July 2012/5

Aviation rates were on average 17 percent lower on a risk-adjusted basis in the first half of the year, Aon's latest aviation report shows.

The mis-selling of Arch Cru funds is not expected to create a large loss for the London market due to per claimant deductibles, industry experts say.

Property cat reinsurance prices will fall by 5-10 percent in 2013, as strong expected growth in the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market is likely to depress rates and pose a challenge to traditional reinsurers, Credit Suisse analyst Michael Zaremski said in a 24 July research note.

The cost of insuring against default by Europe's largest (re)insurers dropped rapidly at the end of last week after European Central Bank president Mario Draghi inspired hope of more activist central bank policies.

Investors will be looking to the results of Endurance Specialty, American Financial Group and PartnerRe this week for further positive signs on crop exposures after Ace provided significant reassurance on 24 July.

Although non-US (re)insurers were insulated in the main from the significant second quarter catastrophe losses that were largely retained by US primary carriers, there were examples of loss creep on prior-period losses.

The benign second quarter for catastrophe losses helped the majority of Bermudian reporters-to-date comfortably beat earnings expectations as the Q2 results season picked up in earnest last week.

Brit Insurance announced strong results last week - including a 93 percent combined ratio and a five-fold lift in profits - but CEO Mark Cloutier was quick to dampen any suggestion that the firm's private equity owners might be tempted to seek an earlier exit than initially planned.

The Bank of England, which is soon to take responsibility for insurance regulation, should appoint a new deputy governor to oversee non-banking financial services companies including insurers, Hiscox CEO Bronek Masojada has said.

After posting 7 percent organic growth for the second quarter of 2012, Aon CEO Greg Case has said that he expects Aon Benfield to continue growing at 4-5 percent on an underlying basis in coming quarters.

Novae Group is expected to tell shareholders later this week that it is exiting engineering and materially reducing its motor excess of loss (XoL) reinsurance book after defections at its Zurich subsidiary.

The troubled Italian medical malpractice market has lost another capacity provider after its national regulator ruled that Romanian firm City Insurance had contravened the rules on passporting, The Insurance Insider understands.