November 2003/2

MMC Group’s embattled fund company Putnam Investments saw the desertion of more of its clients last week following allegations of irregular trading.

Former Morgan Stanley analyst Alice Schroeder has called for underwriters to take more responsibility for their actions and for a return to sound principles of underwriting to mitigate the effects of the cyclical market.

PICC raises $693mn in IPO PICC Property and Casualty Co Ltd, China’s largest property insurer, successfully raised $693mn in a Hong Kong IPO last week.

Bermudian (re)insurer XL Capital announced stronger than expected operating earnings on the back of underwriting results that beat previous projections.

Insurer St Paul Companies Inc reported Q3 earnings per share of 95 cents up on 52 cents for the same period in 2002.

Montpelier Re unveiled more impressive results last week – its combined ratio for the first nine months of 2003 is averaging below 50 percent – but revealed that it has seen a slowdown in writing Lloyd’s qualifying quota share reinsurance.

Despite the clement underwriting conditions, Canadian insurance combine Fairfax Financial Holdings returned to loss in the third quarter after failing to realise any meaningful investment gains.

With investors still spooked by CIGNA’s $1bn mea culpa over its variable annuity death benefit losses last year, Converium addressed its guaranteed minimum death benefit (GMDB) exposures while revealing its third quarter results last week.

Chubb Corp posted a Q3 profit last week, reversing last year’s loss for the same quarter driven by asbestos reserve strengthening.

Bermudian insurer Allied World Assurance Holdings revealed its annual gross written premiums have breached the $1bn barrier in its second year of trading.

The share price of Lloyd’s insurer Wellington Underwriting is undervalued by at least 20 percent because it fails to take account of the imminent Aspen IPO, claims London stockbrokers Altium Capital.

Bermudian giant ACE has 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.