June 2008/3

Speculation surrounding the future of Marsh & McLennan Companies (MMC) security consulting arm, Kroll, was further fuelled at the end of last week when the company announced that founder Jules Kroll is to step down.

Alternative investment vehicle Juniperus Insurance Opportunity Fund (JIOF) has made its first investment, of $7.5mn, in Hannover Re's sidecar Globe Re, our sister publication Trading Risk revealed.

French insurance giant AXA is re-approaching the capital markets with its third motor insurance securitisation, renewing the EUR61mn Class D notes from its 2007 Sparc transaction.

Hirotoshi Murakami, CEO of Tokio Marine Global (TMG) in London is set to return to Japan and take up a new position with the parent company at the end of this month.

Lloyd's listed (re)insurer Beazley Group plc is to promote group finance director Andrew Horton to take over from Andrew Beazley as its CEO.

Heath Lambert's drive to divest itself of its wholesale business units to focus on UK retail was finally realised last week when the intermediary sold its Global Business Solutions (GBS) unit to Arthur J Gallagher International Ltd.

In another tough week for the stocks of the UK's quoted non-life insurers, RSA share price was a rare exception buoyed by vague suggestions of a possible bid from QBE.

The under-pressure shares in Brit Insurance Holdings Ltd have been tipped by the firm's corporate adviser to stage a recovery as the group continues to show resilience in its reinsurance business.

German insurance giant Allianz is in talks with Commerzbank and Postbank over the proposed sale of its embattled banking division Dresdner Bank, according to reports.

Swiss Re has successfully closed its $150mn Vega Capital Ltd collateralised risk obligation (CRO) transaction, while Allstate also bought its second $250mn Willow Re cat bond to market, our sister publication Trading Risk revealed.

US property & casualty insurers look set to post a modest underwriting loss and suffer significant reduction in profits and return on surplus for the year, according to Fitch Ratings.

A potential bid from Zurich Financial Services (ZFS) for the Royal Bank of Scotland's (RBS) insurance unit has continued to place downward pressure on the company's share price.