June 2006/2

South African broking group Alexander Forbes announced 7 June that its CEO is to step down, it is in discussions with potential private equity buyers of the company, and that it is looking at options for its International Risk Services (IRS)...

Alexander Forbes International Risk Services (IRS) division followed its parent company's announcement by confirming talks with new investors that would see its South African parent reduce its ownership.

Key parties in the London market, including the London Market Association (LMA), and the G6 have welcomed Lloyd's CEO Richard Ward's contract documentation initiative, which was announced on 22 May.

The former head of Lloyd's strategy Stuart Degg, together with reinsurance consultancy the Donald Macdonald Partnership, is set to launch a new operation targeting the industry's growing enthusiasm for (re)insurance-linked securitisations...

Bermudian reinsurer Max Re filed its first quarter results late May in a move that should avert its delisting from the Nasdaq trading exchange.

UK general insurer Royal & Sun Alliance (R&SA) announced first quarter pre-tax profits of £122mn, unchanged from the corresponding period of 2005.

Shares in American International Group (AIG) fell last month as investors sold stakes following a 16 percent drop in first quarter net income to $3.2bn.

Former Brit space underwriter Simon Clapham has been signed up by Sciemus Limited as director of insurance, to work with the LibSat satellite consortium backed by Liberty Syndicate Management and a number of other Lloyd’s insurers.

Insurance giant Allianz unveiled the restructuring of its large corporate risks units late last month while also confirming it was exiting marine reinsurance business after last year’s destructive storm losses.

Lloyd's insurer Argenta Syndicate Management Ltd has parted company with its lead underwriter John Hyland after six years at the helm of its reinsurance focussed Syndicate 2121.

Lloyd's has added Steve McCann, its head of open years, to a special working party to manage its application for a permanent Chinese licence as the deadline for regulatory approval fast approaches.

Europe is set to welcome its first publicly quoted start-up (re)insurance company for almost a decade when Augsburg Re is floated on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) within the next month.

Benfield Group's chief executive Grahame Chilton has always made it clear that he believes one of the prime duties of the reinsurance broker is to ensure there are markets available for its clients; and, if they are not, they should be created.

RMS learns Katrina lessons with new model; Buffett points to son as non-executive chairman; WTC insurers in fees victory; Imagine appoints ex-Platinum executive as CEO; Sompo Japan suspended by regulator; et al...

Post-Katrina Bermuda-based sidecars will soon have raised more than $2.5bn in capital with the emergence of Bay Point Re, a vehicle being launched alongside the "Class of 2005" reinsurer Harbor Point.

Independent (re)insurance broker BMS Group reported a 2 percent upturn in 2005 pre-tax profits to £4.5mn earlier this month.

Bruce Carnegie-Brown resigned unexpectedly as president and CEO of the Europe and Middle East region of Marsh Inc last month, after just three years at the firm.

In an exclusive interview with our sister publication IQ, Sue Langley, chair of the G6 and chief operating officer of UK insurer Hiscox, confirmed the group would pilot a new approach to contract checking, to which the new Lloyd's CEO Richard Ward...

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is set to implement rules that will enable sidecar-style securitisation transactions to be formed in the UK.

Although the pace of business process reform has picked up in London, with initiatives from Lloyd's, the Lloyd's Market Association and the G6 moving forward, Bronek Masojada, chief executive of UK insurer Hiscox, challenged the market...

Rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) gave a preview of its updated risk-based capital model on 1 June, saying that it does not see it as an "opportunity to raise the industry's overall capital requirements substantially".

Giant reinsurer Swiss Re has announced the issue of Successor, the latest in its series of cat bond programmes, as it continues to utilise the capital markets to offset risk.

The first quarter of the year has seen premium income drop for Bermudian reinsurers despite sharp rate rises, reported Benfield in its Bermuda Quarterly review.

Heritage Underwriting Agency plc is still keen to proceed with its planned Alternative Investment Market (AIM) flotation despite the sudden resignation of its renowned underwriter, Les Rock.

Allianz net profit up in revised results German insurer Allianz reported a 35 percent increase in profits in its revised first quarter results on 12 May. Net profit rose to EUR1.78bn this year from EUR1.32bn in the prior-year period.

German giant increases use of securitisations as retro costs rise German reinsurer Hannover Re revealed it has halved its coverage from the traditional retro market in its programme renewal as it released strong first quarter operating results...

Aon Ltd is close to deciding on the company it will partner with to outsource its entire back-office function, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

Equitas boosts asbestos reserves; Creechurch parts company with chief executive; Monument in disarray as chief executive quits; Novae enters energy as start-up gets A- rating; Lloyd's warns insurers on climate change; et al...

Although the London market was recently overtaken by Bermuda as the largest brokered reinsurance market in the world, analysts from Morgan Stanley believe the market remains attractive as an investment proposition, with lower capital requirements...

Amidst market volatility, Numis downgrades earnings forecasts Despite hardening rates in some lines of business and positive trading statements, London-listed insurance stocks have taken a hammering in recent weeks.

Underwriters on Limit's Syndicate 386 have become some of QBE's highest paid employees following their multi-million pound bonus scheme.

CV Starr, the managing agency ultimately controlled by former American International Group chief executive Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, is set to appoint an aviation underwriter who will spear-head the company's London market operations.

Willis Group Ltd has seen a series of migrations from its Italian team to rival Aon Ltd following the recent resignation of the unit head, Alberto Carrara.

Aon and Willis followed world's largest broker Marsh in announcing first quarter results last month. Marsh had earlier released figures revealing an almost doubling of earnings from $129mn to $238mn - despite revenues falling...

The High Court has sanctioned the first transfer of business out of a Lloyd's syndicate since the formation of Equitas ten years ago, opening the prospect of a new method to obtain finality for non-trading syndicates.

The proposed WFUM pool scheme of arrangement, involving 16 different insurance companies, was granted leave to convene creditors' meetings by the UK High Court on 9 June.