May 2006/4

Shareholders in the embattled insurance group Quanta Capital Holdings Ltd received a glimmer of good news last week when a US analyst upgraded the company's prospects on the possibility of a sale.

AXA is believed to be again working with the French investment bank IXIS in developing another innovative risk securitisation, according to reports.

The emergence of the special purpose reinsurance entities known as sidecars is an innovative capital and risk management strategy and the market looks set to keep growing according to a report by ratings agency Moody's.

AM Best has given start-up Bermudian (re)insurer CastlePoint Reinsurance Company Ltd an A- financial strength rating. CastlePoint's parent company, CastlePoint Holdings Ltd, was launched last month with $265mn of private equity capital by the...

Aon Ltd, the UK arm of broking giant Aon Corp, has ditched plans to move its London operations out of the City of London and to the Docklands.

Lloyd’s broker Monument has been left in disarray following its chief executive’s decision to quit the company after a tenure of just two months – only weeks after five other senior managers walked out on the firm.

Validus Reinsurance Ltd has become the latest Bermudian reinsurer to launch a sidecar with Petrel Re, a $200mn capitalised vehicle specialising in the stretched marine and energy sector.

Jardine Lloyd Thomson Group plc is in talks to buy its smaller rival, the resurgent Heath Lambert Group, in a move which might spark another round of broker consolidation fever, according to sources.

The shares prices of the London Market’s blue-chip insurers were again dragged down today (15 May) as uncertainty continued to grip trading on the London Stock Exchange.

Lloyd's insurer Kiln appointed Andrew Hitchcox to the newly created post of chief actuary and risk officer.

US retail broker Arthur J Gallagher has acquired Florida consultancy form YS Liedman & Associates.

The corporate scandals that have hit the US in the last few years have made the directors and officers (D&O) market, the toughest to administer claims, according to experts at a London-based conference.