May 2011/4

The credit insurance sector is set to diversify and adapt to meet the challenges of recent years, according to Mike Holley, chief executive at London-based start-up Equinox Global.

Shareholders in Heath Lambert will receive just £32mn from its takeover by AJ Gallagher International, with the remainder of the purchase price going to pay off debt.

Charles Taylor Consulting (CTC) has reiterated pessimistic comments on a slow start to the year in its interim management statement.

The European professional indemnity (PI) insurance market brought in about is set to grow to be worth EUR7bn by 2014, research from Finaccord predicted last week.

Bermudian reinsurer RenaissanceRe last week lifted the size of its potential share repurchase programme to $500mn to match the size of its 2010 authorisation despite taking a $436mn hit to shareholders' equity in the first quarter.

Ross Hood, one of the architects of Hannover Re's aggressive play in the UK solicitors' Professional Indemnity (PI) market, has left the company, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

An accident involving a Petrobras-owned oil and gas vessel in the Gulf of Mexico looks set to land the offshore energy market with a new $147mn bill amid a series of bruising losses, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

Fresh from acquiring up-for-sale Lloyd's insurer Jubilee Group, the expansive US underwriter and wholesaler Ryan Specialty Group (RSG) has agreed a new partnership with Beazley Group.

The leading Lloyd's turnkey provider Whittington Group has whittled down its list of potential acquirers to a final shortlist that includes the UK-listed run-off acquisition group Tawa and a private equity backed management buy-out

With the notable exceptions of the US excess casualty and deepwater drilling and control of well segments, Marsh has said market conditions were favourable for most energy insurance buyers.

The news that sidecars are being readied once more to slice through some of the prime hard crust currently sitting on top of the property cat retro market is unlikely to surprise anyone well connected to the sector.

Lancashire's $250mn Accordion sidecar, launched last week, illustrates that the 2011 breed of sidecars have markedly different characteristics to the vintage marques of 2005-06 that emerged after hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma.