May 2007/3

Benfield Group's 2005 move into primary lines continues to provoke concerns among some analysts about the reinsurance broker's prospects.

As SCOR found out recently, there are times when shareholders need an extra incentive before they will support take-out offers – and this is looking increasingly the case with the defunct reinsurer Alea Group Holdings.

Allstate Insurance Co announced that it would not be writing any new homeowners policies in the state of California from 1 July.

Maintaining underwriting discipline and good cycle management will be key as falling aviation rates send the market towards the "burning cost" for airline business, according to Lloyd’s Annual Report 2006.

The continuing uncertainties in catastrophe models were highlighted as a stumbling block to high ratings for insurance linked securities (ILS), such as cat bonds, last week.

Heath Lambert, the UK broker that has to continually fend off takeover speculation, has restructured its operations following the departure of a number of executives.

Synergy Insurance Services, an innovative UK insurer that has been in the pipeline for a number of years, is finally launched this week amid claims that its structure could allow small and medium-sized businesses to save up to 40 percent of their insuranc

Greenlight Capital Re Ltd is expected to make its debut on Nasdaq in the next fortnight as it looks to raise $175mn in an initial public offering.

French insurance giant AXA announced first quarter revenues up 34 percent, driven mainly by the Winterthur acquisition, sealed in January this year.

Converium Holdings AG CEO Inga Beale will receive a lump sum payment of SFr4.2mn when she leaves the company on completion of the takeover by French reinsurer SCOR.

Despite a hiatus at the beginning of the year partly fuelled by events in Florida, the industry has returned to one of the most notable trends in recent years – securitising its business into the capital markets.

Provisional liquidator Grant Thornton has confirmed the initial dividend payment under its proposed UIC Insurance Company Limited scheme of arrangement has been set at 100 percent.