November 2007/3

Zurich Financial Services Group (ZFS) has named ex-Converium Holdings CEO Inga Beale as head of organisational transformation and mergers & acquisitions with effect from 1 January 2008.

European giant Munich Re has announced its support for a project to develop a “realistic” global, open-source earthquake model.

Recently listed "Class of 2005" reinsurer Flagstone Re, which went public in May, has reported a 100 percent increase in gross written premiums for the third quarter of 2007, to $123.7mn, boosted by $21.8mn of premium carried over from the acquisition of

French (re)insurance giant AXA posted life and savings new business volume of EUR5.6bn in the first nine months of 2007, up 26 percent on the previous year’s nine months, or 10 percent on a comparable basis...

Roger Townsend, executive director of Xchanging Insurance Services (XIS), has dismissed market accusations that it is taking advantage of a monopoly over the market.

Hannover Re reported a 55 percent increase in its net income for the first nine months of the year.

Former RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd executive Michael Cash has agreed to settle civil charges filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by paying a $130,000 fine and receiving a five-year ban...

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.

German insurance giant Allianz SE has issued EUR155mn and $65mn of European windstorm cat bonds through a newly created EUR1bn shelf vehicle, Blue Fin Ltd, as predicted by The Insurance Insider last month.

London-based brokers Benfield Group and Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT) saw their share prices drop at the back end of last week after being hit by weak equity markets.

A messaging hub that claims it will make effective electronic trading a reality in the London market has been released by messaging specialists TriSystems.

The forthcoming Australian cyclone season is expected to be the worst in over a decade, according to forecasters at Tropical Storm Risk (TSR).