November 2005/2

Newly listed Lloyd’s insurer Omega Insurance Holdings is close to raising post-Katrina funds in a rights issue, Insider Week can reveal.

Three Lloyd’s insurers all expected to announce post-Katrina fund raising initiatives updated their third quarter storm loss estimates last week, in moves widely seen as “deck-clearing” exercises.

RenaissanceRe CEO and chairman James Stanard quit last week over the ongoing investigations into the troubled reinsurer’s earnings restatement – a move which triggered a wave of negative rating agency actions.

Lloyd’s have appointed the executive headhunter firms Russell Reynolds and Spencer Stuart to advise them on their search to replace the departing Nick Prettejohn.

Former Lloyd’s underwriter Richard Brindle is to set up a new Bermudian (re)insurer to target the post hurricanes rating environment.

Bermuda’s latest wave of (re)insurance start-ups is set to be the most prolific yet, with Insider Week estimating that up to $10bn in capital could be raised by new (re)insurers following this season’s hurricanes.

New Bermudian reinsurer New Castle Re has received its initial ratings, A- (Excellent) for financial strength and a- for issuer credit, from agency AM Best.

Hiscox plc is set to become the next Lloyd’s insurer to establish a Bermudian licensed (re)insurer, Insider Week can reveal.

Shares in UK quoted GoshawK collapsed more than 40 percent last week to close at 5p as the company explained it is no longer able to get access to funds in its Bermudian reinsurance arm Rosemont Re – which became the first industry casualty of this year’s

Gallagher Re has swooped for former Guy Carpenter managing director John Pagliaccio to head up its Global Analytics team in the US.

UK insurer R&SA has settled with Wilmington Trust, one of the three plaintiffs in the ongoing Student Finance Corporation litigation.

It was a mixed bag as the big three global brokers announced their third-quarter results last week.