March 2010/3

Glacier Group cut back business by 17 percent in 2009 while delivering a $34mn increase in net profit to $60mn, as it looked to navigate softening market conditions.

Hannover Re hauled back to an impressive profit EUR731mn last year, but is bracing itself for a EUR225mn hit from the Chile earthquake and recent European storm damage.

Bermuda-headquartered (re)insurer Omega Insurance Holdings finally held its special general meeting (SGM) last week, ending the internecine conflict that has caused its lead underwriter to resign and set shareholders against the board.

Scor may have already used up 80 percent of its 2010 cat loss budget, after taking hits from the Chile and Haitian earthquakes and European Windstorm Xynthia in the first three months of the year.

Lloyd's head of underwriting, Tom Bolt, believes initial industry losses from the Chile quake could change dramatically, with the loss developing on the lines of the Northridge earthquake of 1994.

Aon was recently in talks to buy the reinsurance broker Walsham Brothers, which could become the latest London market broker to be acquired by a larger, multinational rival - The Insurance Insider can reveal.

Electronic trading platform RI3K is in talks with the London & International Insurance Brokers' Association (LIIBA) and the "big three" brokers to develop a London market platform, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

Lloyd's net share of the Chilean disaster will be in excess of $500mn and possibly $750mn+, according to The Insurance Insider's initial analysis.