November 2005/1

Despite successful fundraising efforts to repair balance sheets battered by spiralling hurricane losses, a slew of rating downgrades has begun, with AM Best leading the way. The agency’s response appears to be toughest on those bearing the biggest...

Crisis-struck (re)insurer breaches banking covenants; details emerge on FSA action... Shares in UK quoted GoshawK collapsed almost 40 percent on 4 November to 5.75p as the company revealed it is no longer able to get access to funds in its Bermudian...

After downgrade and developing hurricane losses, investors await strategic plan... Post-9/11 start-up Montpelier Re has pleaded for patience from investors as it formulates a strategic plan to recover from heavily deteriorating hurricane losses that...

Like their Bermudian based counter-parts, Lloyd’s quoted insurers are rushing to raise funds from the capital markets to take advantage of the expected uplift in rates that has followed the estimated $60bn-$80bn of storm losses this hurricane season.

Existing reinsurers are creating innovative “side-car” companies with hedge fund capital eager for exposure to the reinsurance sector. At a time when rating agencies are scrutinising companies’ exposures to property catastrophe and retrocessional...

Last month, Lloyd’s chief executive Nick Prettejohn confirmed that he was to end his ten year association with the Corporation and join Prudential plc at the beginning of next year. It was widely regarded as a successful reign, and Prettejohn can...

Allstate cuts Gulf Coast homeowners’ exposure America’s second largest personal line insurer Allstate has said it will reduce coverage of homeowners’ risks in the Gulf Coast region after being hit by a $1.55bn loss in the third quarter as a result of..

The pace of growth at medium-sized brokerages on both sides of the Atlantic last year far outstripped that of the industry’s big names. And the trend is likely to accelerate in 2005, with the “Spitzer Effect” expected to play an increasing role.

A bullish stance on the insurance broking sector by analysts at Numis Securities fuelled a price hike in the shares of brokers Benfield and JLT last month. In the research note, released on 10 October, Numis analysts...

Lloyd’s capacity for 2006 looks set to come close to its record £15bn capacity level in 2004 as a host of the market’s syndicates plan to increase their business in the wake of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. Only a few months ago, most...

In our regular monthly London News Digest, we round up key stories from the last month, presenting them to you in easily digestable snippets.

Ousted AIG legend in legal tit-for-tat over rights to $20bn stake in former employer... On the 17 October former American International Group (AIG) chief executive, Maurice “Hank” Greenberg launched the latest round in an increasingly acrimonious...

Lloyd’s insurer SVB has sold its SME property focused underwriting agency to the fast-expanding insurance consolidator Towergate Partnership in a deal worth up to £25mn. After several months of talks, Towergate and SVB agreed terms for the transfer...

Cat specialists get roughest ride as 3Q losses mount... The pain inflicted by hurricanes Katrina and Rita is clearly reflected in the third quarter reporting of Bermuda’s (re)insurers, a period set to go down in history as the costliest ever quarter...

It was a mixed bag as the big three global brokers announced their third-quarter results. Although Aon’s net income was unchanged from 2004 at $122mn it was below analysts forecasts.

Following Katrina, the received wisdom was that there would be few, if any, Bermudian start-ups. But as the magnitude of the three storm losses begins to sink in (AXIS’s John Charman raised the prospect of up to $80bn of losses in 2005 which, if you...

In our regular monthly International News Digest, we round up key stories from the last month, presenting them to you in easily digestable snippets.

Lloyd’s based broker Fabien Risk Services Ltd has gone into liquidation with debts of over £700,000 and questions over the behaviour of some of its former directors. The company, which was formed in 2001 and...

AM Best downgrade for once revered reinsurer... Rating agency AM Best downgraded the insurer financial strength ratings of troubled Bermudian RenaissanceRe from A+ to A just two days after the reinsurer revealed CEO and chairman James Stanard had...