover by Ace completed

Share price data on The Insurance Insider's universe of P&C (re)insurers

A UK Commercial Court judge has accused a Greek shipowner of conjuring a "cock and bull story" to explain why documents are missing in an increasingly embattled $85mn fraud case.

The manufacturer of a blowout preventer used on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig has asked the Texas Supreme Court for permission to sue Liberty Insurance Underwriters (LIU) after the carrier failed to pay its portion of a $250mn settlement.

The Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers (ABIR) has responded to criticism from US Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton over a perceived taxation loophole in Bermuda.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has said the role that its membership plays with dealing with floods in the UK is one of its key areas of focus for 2016.

The insurance sector could see a shift towards low-frequency, high-severity losses as global industries become increasingly interconnected, according to Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS).

Investors will increasingly focus on asset risk in the insurance sector if macro-pressures continue to rise, according to Bernstein analysts.

Nominal GDP growth will start to outpace direct written premium (DWP) expansion in the US P&C market this year as softening prices take a toll on the top line for insurers, according to Standard & Poor's (S&P).

The airline insurance market ran at a loss last year with claims outstripping premiums generated, according to JLT.

Analysts have warned investors to expect further evidence of weaker pricing and investment income headwinds when the P&C sector reporting season gets underway later this week.

Returns from reinsurer sidecars are showing signs of softening but investors are still deriving double-digit results on average as these vehicles have avoided major catastrophe claims.

XL expanded an aggregate retro programme formerly placed by Catlin during the January renewals in what sources described as the biggest ever retro programme, sister publication Trading Risk has reported

Lloyd's is considering centralising research and development (R&D) in the market in order to start tackling more complex and emerging risks, the Corporation's CEO Inga Beale has said

Bermuda-based legacy specialist Armour Group has made a strategic investment in Shariah-compliant (re)insurance provider Cobalt Insurance Holdings, it was announced today (18 January)

Liberty Mutual has completed its acquisition of 99.6 percent of Penta Security, making it the largest P&C insurer in Chile

Stamp capacity update; Geddes joins Everest Re; Irish uproar over ruling; Toffanello takes the reins as Faraday CEO; Mitchell exits RenRe...

Aurigen, a Canadian and US life reinsurer with embedded value of around C$600mn ($413mn), is set to be auctioned by its private equity owners, The Insurance Insider can reveal

The Swett & Crawford sales process is now a straight shootout between BB&T-owned CRC Crump and private equity after rival trade bidder Ryan Specialty Group bowed out, The Insurance Insider revealed last week.

The International Group (IG) of protection and indemnity clubs is set to renew its $3bn treaty with a rate reduction of just under 10 percent.

London-based insurance group Hyperion has put going public onto the backburner for the time being as it targets raising debt, rather than equity, to fund future growth.

Global insurance giant Allianz is the latest carrier to attempt to offload a major legacy book of UK employers' liability (EL) business, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

Insurance software specialist Ebix will have to offer at least 209p a share to be in with a chance of buying Xchanging, after rival Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) announced that its bid was now unconditional.

Validus announced last week that its Paulson & Co joint venture PacRe had been placed in run-off from January, in another demonstration of the difficulties facing the hedge fund reinsurance model.

Direct General has become the latest US non-standard auto company to be put up for sale by its private equity owners, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

Talks between expansive Chinese conglomerate Fosun and RSA over the sale of the latter's Middle Eastern operations have ended, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

Despite popular conception, apparently there is no definitive evidence that the famous 20th century economist John Maynard Keynes was the first to say: "The market can stay irrational for longer than you can stay solvent."

Lloyd's carrier Ariel could see a fourth change in its ownership inside five years as its 50 percent stakeholder BTG Pactual wrestles with financial difficulties following corruption allegations.