May 2007/3

Carvill announced last week a tie-up with AIR Worldwide Corporation that will see the modelling company support Carvill Hurricane Index (CHI) in its standard and near-term US hurricane models.

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.

Stephen Way, the founder of HCC Insurance Holdings, has teamed up with the $8bn private equity group GTCR Golder Rauner LLC to back a new investment firm specialising in the insurance sector.

In its first results filing as a public company, Bermuda's Flagstone Reinsurance Holdings Ltd reported first quarter net income of $35.6mn, as it bore net losses of $25.4mn from European Windstorm Kyrill and $6.9mn from satellite losses.

Italian (re)insurance giant Generali announced net profits up 20 percent for the first quarter 2007.

Talbot is expected to announce within days that it has found a buyer in Bermudian (re)insurer Validus Holdings Ltd (Validus). The Insurance Insider revealed in its May issue that Validus has emerged as the front-runner to buy the Lloyd’s managing agency.

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.

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

In an era of increased globalisation, "understanding and preparing for political violence has arguably never been more important for business", according to Lloyd's chairman Lord Levene, at the launch of a new report on terrorism.

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.

HCC Insurance Holdings bucked the trend set by a number of its peers, as it announced last week record first quarter earnings and revenues up 28 percent.

US giant American International Group (AIG) reported strong first quarter results on the back of a 31.5 percent increase in operating profits at its general insurance business.