March 2006/3

The Insurance Insider’s 2006 market survey, in association with Salmon Ltd, will gauge the views of senior industry figures on the competitiveness of the London market at a time of extraordinary flux for the industry. It takes less than five minutes...

But share price suffers as plans for new holding company, FSA insurer and rights issue revealed... Lloyd’s insurer SVB Holdings plc has confirmed a scheme of arrangement to ring-fence past liabilities, with the creation of a new holding company...

Giant reinsurer Swiss Re reported a 41 percent drop in its 2005 net income to SFr1.451bn from SFr2.475bn in the prior-year, a result that reflected a tough year for reinsurers. Swiss Re absorbed SFr3bn in large natural catastrophe claims following...

CNA falls to Q4 loss Chicago-based insurer CNA Financial posted a fourth quarter net loss of $217mn, or 92 cents per share, down from a net profit of $303mn, or $1.11 per share, in 2004. The company was hit by $223mn in commuted reinsurance...

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

As Amlin, Beazley, Catlin and Hiscox kicked off the Lloyd’s listed vehicles’ 2005 reporting season, analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Ltd (KBW) noted good prospects for the sector based on recent trading statements, despite the record hurricane...

The fate of the campaign by non-US reinsurers to have onerous collateral requirements relaxed for business written in the US should be known by the end of 2006, after the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) finally set itself a...

Despite the demise of Kinnect, London’s back-office provider Xchanging is continuing to develop initiatives to help the market’s insurers reach the contract certainty targets agreed with the Financial Services Authority.

London on target with contract certainty initiative ; G6 becomes magnificent seven ; HCC grows Lloyd’s presence with Heritage stake ; Managing the cycle key to Lloyd’s underwriters ; FSA cancels broker’s permission to trade ; et al...

Attendees at the ARC Congress were given a stark warning over asbestos liabilities by lawyer David Gross of US firm Saiber Schlesinger Satz & Goldstein. Giving a presentation entitled “Toujour Asbestos: Will we ever be free of it?” Gross gave the...

UK regulator the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has said it regards a healthy run-off sector as an essential part of the insurance market. Speaking at the Association of Run-Off Companies (ARC) Congress on 7 March, Julian Adams, head of...

The Insurance Insider reports from the World Insurance Forum where the growing interaction between the reinsurance industry and the capital markets was a key subject of debate. Industry leaders gathered at the World Insurance Forum in Bermuda last...