March 2006/1

UK insurer Royal & Sun Alliance (R&SA) today (9 March) reported a £685mn leap in its full year after tax profits. After tax profits were £605mn last year, a marked improvement on 2004’s £80mn loss. Profits before tax rose to £865mn in 2005 from...

Bermuda headquartered Catlin Group saw its 2005 net income plummet by 87 percent to $19.7mn after incurring a net loss of $333.5mn from the hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma (KRW), it reported today (9 March). The group also announced today that it...

Reinsurance broker Benfield Group announced an “encouraging set of results” for 2005 today (9 March), according to analysts. Group revenue rose 6.8 percent from £303.5mn in 2004 to £324.1mn last year, but the group’s trading result was...

As first revealed by The Insurance Insider on 6 February, Lloyd’s has chosen the former head of the International Petroleum Exchange (IPE) Dr Richard Ward to become the next chief executive of Lloyd’s following the departure of Nick Prettejohn at the...

Shares in UK listed Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc (JLT) have again fallen sharply today following the broker’s 2005 results which show a fall in profits and tough trading conditions. At midday, JLT’s shares had fallen almost 12 percent...

Insurance brokers want (re)insurers to write more business with their excess capital according to Chris Klein of Benfield. “When I was a soldier I could never have too much ammunition, and I don’t recall anyone ever returning excess ammunition...

Ratings agency Moody’s says that the outlook for Australia's property and casualty insurance industry is stable. “The industry has registered a good underwriting performance in the last few years, largely due to its sound claims experience, driven...

Swiss reinsurer Converium has provided details of restated financial results following an internal review prompted by regulatory investigations into ‘finite’ reinsurance. In a statement on 28 February, the company – which has been attempting to...

The London market has exceeded its latest target laid-down in conjunction with UK regulator, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), to ensure contract certainty of policies agreed in December. According to the Market Reform Group (MRG) – the industry

US broker Hub International reported a fourth quarter increase of 75 percent in its net earnings, which rose to $5.9mn. Revenue for the quarter was up 12 percent to $114.1mn, while revenue for the full-year was up 25 percent to $442.6mn.

Supplementary benefits removed for all but the senior ranks in efficiency drive… Marsh UK is in the process of scrapping its final salary pension scheme for its staff and ceasing supplementary benefits for all but the highest earners...

Lloyd’s insurer Hardy Underwriting has forecast today (6 March) that its 2005 profits will be ahead of expectations. In a statement to the Stock Market the company said: “The profit before tax of Hardy Underwriting Group for the year ended...

French reinsurer SCOR has reported a 25 percent increase in premium income renewed at 1 January for non-life, credit and surety treaties. The group’s recovery towards profitability after the travails of 2003 continued with overall premium income up...

Former Gen Re executives Geoffrey Barnum and Christopher Byatt have dropped their appeals to the Australian regulator The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) over their disqualifications. The two were disqualified by the APRA...

Shares in (re)insurer Quanta Capital Holdings Ltd collapsed last week after the company admitted it was putting itself up for sale following deteriorating losses and a downgrade by rating agency AM Best from the crucial A- to B++.

Swiss Re’s new chief executive Jacques Aigrain has warned that Bermuda’s “Class of 2005” are at risk of being wiped out by a repeat of the devastating hurricane losses that led to their formation.

Ex Aon Re executive director Shaun Scade has joined Marsh’s reinsurance arm Guy Carpenter & Co Inc to head its accident & health specialty practice in London. Scade – who joins as a senior vice president – will report to Nick Frankland, the head of...

London-based HSBC Insurance Brokers announced a restructuring last Wednesday (2 March), with four core divisions reporting to chief executive Mike Dixon. The new structure sees Direct Client Solutions, International Solutions, Intermediary Solutions...

Listed Lloyd’s insurer Chaucer reported on 28 February that it has written £125.8mn of premium, net of brokerage, during January renewals. The premiums are up from January 2005’s figure of £110.3m and represent approximately 28 percent of Chaucer’s...

Giant insurer American International Group (AIG) has formed a new unit, AIG Specialty Excess, in order to handle all in-force, new and renewal business currently handled by CV Starr & Co agency, a subsidiary of CV Starr & Co, Inc.

Broking giant Aon is suing two of its rivals, Integro and Heath Lambert, for poaching members of its staff. The suit against Integro was filed in Atlanta on 13 February and accuses the start-up broker of a “campaign to pirate” Aon employees.

Bermudian Allied World Assurance Holdings (AWAC) announced a fourth quarter net loss of $23.9mn from last year with the company suffering an $83mn hit from Hurricane Wilma. The company’s net loss for 2005 was $159.8mn, down significantly from the...

Lloyd’s has chosen the former head of the International Petroleum Exchange (IPE) Dr Richard Ward to become the next chief executive of Lloyd’s, Insider Week can reveal. But the Society is still waiting on the Bank of England to ratify the decision...

Warren Buffett said the cost of Hurricane Katrina and “her ugly sisters, Rita and Wilma” cost Berkshire Hathaway a total of $3.4bn last year. The investment titan revealed the extent of Berkshire’s bill in his annual letter to the company’s...