November 2008/2

Shareholders funds at Hannover Re have shrunk by more than 20 percent from EUR3.3bn at the start of the year to EUR2.6bn at the end of September as the German reinsurer booked a Q3 net loss of EUR395mn...

As the financial world waits for President-elect Obama’s key appointments in the US Treasury, the attention of the (re)insurance industry once again turns to the taxation debate over offshore domiciles and the future...

The uplift in mergers and acquisitions activity in the Lloyd’s market over the last two years has contributed to a shift in the make-up of leading investors in the sector.

With losses from Hurricane Ike continuing to eat into third quarter results, at least one area of the market looks set to benefit: Offshore energy rates.

IT companies ATOS and IBM are now in a head-to-head battle to win the Lloyd’s messaging hub contract, after Xchanging was ruled out of the process.

It took Aon only four days to agree takeover terms with Benfield Group, but it has taken more than two months to finalise the delicate restructuring of senior London positions for the soon-to-be giant reinsurance broking combine Aon Benfield.

Carpet-baggers and pre-emptions…

Christopher Droney, the federal judge who oversaw the trial of five former General Re and American International Group (AIG) executives, has ruled that their conspiracy led to huge losses for investors.

Hannover Re is currently marketing the renewal of two sidecars, raising the question whether the quota share vehicle will regain popularity with (re)insurers if catastrophe rates continue to harden into 2009.

ILS issuance has been stalled by the credit crisis but further activity predicted; 2008 tally will be lower...

Credit derivatives – famously described as “financial weapons of mass destruction” by Warren Buffett – came back to bite his Berkshire Hathaway investment conglomerate as its profits slumped 77 percent in the third quarter.

Amid feverish speculation at the beginning of October that Swiss Re was set to unveil drastic measures to ease liquidity pressures, the giant reinsurer did little more than post a relatively modest third quarter loss.