November 2007/2

Heritage Underwriting Agency plc, the specialist Lloyd’s insurer, has admitted receiving an "indicative proposal" but says the "the price contained within the proposal significantly undervalues the company".

Hardy Underwriting Group (HUG) plc has confirmed its intentions to become the latest Lloyd’s insurer to redomicile to Bermuda.

John Hurrell has been appointed CEO of the Association of Insurance and Risk Managers (AIRMIC) after a prolonged search following the departure of David Gamble this summer.

(Re)insurance broker Lockton has continued the increasingly popular trend for building Fac reinsurance business after launching a property division dedicated to the sector.

UK (re)insurer Brit Insurance Holdings plc has invested in Norton Re II, a $118.2mn Bermuda-based sidecar-style vehicle launched to replace the original $107.7mn Norton Re which expires this year.

Marsh Inc has completed its search for a new chief executive with the appointment of Daniel Glaser.

Specialist broker THB Group plc has entered into talks with PWS Holdings over the acquisition of PWS’ Lloyd’s broking business and overseas interests.

Ping An Insurance, China's second largest life insurer, has bought 4.18 percent of Benelux financial services group Fortis, at a cost of EUR1.81bn.

Powerful consolidators are forcing insurers to "fundamentally re-examine their operating models" as they tighten their grip on the commercial SME market, according to the latest research.

Catlin Group Ltd expects to take a $75mn charge against the value of sub-prime-related securities in its investment portfolio, the (re)insurer revealed in a trading statement this morning (28 November).

Groupama SA is expected to be the next European insurer to launch a cat bond with its proposed securitisation of EUR200mn of French windstorm risk.

UK mega consolidator, Towergate Partnership has agreed a £95mn cash offer for Yorkshire-based Broker Network Group today (27 November).

London-based electronic trading platform RI3K is streamlining charges for its services in response to “market criticisms” over the firm’s pricing structure.

Montpelier Re has continued to build its US operations with the launch of a new direct property facultative division to write business on behalf of its Lloyd’s Syndicate 5151.

French reinsurer SCOR SA will add to its Atlas suite of cat bonds with the EUR160mn Atlas IV bond, which is due to close on 27 November.

Administrators of loss-hit Kamp Re 2005, Zurich Financial Services' (ZFS) catastrophe bond, have extended the original maturity date by a month, to 14 January 2008, pending a final determination of the loss amounts.

Brit Insurance Holdings plc’s share price continued to fall this morning despite an encouraging trading statement and the group’s apparent lack of exposure to the sub-prime crisis.

As softening continues in the professional indemnity (PI), directors’ and officers’ (D&O) and financial institutions (FI) insurance markets, premium rates could soon head towards levels seen in 1999 and 2000 – the trough of the last soft market – accordin

Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT) has become the latest broker to announce a capital repatriation programme as the group’s share price continues to fall as a result of weak equity markets.

The financial strength rating (FSR) of Swiss Re has been placed under review with negative implications by AM Best following the reinsurance giant’s announced SFr1.2bn ($1.1bn) mark-to-market loss from credit default swap exposures.

Fitch Ratings has upgraded the insurer financial strength ratings of UK insurer Aviva plc’s non-life firms to AA.

Syndicate forecasts for Chaucer Holdings plc’s Lloyd’s operation have continued to improve, according to the firm’s latest report.

Gallagher London is optimistic that it will receive an understanding response from insurers and clients as it levies an additional commission for placing business in the London and UK markets.

Non-life insurers should escape the global credit crunch but not contagion from economic stagnation or recession, according to the latest research from Morgan Stanley.

Endurance Specialty Insurance Ltd has been upgraded to A by AM Best, returning the Bermudian (re)insurer’s ratings to their pre-Katrina level.

Swiss Re shares were trading down this morning after the reinsurer announced a SFr1.2bn (£524mn) hit - SFr981mn after tax - on two credit default swaps linked to mortgage backed securities.

Former QBE Limit underwriter Mark Harrington is to head a new Lloyd’s composite syndicate with an expected capacity of £75mn for the 2008 year, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

Aon Natural Resources London chairman Tim Fillingham and ex-Navigators UK and Europe CEO David Hope are to set up a new insurance company focusing on energy and commercial property lines.

Steve Taylor, business development officer for Gallagher Re, is leaving the reinsurance broker to join one of its clients, WR Berkley Corporation.

Growth in its life business was the driving force behind a 25 percent rise in profits at Swiss insurance giant, Zurich Financial Services Group (ZFS), it reported today (15 November).

Lloyd’s managing agent Beazley is to continue the market trend for share buybacks after announcing the repurchase of £30mn, representing around 5 percent of the company’s issued share capital.

Bermudian reinsurer XL Capital is set to renew a slimmed down version of its Cyrus Re sidecar with $105mn in capital from three tranches of loans.

SCOR has booked net profits of EUR299mn for the year-to-date, up 93 percent on the prior-year period, along with top line growth boosted by the acquisition of Converium and Revios.

Lloyd's insurer Amlin plc will return £120mn of capital to its shareholders due to its “financially robust position following a number of years of strong financial performance”.

American Financial Group, Inc. (AFG) is to become a significant capital provider to the Lloyd’s insurer Marketform Group Ltd, and its Syndicate 2468 in 2008, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

It was a familiar tale as Bermuda's (re)insurance community booked third quarter figures that set strong profits from two years of benign underwriting conditions against a backdrop of falling rates and a less positive outlook for the sector.

Bermudian (re)insurer XL Capital dismissed rumours of significant sub-prime related losses in its financial and professional lines portfolio last month, stating that the crisis provided "an attractive opportunity" for the class.

Allianz continued its strategic stake-building in the UK distribution chain this month, with confirmation that it has acquired a 10 percent minority share of Yorkshire-based broker The Oval Group, as predicted by The Insurance Insider in September.

Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc (MMC) roundly disappointed analysts and investors with a slump in third quarter profits from continuing operations to $80mn compared to $130mn in the prior-year period.

Marsh is mulling the formation of a UK-based facultative (Fac) reinsurance arm that could end up competing with sister company, Guy Carpenter & Co, The Insurance Insider understands.

The first steps may have been tentative. But, in the past two months, London market and European insurers have been confronted by a quick fire succession of demands for additional commissions from brokers.

Harbor Point secures A rating for $500mn US platform; Bermuda facing December General Election; Expansive MAPFRE in $2.2bn US push; Ironshore gains admitted status; New York drives collateral relief for non-US reinsurers...

Banking interest grows with Goldman Sachs Lloyd's entry; Towergate firm swoops for Erinaceous teams; GA sells down Xchanging stake; Aviva in £350mn UK cost cutting programme; Canopius and Talbot make Lloyd’s Asia move...

Run-off insurer Highlands Insurance Company (UK) Ltd went into insolvent administration at the High Court on 1 November.

Tawa plc, the UK quoted run-off consolidator, has acquired the US firm PXRE Reinsurance Co (PXRE US) from parent Argo Group International Holdings Ltd in a $114mn transaction.

QBE Limit and Markel International's UK High Court showdown with broker Surety Guarantee Consultants Ltd (SGC) and other defendants over construction bond fraud allegations has been postponed until next year.

Kamp Re 2005, Zurich Financial Services’ (ZFS) catastrophe bond, hit by losses from Hurricane Katrina soon after its launch, is due to be tested within the next month, after the bond’s administrators finally filed a proof of claim notice on 30 October.

Lehman Bros has been given the green light by the Financial Services Authority to begin trading at its subsidiary Libero Ventures Ltd, which aims to transfer "vanilla" exposures by employing securitisation...