May 2006/3

Troubled Bermudian reinsurer PXRE Group Ltd has been deluged by shareholder suits alleging that the company misled investors by hiding the full impact of last autumn's hurricanes in its initial loss estimates.

Last autumn's record hurricane losses have spurred a sea change in approaches to underwriting catastrophe risk and the use of modelling techniques, said panellists at a market briefing hosted by The Insurance Insider in London last Friday (5 May).

The trade association for Lloyd's insurers was accused of a "thinly veiled attempt to reduce London brokerage levels" last week as the war of words over broker remuneration broke out once again.

The Armenian Airbus that crashed into the Black Sea on 3 May was insured in the London Market by Lloyd's MSF Pritchard Syndicate 318.

MMC chief executive Michael Cherkasky pointed to the green shoots of recovery in his company's first quarter results on 3 May, but it was also apparent that the global brokers are still operating in a brutally tough trading environment.

Beazley Group plc's head of property Jonathan Gray has called for a back to basics approach to catastrophe underwriting last week, advising underwriters to rely more on their common sense and not to become slavishly dependent upon catastrophe models.

London market IT provider Room Solutions has been bought out by the Indian-headquartered company NIIT Technologies Limited (NIIT). In an announcement today (8 May), the company said NIIT has...

Despite the capital market's growing appetite to assume risk, traditional reinsurance cannot be beaten for speed of access, according to speakers at an Insurance Insider event last week.

Lloyd's insurer Chaucer Syndicates has appointed two new directors from within the business.

Brit Insurance Holdings plc has announced a record-breaking five-year sponsorship deal with Surrey County Cricket Club and the Brit Insurance Oval.

Bermudian (re)insurer AXIS Capital reported first quarter net income of $195.2mn, or $1.19 a share, up from $151.8mn, or $0.95 per share for the prior year period.

The positive first quarter for Bermudian (re)insurers continued when RenaissanceRe posted a record net operating income of $195.7mn, or $2.73 per share, up from $54.5mn, or $0.76 per share last year.