May 2014/4

Top-line growth for London-listed carriers quickly decelerated in the first quarter of 2014, as mounting competition and softening rates burdened the peer group.

Florida cat bond Sanders Re (2014-2) will provide Allstate subsidiary Castle Key with indemnity protection for losses from all natural perils.

USAA's US multi-peril bond Residential Re (2014-1) will close in the middle of its initial target range of $100mn-$150mn at $130mn.

A quartet of cat bonds closed at the end of last week, raising their sponsors a total of almost $730mn in protection against Japanese, US and Florida-specific risks.

UK insurer Saga's IPO was lukewarm late last week and so was the Floridian insurer Heritage Insurance Holdings, which raised just $66mn from its IPO on the NYSE as pricing of its shares came in below expectations

Swiss Re has handed capital back to investors in Sector Re after a brief expansion of the sidecar in 2013.

QBE Insurance and Australian specialist insurer Assetinsure, soon to be acquired by Ironshore, have exposure to the major surety claims stemming from the Forge Group collapse earlier this year.

The loss reserve for the liability portion of the Malaysia Airlines claim has been set at $380mn, comfortably exceeding expectations, The Insurance Insider revealed last week.

London-listed Lloyd's carrier Amlin plc is reorganising to create a new tripartite structure, which will include a global reinsurance division led by Kevin Allchorne.

Mexican state-owned energy giant Pemex is undergoing a revamp of its insurance purchasing that could lead to a change its main broker and alter its energy programmes, sister publication Inside FAC revealed

Guy Carpenter's head of business intelligence David Flandro has resigned to join JLT Towers Re, where he is expected to lead JLT Towers Re's strategic advisory business

Endurance chief operating officer Catherine Kalaydjian has left the Bermudian carrier after more than a decade, The Insurance Insider revealed last week.