June 2004/3

Fulham Football Club has issued a High Court writ against a consortium of Lloyd’s syndicates for failing to pay personal accident (PA) claims on one of the club’s former players.

Marsh & McLennan chief executive Jeff Greenberg reassured investors that the group will continue to receive compensation for its broker services, despite New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer’s investigation into the practice.

UK broker Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT) has been voted European Commercial Broker of the Year, in a poll of more than 2,000 UK and European risk managers.

Reinsurer broker Benfield has appointed Chris Cook to its aviation insurance team, where he will focus on major aviation risks.

Run-off specialist Omni Whittington has announced the appointment of Harry Whitcher as the new compliance and risk manager for Reliance National Insurance Company (Europe) Limited.

US insurer Allmerica has announced the extent of likely incurred catastrophe losses following the recent spell of severe weather over the Michigan area.

Moody’s and AM Best have respectively assigned A3 and BBB+ ratings to ACE INA’s proposed $500mn senior unsecured debt issue, announced last Wednesday (3 June).

Standard & Poor’s (S&P) announced Thursday (3 June) it had affirmed Swiss reinsurer Converium’s ‘A’ long-term counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings after conducting a review. The group’s US operation Converium Holdings (North America)

$110mn has been transferred to the California Insurance Commissioner as part of a settlement in the five-year investigation into the Executive Life saga, United States Attorney Debra Yang said last week.

Specialty property and casualty insurer Markel International has announced the launch of a new insurance product to cover professional karting circuits.

Bermudian (re)insurer Arch Capital has announced that it will start to underwrite commercial business in the UK this week, after receiving a licence to do so from the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

Bermuda’s Everest Re had its A+(Superior) financial strength rating affirmed by AM Best last Wednesday (2 June). The agency also affirmed Everest Re’s debt ratings and extended the group’s financial strength rating to a previously unrated subsidiary Evere

Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has warned reinsurers to hold firm when balancing demand from clients, brokers, and shareholders to sustain underwriting volumes, with the need to cut exposures as rates potentially drop off across a number of lines

SVB Holdings has appointed Stuart Quinlan to the newly-created post of underwriting development director at its specialist liability subsidiary, Novae Underwriting.

Bruno Purro, chief risk officer at Swiss Re is to step down at the end of the year, to be replaced by Christian Mumenthaler, the giant reinsurer revealed last Thursday (3 June).

Disgraced broking group Stirling Cooke Brown (SCB) – now renamed AlpahStar Insurance Group - is considering suing co-founder Nicholas Brown for his involvement in the group’s collapse.