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November 2005/5

  • Bermudian (re)insurer XL Capital today (1 December) announced mammoth capital raising plans which will see it sell $2.15bn in ordinary shares along with $650mn from an offering of equity security units.
  • UK listed broker Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc (JLT) has ended its year-long search for a new group chief executive with the internal appointment of Dominic Burke to the position. In an announcement this morning (1 December), the company also...
  • Despite assurances by senior management that XL Capital would fight to hold on to its ratings, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) dealt the company a blow late Monday (28 November) with the news that it was downgrading the (re)insurer by a notch.
  • Chances of 2005 profit slim, as 2006 capacity up 7 percent to £14.7bn Losses to the Lloyd’s market from the trio of devastating hurricanes this year will top $5bn, according to latest estimates revealed early this morning (30 November).
  • Lloyd's reinsurer Advent Capital has agreed a £15mn unsecured debt facility with a US investment bank in addition to the heavily discounted £30mn equity issue the firm announced last week.
  • European Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes has delayed her inquiry into commercial insurance markets until next year because of the renewal season. Kroes, who announced in June that she was to examine business insurance practices, has said her...
  • Canadian combine Fairfax Financial Holdings announced on 23 November estimates of $200mn pre-tax group losses caused by Hurricane Wilma. Although the figure falls to $112mn after tax Fairfax added that calculations could not be made with “a high...
  • Lloyd’s listed insurer Chaucer published its latest quarterly syndicate forecasts for the 2003 and 2004 years of account last Friday (25 November) revealing improvement on 2003 alongside a 15 percent increase in its total underwriting interests...
  • The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has written a letter to the CEOs of broking firms in order to “remind you of your responsibilities to implement appropriate processes to enable your firm to manage conflicts of interest effectively”.
  • Lord Levene used his ‘Chairman’s View’ lecture to the Insurance Institute of London speech at Lloyd’s on 24 November to announce a three-year strategic plan for market reform to be published next January. The chairman also used his lecture to warn the...
  • Fast-expanding Lloyd’s insurer Omega last Thursday announced unchanged forecasts for the 2003 and 2004 years of account on its Syndicate 958, adding that it expects the widely loss-struck 2005 year to also yield a profit. The insurer predicts a 2003...
  • Lloyd’s is set to update its loss estimates for Hurricane Katrina later this week, at a time when investors in some of the quoted Lloyd’s insurers are becoming increasingly jittery about their exposures to the trio of storms.
  • Lloyd’s reinsurer Advent Capital has increased its Katrina loss estimate by almost 50 percent and unveiled plans for a heavily discounted £30mn equity issue to fund its underwriting for next year. The reinsurance specialist revealed last week that...
  • Shares in Lloyd’s insurer Wellington Underwriting plc fell almost 15 percent last week to close at 91.75p after the company amazed investors by increasing its Katrina loss estimates by a further $100mn to $320mn. The announcement came a little over...
  • AM Best joined its rivals in putting the ratings of Swiss Re under review with negative implications following the giant reinsurer’s move to buy up the reinsurance operations of US conglomerate General Electric. In an 18 November statement, the...
  • Bermudian (re)insurer XL Capital has said that its $500mn quota-share sidecar initiative will be called Cyrus Re and remains on track, having obtained its Bermuda Monetary Licence. XL president and CEO Brian O’Hara confirmed that the hedge fund...
  • Maurice “Hank” Greenberg received a welcome Thanksgiving present last week when New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer confirmed that he would not pursue criminal charges against the former American International Group chief executive.
  • Capital providers have approached Lloyd’s insurer Beazley to manage a new Lloyd’s syndicate with up to £200mn of capacity. Beazley has written to the existing underwriting members of Syndicate 623 asking for approval and offering limited tenancies...
  • The fast-expanding broking group Integro Ltd has established a London market foothold with the acquisition of Lloyd’s broker Humphreys Haggas Sutton & Co. As predicted by The Insurance Insider in September, Integro has completed the purchase the...
  • Numis Securities has upgraded its earnings forecasts on Lloyd’s (re)insurers Amlin and Hiscox following their plans to form Bermudian (re)insurers. In a research note, Numis analyst Nick Johnson said he viewed the decisions “to expand outside...
  • Run-off insurer GoshawK Insurance Holdings plc has parted company with non executive director Richard Titley today (28 November) – a move that was first announced last week. Titley follows chairman Paul Spencer who left last week as part of a deal by..
  • Last Wednesday (23 November) saw a gala night of charity white collar boxing as The Insurance Insider, hosted “A Hard Market?” on behalf of the London insurance industry. Staged at the Honourable Artillery Company in London the night featured nine...
  • Lloyd’s insurer Ascot has reacted swiftly to the loss of former non-executive Richard Brindle to Bermudian start-up Lancashire with the appointment of two new non-execs, Ian Martin and Martyn Hedley. Former broker Hedley is a veteran of 40 years in...
  • Bermudian headquartered Quanta Capital Holdings has parted company with its founding chief executive Tobey Russ. In an announcement, the (re)insurer revealed that Russ has resigned as chief executive officer and director of the company.