March 2004/4

Amlin was the latest Lloyd’s insurer to post bumper profits on the back of the hard market when it announced a combined ratio of 83 percent (against 95 percent in 2002) and a 31 percent increase in gross written premium to £937.4mn for its 2003 year-end r

Bermudian insurance group Arch Capital will capitalise on strong investor sentiment towards specialist (re)insurers by launching a public offering of 7,285,000 of its common shares.

WTC leaseholder Silverstein Properties and world’s largest reinsurer Swiss Re have been in court in recent weeks to decide whether the 9/11 attacks amounted to one event or two.

Despite a decline in group operating profit from £226mn in 2002 to £140mn for 2003, ratings agencies and analysts have not echoed the stock market negativity that saw Royal and Sun Alliance (R&SA) shares drop almost 15 percent last Thursday (11 March) as

Bermudian (re)insurer Aspen revealed last Monday (8 March) the identity of its new US property reinsurance team.

Heath Lambert Group has confirmed that it will sell its Sydney based Australian insurance broking business, Heath Lambert Australia, to rival brokers Marsh.

Last year's trend towards lower aviation premiums is unlikely to last beyond the start of 2004, according to new research published by brokers Aon.

Despite the large loss of life, the 11 March Madrid terrorist attack will have only a limited impact upon the industry because of the longstanding government backed compensation fund, the Consorcio de Compensaciones de Seguros.

It was a week to be forgotten for the industry’s US directors’ and officers’ insurers as yet more class action suits surfaced, while a “get tough” attempt by leading carrier Chubb was dismissed by the US courts.

Ratings agency Moody’s last Friday (12 March, 2004) downgraded SVB’s Syndicate 1007 from A1 to A2 after the Lloyd’s quoted insurer revealed further deterioration on its 2001 result.

Recently floated reinsurer Alea Group Holdings Ltd became the latest carrier to trumpet the current strong trading conditions by unveiling a falling combined ratio and growing underwriting profits.

Dick Grasso, the controversial former chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, is facing a subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission over allegations that he engaged in “influence trading” with shares in the insurance giant American Internation