May 2005/1

Privately owned Lloyd’s insurer Heritage Underwriting Agency plc has confirmed that it has received interest from at least two parties interested in acquiring the group.

Berkshire Hathaway is poised to make an insurance acquisition worth almost $1bn, investment titan Warren Buffett revealed at the weekend while hosting his company’s annual shareholders’ gathering.

Embattled insurance giant AIG has pointed the figure at its former management for contributing to a mountain of accounting errors and “inappropriate transactions” that over-stated its book value by some $2.7bn.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (MMC), the parent of world’s largest broker Marsh, today (3 May) reported first quarter net income of $134mn, or $0.25 a share, well down on the $446mn or $0.83 a share booked in the first three months of 2004.