March 2007/2

With 2006's bumper returns banked, and clear signs of rates softening, (re)insurers are resurrecting capital management plans in earnest.

QBE Limit and Amalfi Underwriting Ltd, together with Markel International, are set to take broker Surety Guarantee Consultants Ltd (SGC) to the High Court alleging fraud in connection with construction bonds it issued as a coverholder.

Stephen Way, the Englishman who built HCC Insurance Holdings into a $3.4bn international insurance company, is raising $500-600mn to form a dedicated private equity and consulting firm specialising in the insurance and financial services sector...