March 2005/1

Lloyd’s sponsored electronic data transfer platform Kinnect has a new board, with representatives from the broking and underwriting fraternity taking up non-executive positions to “drive its adoption, guide its development and manage its performance”.

Court case calls into question scope of Aon’s personal accident reinsurance Claim and counter-claim echoed across the oak-panelled walls of Court 11 at London’s Royal Courts of Justice today as a legal dispute between Aon’s insurance company and its re

Wellington Underwriting Plc saw its pre-tax profits fall by a third to £78.1mn (2003 £116.7mn) but raised its dividend on the back of strong underwriting returns.

Lloyd’s specialist helicopter insurer Hardy Underwriting Group Plc announced last Friday (4 March) that it has made strong profits on its Syndicate 382’s 2002 year of account, but warned that it expects to make pre-tax profits of £8mn when it reports its

Less than a week after axing CEO Dirk Lohmann, troubled Swiss reinsurer Converium reported a net loss of $760.8mn last Tuesday (1 March), made worse by a higher than expected fourth quarter net loss of $50.2mn. The results were in contrast to the $56.2

Reinsurance broker RK Carvill & Co Ltd has promoted its long-serving executive David Thomas to the role of managing director.

US insurer Markel’s London operation, Markel International (MINT), plans to open a branch office this summer in Toronto in order to access Canadian business for its Lloyd’s Syndicate 3000.

Brad Cooper, the Australian entrepreneur and former associate of FAI managing director and HIH director Rodney Adler, pleaded not guilty to 13 charges relating to the A$5.3bn collapse of HIH in a New South Wales court, last week.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has today outlined how it will treat counterparty credit ratings of property casualty insurers implementing solvent schemes of arrangement.

Fitch Ratings is to finally publish its “Q” ratings on between 150-200 European insurers later this week after becoming embroiled in a controversy with the German industry association GDV earlier this year (see January edition of The Insurance Insider).

Embattled broking giant Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc is to shed a further 2,500 people in its global operations in a bid to save $375mn a year. The broker confirmed the job cuts in revealing its 2004 results that saw earnings decimated by the impact

MMC Capital’s chief executive Charles Davis is to lead a management buy-out of the private equity firm from its parent, the broking giant Marsh & McLennan Companies. The former Goldman Sachs banker confirmed last week that the firm will be spun-out of

US insurer CNA has become the latest company to be subpoenaed in connection with ongoing investigations into the practice of finite reinsurance. In its 10-K annual report filing, CNA revealed that it has received both subpoenas and interrogatories from

As predicted in the February edition of The Insurance Insider, Aon Corp has struck a nationwide agreement with US regulators to settle the bid-rigging, kickback and steering investigations into the broking giant.

Despite a record fourth quarter result and a $79.4mn release from prior-year reserves, Allied World Assurance Holding’s 2004 results were down 32 percent in response to last year’s severe catastrophe losses.

A drop in underwriting profits from $1.72bn to $1.55bn from its (re)insurance operations contributed to Warren Buffett-managed investment conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway posting net earnings of $7.31bn for 2004, down on the $8.15bn it recorded in 2003.

Bermuda-headquartered Aspen reported 2004 fourth quarter and full-year after tax net income up on 2003 last Thursday (3 March).

Heath Lambert Group’s Adrian Colosso has become the group chief executive following the retirement of its executive chairman, the scotsman Ian Martin.