March 2006/5

Hampden Private Capital is set to become one of only two remaining Lloyd’s members’ agencies after agreeing to acquire the Names’ advisory business from CBS Private Capital.

HCC Insurance Holdings’ executive John Molbeck – who returned to the insurer last year after a stint with Jardine Lloyd Thompson’s US arm – will become the company’s new president and chief operating officer. The insurer’s founder Stephen Way will...

The fast-expanding London broker SBJ Group Ltd has acquired the employee benefits technology company Orbit Benefits Ltd from Benfield Group. SBJ – which is majority owned by the private equity firm Capital Z Financial Services Partners – said the...

Shares in Canadian combine Fairfax Financial Holdings dropped almost 15 percent on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on 22 March. The slump occurred after Fairfax – which owns a number of insurance companies including reinsurer Odyssey Re...

German reinsurer R+V returned to the Royal Courts of Justice last week as it attempts to establish the quantum of liabilities due from the controversial, Lloyd's based managing agency Risk. The case, on which The Insurance Insider has reported...

Strong investment income helped French reinsurer SCOR continue its recovery as it recorded a 22 percent increase in 2005 operating profits to EUR242mn, along with a 75 percent increase in net profit to EUR131mn. However, the legacy of the past...

Wellington Underwriting plc says its reinsurance costs have risen substantially after restructuring its programme following Hurricane Katrina last year. The Lloyd’s insurer posted a full-year pre-tax loss of £26.2mn for 2005 as the devastating storm...

Lloyd’s insurer Talbot Underwriting Ltd shrugged off a £3.8mn loss for 2005 with a focus on the strong trading conditions it is currently experiencing. According to the insurer – which underwrites through Syndicate 1183 – it has experienced average...

Despite last autumn’s record industry hurricane losses, Lloyd’s insurer Kiln beat market expectations with a £8.5mn pre-tax profit, as strong investment income, a reserve release and an increase in fees and profit commission from its managing agency...

Michael Bright, the colourful founder of collapsed UK insurer Independent Insurance, will face trial on charges of conspiracy to defraud at a trial starting after Easter 2007, a preliminary hearing at Southwark Crown Court heard on the 24 March.

Peach Holdings, a life settlement company, is set to become the latest foreign financial services company to list on the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market, Insider Week can reveal. According to sources, Peach Holdings will list...

As widely expected, catastrophe modelling firm Risk Management Services (RMS) has increased the activity predicted by its hurricane loss models by 40 percent for Florida and the Gulf Coast. The company has also increased the modelled annualised...