June 2003/4

Private equity firm Electra Investment Trust has halved the value of its stake in the broker HLF Group because of its decision not to pursue an IPO for the time being.

Total payouts fall, but shrinking surplus and deteriorating solvency margin as balance sheet weakens

The Lloyd’s insurer Trenwick Managing Agency (TMA) is on the verge of announcing that it has successfully raised funds to buy-out the business from its distressed Bermudian parent, Insider Week can reveal.

The Joint Hull Committee, a London market initiative representing hull underwriters from Lloyd’s and the companies market, has begun a review of the International Hull clauses launched last November.

London market underwriters who hand over the pen and the coverholders who act under their binding authority in the UK should making ready for the raft of FSA regulations due to come in at the end of the next year. This was the advice from Richard Teff, pr

Ratings agency Moody’s has upgraded the outlook for Markel Syndicate 3000, Munich Re Syndicate 457, and Beazley Syndicates 623 and 2623.

Hannover Re, the world’s fifth largest reinsurer, has responded to concerns over its geared capital base by raising EUR500mn in two equity offers last week.

Shares in Benfield Group began conditional trading on the London Stock Exchange on Friday morning as the company announced the pricing of its IPO at 250p per share.

Munich Re’s director of investor relations and strategic planning Clement Booth will leave the firm in September, months before the new chief executive Nikolaus Von Bonhard arrives.

Natural risk takers generally don’t do well as managers of public companies, according to seasoned entrepreneur Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the man who brought us easyJet and easyCar.

The Marsh backed, Bermudian head-quartered insurer AXIS Capital will be valued at around $3bn – almost twice its 2001 start up capital – when it floats in New York later this year.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) increased its presence in the UK general insurance market last Wednesday, buying Churchill from rival banking group Credit Suisse in a £1.1bn deal.