November 2003/1

Centennial Insurance Company (CIC), revealed by The Insider in September as a new entrant to the UK professional indemnity (PI) market with a chequered past and debatable security, is understood to be the subject of a Financial Services Authority (FSA) en

Over two years after Boeing officially announced an endemic fault on its 702/GEM telecommunications satellites, last-ditch negotiations continue in an attempt to avert a round of litigation that could cost the industry and its insurers dear. Satellite

ACE shows solid performance Bermudian giant ACE announced a solid set of third quarter results, returning earnings per share (EPS) of $1.04, almost double the same period last year and topping analysts' projections by 2 cents. Income of $304mn was g

The build-up to the renewals season was marked by calls at conferences across London for pricing discipline, underwriting profit and an end to gearing by under-reserving. Former Morgan Stanley analyst Alice Schroeder kicked off the season on 3 November

For several years now the Russian reinsurance sector has been expecting a major storm to blow the Russian reinsurers away. To their relief, the reinsurers say it hasn't happened. Even better, they add, the growth rate last year for the domestic reinsurer

CNA's $1.5bn reserve boost Insurer CNA announced a massive $1.5bn post-tax reserve boost in its third quarter results on 12 November. The increase in reserves pushed the company into the red, with third quarter losses of $1.76bn, or $7.94 a share, c

The extent of the insurance industry's exposure to structured football finance was under the spotlight again this month following the publication of Premiership football club Leeds United's full year results. The results, which have been described as t

The thorny issue of directors' and officers' (D&O) insurance has climbed up the agenda for UK executives. As advisors pick their way through Higgs, directors face soaring premiums and tightening terms and conditions in a capacity sapped market, with many

In what would appear to be a further flexing of Franchise Performance Directorate muscle, Dex Services announced on 25 November that its Syndicate 2241 was pulling out of the Lloyd's market, ceasing underwriting at the end of 2003. Managed by Thomas Mi

Royal & SunAlliance (R&SA) disappointed in November with a set of results that showed earnings at the lower end of expectations for the first nine months of 2003. The UK's second largest insurer, which announced a £960mn rights issue in September, also

Munich Re misses analyst expectations by EUR277mn Munich Re missed analysts' expectations by a significant margin in its third quarter results for 2003. The world's largest reinsurer said on 25 November that it had made Q3 net profit of EUR152mn - w

St Paul takes strength as Travelers takes on baggage Hailed as a "merger of equals" by the management of both parties, the proposed joining up of US insurance giants Travelers and St Paul has met with a tepid response from some observers, with question