March 2013/4

Ace European Group chairman Andrew Kendrick warned the London market that (re)insurers need to concentrate on building a culture of "sustainable underwriting" if it is to tackle the "permasoft" market conditions and economic headwinds that continue to dampen growth in many regions.

Navigator retires; Towers Watson enlists; Gulbransen goes; Hastings silent on IPO; Esure prices high; Little in at Eqecat; Bacon back; Insurers in terror cry; Allstate upgraded; Charles Taylor delivers; Auf Wiedersehen Deutschland?; World less risky; Fast capital ‘new norm'; Marine market adjusts

Sir Richard Lambert, the former director-general of the Confederation of British Industry and erstwhile member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, has admitted that UK and global monetary policymakers were too complacent about inflation before the financial crisis.

Strong investor demand and relatively constrained supply has sharply pushed down pricing on Florida Citizens' Everglades Re (2013-1) cat bond, our sister title Trading Risk has reported.

You don't need to be a depositor in a Cypriot bank to know that we are living in an age of major market distortions.

Allstate is pulling a significant chunk of limit from the traditional open reinsurance market in a restructure of its nationwide cat programme that is expected to include a new catastrophe bond and the use of other alternative capacity, The Insurance Insider can reveal.