July 2007/3

Guy Carpenter has swooped for Chris Klein, the chairman of rival Benfield Group's counterparty risk unit.

Lloyd's unique capital structure which allows double use of assets is its key to producing strong returns for investors, according to a recent study by Professor Tim Congdon.

US wholesale broker AmWINS Group, Inc has bought marine insurers The American Equity Underwriters, Inc, and refinanced its debt to fund further "strategic acquisitions".

Lloyd's members' agent Hampden Agencies Ltd is objecting to the proposed merger of AIM-listed insurer Heritage Underwriting Agency plc’s property Syndicate 1200 with its liability Syndicate 3245...

Andrew Carrier, active underwriter of Kiln Ltd’s catastrophe Syndicate 557 and the reinsurance division of its Syndicate 510, has quit the Lloyd’s insurer.

The announcement in Parliament last month that the Government will examine changes to the 1982 Lloyd's Act is likely to encourage some frenetic lobbying.

St Paul Travelers' Lloyd's underwriter Jon Woodrow has been appointed head of its Syndicate 5000’s aviation team.

Lloyd's is understood to have taken a sizeable hit on its Central Fund dispute last month after settling with Benfield Group and Aon Ltd, but will be relieved the long-running dispute is over.

Transaction allows US insurer to issue regulatory capital following natural cat losses

US insurer State Farm placed what is believed to be the largest ever cat programme...

Insurance-linked securities (ILS) look set to emerge as a dominant capital tool, just as asset-backed securities have become embedded in the banking sector over the last two decades, according to Jacques Aigrain, CEO of reinsurance giant Swiss Re.

Canopius has become the latest Lloyd's insurer to reveal plans to reduce its capacity limit next year, following recent announcements from Hiscox plc and Kiln plc.