May 2007/3

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.

London is destined to control a shrinking share of the world's insurance markets, both in absolute terms due to emerging market growth, and in relative terms as a result of "localisation", according to Luke Savage, finance director of Lloyd's.

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.

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.

Russian insurance, investment and leasing group Oslo Marine Group Ltd (OMG) has established a London representative office headed by ex-Novae and CLM Insurance Fund plc executive, Keith Parker.

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 impact of recent changes to the Florida Hurricane Cat Fund (FHCF) will be less than originally anticipated, according to Geoffrey Bromley, non-Americas chairman of reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter.

RenaissanceRe is set to launch a second Starbound Florida-dedicated sidecar as evidence emerges that the impact of the state’s hurricane catastrophe fund expansion earlier this year may be less severe than first feared.