July 2004/1

JLT's deja vudoo over share price Partygoers at this year's JLT Risk Solutions' summer party could be forgiven for feeling a little deflated. The lavish event is an annual thank-you for the broker's hard-working staff but, this year, the timing coincid

In our regular monthly News Digest, we round up key stories from the last month, presenting them to you in easily digestable snippets.

Second quarter expected to match strident first quarter, but with the market hitting its cyclical peak, competitition threatens ongoing profitability... US property casualty insurers returned a stunning profit performance in the first quarter of 2004,

Benign loss conditions in the US property casualty sector continued into the second quarter as insurers are expected to payout just $1.65bn in catastrophe claims - the lowest figure for the quarter since 2000. According to figures from research firm IS

Voices of discontent in London’s Workers' Compensation catastrophe reinsurance market are raising fearsus concerns over ill-discipline and increased competition from Lloyd's delegated underwriting agreements that threaten to send rates tumbling. Accord

Lloyd's insurer Kiln is close to topping out its £260mn Syndicate 510 property capacity for 2004, surprising the marketplace and leaving some brokers high-and-dry when it comes to placing renewal business. Sources suggest it seems that rates didn't fal

In 2001, The Insurance Insider began writing about the US viatical industry. We were concerned that, despite all the allegations of fraud and malpractice, London Market insurers such as GoshawK were providing insurance cover to viatical firms. The down

As senior insurance exectives worldwide pledge their commitment to underwriting discipline in the turning market, European insurers have been challenged to continue growing balance sheets over the next few years through sustained profitable growth. In

Fitch Ratings announced it is maintaining its Positive outlook on the non-life sector in France, despite the coming downturn in the market and warnings of a looming price war. The agency said the downturn is likely to be less severe than in the past, "

Large-scale consolidation may be required if Willis is to continue its remarkable progress, but dangers lurk... Building grandiose new headquarters as a testament to corporate success can be a risky business in London insurance circles. Stephen Merrett

The independent reinsurance broker RK Carvill has lost its leading LMX team following the resignation of Nick Frankland. A senior RK Carvill producer, Frankland, together with two colleagues, has left the group and the expectation is that they may join

And makes public data secret, suggests David Schiff... New York's insurance law requires insurance companies doing business in the state to file with their annual statement a supplement (Schedule G) that lists the names, titles, and compensation of emp

Warren Buffett is backing a newly created company Capital Insurance Holdings to become a dominant force in the quoted Lloyd's sector... The Lloyd's insurance sector faces an unprecedented bout of consolidation fever, if Berkshire Hathaway's strategy to

In our regular monthly News Digest, we round up key stories from the last month, presenting them to you in easily digestable snippets.

As the Federal Reserve hikes interest rates in the US, so the impact is filtering through to property casualty insurance stocks, according to research from equity analysts at investment bank Morgan Stanley. With US 10-year interest rates rising from 3.

Echoes of Imperial Consolidated as investment fund namechecks Lloyd’s broker... A "too-good-to-be-true" scheme paying out annual returns of 10.5 per cent "guaranteed via Lloyds of London" is being offered by a British Virgin Islands registered company.

Willis has dismissed the employee responsible for managing Pender, the captive turned insurance company of telecoms giant Cable & Wireless, collapsing under the weight of a series of controversial claims. The world's third largest broker provided manag

High drama came to London's Royal Courts of Justice this month with the appearance on the witness stand of Euromepa founder Jean-Claude Chalhoub in a dispute between German reinsurer R+V and managing agency Risk. As reported in previous editions of The

Investigation by The Insurance Insider cited in FSA writ... The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is taking Hogarth Underwriting and its founder Billy Dewsall to court for their part in placing business with CIC, the unrated, off-shore insurance compa