July 2013/4

The marine hull, cargo and P&I markets are braced for yet another loss after the containership Hansa Brandenburg caught fire in the Indian Ocean last week

Zurich and Lancashire have the largest lines on the Aon-placed $182mn property programme for the Perro Negro 6 jack-up rig that sank off the coast of Angola at the beginning of July, sister title Inside FAC reported last week.

The London Market Group (LMG) will select electronic placing, non-bureau accounting reforms via the Ruschlikon programme and project Genesis work on data capture as its top targets for future modernisation work, according to sources.

UK outsourcing firm Xchanging has said that it will launch a London electronic placing platform if it receives a mandate from the market, as progress with Qatarlyst's platform drags on following its acquisition by US firm Ebix.

Lloyd's blue-chip insurers Beazley, Catlin and Hiscox are among a group of 10 managing agents that have signed up to help develop the volume claims platform that will launch in 2014, The Insurance Insider has learned.

WJ Lehrke, a Minnesota-based reinsurance broker focused on the US Midwest, is to merge with New York-based rival Holborn Corporation, the two firms said on 15 July.

Vyvienne Wade, the senior Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT) executive who acrimoniously left the London-listed broker less than three months ago, is set to return to the industry as head of international growth at AJ Gallagher International.

CRC Crump, the world's sixth-biggest insurance broker and largest dedicated wholesaler, has helped generate a record quarterly profit for its parent, banking group BB&T.

US directors' and officers' (D&O) insurance rates bottomed out between Q1 2012 and Q1 2013 after roughly a decade of year-on-year rate declines and there is even pressure for gentle increases, according to Aon's quarterly D&O pricing index, published last week.

A quartet of Chinese insurers demonstrated their continued strong appetite for US property business during the mid-year renewals

Berkshire Hathaway's bold new drive into the US specialty markets is already being felt on Lime Street, Tom Bolt warned last week.

Marsh has revealed that Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) wrote casualty business across a dozen of its accounts at the 1 July renewals as Warren Buffett's aggressive start-up continues to make its presence felt.