November 2008/2

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.

The insurance linked securities (ILS) market has performed well during the financial crisis, despite unexpected credit risk leaking into the cat bond structure.

FSA green light for Leadenhall; Aon Benfield unit takes shape; Cat futures leap

Although investment losses combined with hurricanes led to widespread net losses reported for the third quarter – especially among Bermudians – the majority are still on course to deliver full-year profits...

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.

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...

The alternative investment approach taken by Prem Watsa at the helm of Fairfax has helped the Canadian combine navigate a safe passage through the troubled waters of the financial markets.

Despite a moderate rally in its share price, the Hartford Financial Services Group has endured a miserable few weeks in which it reported a $2.6bn Q3 loss, a cut in earnings forecasts and an earnings call that left...

Holt steps down; Brit pulls out of Augsburg Re binder; Jubilee hires new reinsurance director; London Fac moves; Brockbank returns; London 100 speaker calls bottom of crisis

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...

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.