November 2007/1

Run-off insurer Highlands Insurance Company (UK) Ltd became the first UK insurance firm to become insolvent in three years after it went into insolvent administration at the High Court on 1 November.

US insurer Liberty Mutual Group has boosted its asbestos reserves by $67mn post-tax following the completion of a "comprehensive ground-up study", it revealed in its third quarter results.

Despite a general weakness in bancassurance business, Italian insurance giant Assicurazioni Generali has shown "solid" progress in its year on year nine month results.

Cullum Capital Ventures (CCV), part of the Towergate group, recruited two teams from troubled property services group Erinaceous last month.

Bermudian-headquartered (re)insurer, AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd, reported a 19 percent increase in operating income for the third quarter of 2007, capping eight straight quarters of "record profitability", according to its president and CEO, John Charman.

Swiss Re, which reports its third quarter figures tomorrow (6 November) is expected to generate net attributable earnings of SFr1.01bn and pre-tax profits of SFr1.35bn - down from SFr1.55bn and SFr2.07bn respectively in the prior-year period...

Reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter is developing five different trading indices with the first European index looking to go live as early as six months time.

China Reinsurance Group, the country's largest reinsurer, is planning an initial public offering (IPO) after inviting "strategic" investors to buy stakes, according to a statement from the company last week.

Fast-expanding (re)insurer MAPFRE SA announced its boldest move yet when confirming last week its $2.2bn acquisition of the Massachusetts-based non-life personal lines insurer The COMMERCE Insurance Company.

The board of Willis Group Holdings has approved a new $1bn stock buyback plan.

Although Berkshire Hathaway reported a 64 percent hike in third-quarter net income late Friday (2 November), underwriting profits from its (re)insurance operation nearly halved, falling from $917mn to $486mn.

The management of German giant Munich Re is confident that the firm will return record profits for 2007 after posting "excellent results" so far this year.