July 2014/3

Weekly share price data on The Insurance Insider's universe of P&C (re)insurers

It was another tough five days for P&C (re)insurance stocks last week, as The Insider 30 index of share prices retracted by 0.9 percent overall.

The International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) has launched a public consultation on its proposed basic capital requirements for global systemically important insurers (G-SIIs), despite reservations from the insurance industry.

The US Senate last week (17 July) passed legislation to extend the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (Tria) by seven years, in a move that has been widely welcomed by the P&C insurance industry.

A number of Tower Group shareholders are suing the firm, its departed CEO Michael Lee and several of its directors and officers for allegedly neglecting their fiduciary duty to investors.

The government of Gibraltar has received confirmation that the UK Treasury will sanction Part VII asset transfers to (re)insurers based on the Rock.

Allstate halved the top traditional layers of its nationwide catastrophe reinsurance programme for 2014 after placing the $750mn Sanders Re cat bond this year, according to recent disclosures from the insurer.

Four of the top 10 specialist insurance-linked securities (ILS) managers kept their assets under management (AuM) stable in the first half of 2014, but the group of leading capital providers still added $2bn to its circa $38bn combined asset base.

Despite coming under pressure from various headwinds, London-listed carriers still look set to deliver a fairly solid performance for the first half of 2014 given the moderate catastrophe losses so far this year, but profits overall will likely be down.

RLI was yet another beneficiary of the buyers' reinsurance market during the second quarter, as the US specialty insurer was able to obtain significant cost savings on its reinsurance spend.

Platinum kicked off the Q2 reporting season last week, with news of continued top-line shrinkage as the Bermudian reinsurer pursued "profitability over market share" amid softening conditions.

Rates have fallen by up to 30 percent in the international construction and P&C insurance markets due to overcapacity, benign losses and cheaper reinsurance over the first half of the year, according to Willis.

Downstream energy underwriters could face a $60mn-$240mn loss after a fire and explosion at a petrochemical plant operated by Thai refiner IRPC, sister title Inside FAC reported last week.

Berkshire Hathaway has continued to show a strong appetite for assuming long-tail US liabilities with the giant Liberty Mutual adverse development cover announced last week (17 July).

Fast-growing Florida-based homeowners' insurer Federated National is set to launch a new P&C carrier in the state in a joint venture with Canadian bank CA Bancorp and reinsurer Transatlantic Re.

(Re)insurance executives Joe King, Enda McDonnell and Adrian Ryan have completed their 100 percent buyout of Florida and Texas insurer Cypress Insurance Group (CIG) for $63mn.

Simon Smith, Skuld's executive vice president for group business development, has resigned from the Norway-based marine insurance group, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

Operating profits at independent broker Price Forbes soared by 88 percent to £9.01mn ($15.4mn) in calendar year 2013.

Head of liability David Jones and senior underwriter Helen Beamish have left AmTrust at Lloyd's for the nascent Lloyd's underwriter Acappella, The Insurance Insider revealed last week.

The aviation war market is waiting anxiously on the conclusion of a week of fighting at Tripoli Airport in Libya, which has placed $440mn of limit in danger.

The rapid and long-term softening that has plagued the aviation all-risk market finally looks set to come to an end in the wake of the MH17 disaster, market sources predict.

The Insurance Contracts bill, a reform of UK commercial insurance contract law, was last week (17 July) introduced into parliament following eight years of consultation between the Law Commission, businesses and insurers.

Interest rates are unlikely to return to pre-crisis levels in the near future, and forecasting is a fool's game, according to former UK chancellor Lord Norman Lamont.

Liberty ratings upgrade; AJ Gallagher acquires; International rates plunge; Catlin downgraded; Sequel hire; Anointed; Gibraltar approved; KBW sours on Scor; Arthur a non-event; Cat 3 Rammasun hits China;

Conflicting views have surfaced from the analyst community in the run up to two crucial shareholder votes relating to Endurance's takeover bid for Aspen. Normal 0 false false

Some markets are just made to be volatile.

Mutual insurer Aegis leads the primary layer of a general liability policy that is set to pay a record-breaking A$379mn ($355mn) loss relating to deadly bushfires that resulted in 119 deaths in 2009, The Insurance Insider can reveal.