July 2006/5

OdysseyRe may be on the brink of losing its cherished A- financial strength rating after Standard & Poor’s (S&P) responded to the announcement by Canadian combine Fairfax Financial Holdings that it has discovered accounting errors which could reduce...

ICP Ltd, a proposed new investment vehicle specialising in the Lloyd's sector, has missed its deadline to list on the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM).

US insurer CNA Financial Corp has scaled back its London Market operations further as its Global Resource Managers operation has stopped offering third-party services with the departure of its audit & consultancy team.

As exclusively revealed by The Insurance Insider on 24 July, Aeolus Re will become the latest reinsurer to begin operations on Bermuda following the raising of $500mn of capital.

Bermudian giant XL Capital reported late yesterday (26 July) that it had almost trebled its second quarter net income to $377.1mn, up from $135.9mn in the prior-year period.

US retail broker Arthur J Gallagher announced yesterday that its total brokerage for the quarter had risen to $47.7mn from $43.5mn in the prior-year period.

Bermudian (re)insurer Endurance Specialty Holdings suffered a drop in net income for the second quarter after it was hit by an $84mn increase in its losses from last year’s big three hurricanes.

US insurer Chubb Corp has reported yesterday (25 July) an “outstanding” second quarter of 2006 with net income rising to $598mn, compared to $495mn for the prior-year period.

In a busy day for (re)insurers’ interim results, Bermudian-headquartered ACE Ltd revealed a strong second quarter yesterday (25 July) with net income (excluding realised gains) climbing 31 percent to $579mn and a combined ratio of 88 percent for its prope

Michael Bright, the colourful founder of collapsed UK insurer Independent Insurance, returned to Southwark Crown Court yesterday (25 July) for a preliminary hearing in the conspiracy to defraud trial relating to the collapse of the company.

Everest Re Group Ltd opened the mid-year reporting season for the Bermudian (re)insurers on the 24 July and set an upbeat tone with a strong set of figures.

Munich Re said last week that it has recruited Ludger Arnoldussen from rival Swiss Re to its management board with responsibility for its Asian, Australasian and Africa division.

US commercial insurance rates continued to fall in the second quarter of 2006 with some of the steepest declines being felt among the medium to large commercial accounts.

Willis Group head Joe Plumeri has welcomed the arrival of petroleum executive Anna Cheng Catalano to the broker's board as bringing a "global, multi-cultural perspective" to the firm.

Gallagher Global Risks, the London based international insurance arm of AJ Gallagher & Co, has recruited the former head of Lloyd's Spanish operations David Battman to the new post of Director of International Development & Strategy.

Mid-cap reinsurance companies geared to the prospect of bumper returns in the property catastrophe market are likely to outperform their large-cap peers, according to analysts at Morgan Stanley.

HCC Insurance Holdings' stake in Heritage Underwriting Agency plc will more than halve once the Lloyd's insurer completes its plans to list on London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market.

The Lloyd's Market Association has reignited the debate over broker remuneration with its chairman Andrew Kendrick calling again on the UK regulator to make disclosure of commissions compulsory.

Tony Latham, the long-serving head of Global Relations at Royal & Sun Alliance, is set to leave the UK headquartered insurer next year, Insider Week can reveal.

Aeolus Re looks set to become the latest reinsurance vehicle to land on Bermudian shores, Insider Week can reveal.

The relentless quest by (re)insurers to manage down their reinsurance exposures is thought to have inspired a new approach to crystallising the industry's recoverables, Insider Week can reveal.

Lloyd's resilience to last year's record round of hurricane losses was highlighted in two reports last week, as reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter & Co and rating agency Moody's praised the market’s performance under the watchful eye of...

Benfield's space subsidiary International Space Brokers (ISB) has re-signed Benoit Condroyer to spearhead the expansion of its Spanish operations.

Aviva plc has received regulatory approval to open another office in China bringing its total of offices in the country to 13.