November 2014/4

Weekly share price data on The Insurance Insider's universe of P&C (re)insurers

Most listed (re)insurance carriers in The Insurance Insider universe traded up last week as our Insider 30 index climbed by 0.82 percent.

Applying global capital requirements to large US insurers would be "unnecessary" and lead to higher rates for buyers across the industry, according to Namic and the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America

Chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Martin Wheatley has described the mishandled announcement of a probe into closed life funds as his biggest regret in recent months

The use of "shadow" or "quasi" section 166 investigations by UK regulators is on the rise, industry sources have told The Insurance Insider

Costa Rican insurer Instituto Nacional de Seguros (INS) has dropped its motion to appeal in a long-running legal battle with UK broker Howden and Miami-based broker HRG

Ten Lloyd's insurers are in the UK Commercial Court resisting a $77mn hijacking claim that has been linked to the murder of a British loss adjuster.

A historically strong capital base has positioned the P&C insurance industry to take on additional investment risk to counter the headwinds of low interest rates and a deteriorating underwriting outlook, according to Conning.

Global reinsurers can breathe a sigh of relief at the end of this week as yet another benign North Atlantic hurricane season comes to a close, with the absence of major cat losses lifting underwriting performance in the third quarter.

(Re)insurers operating on the Lloyd's platform operated with lower overheads than their rivals in 2013, according to EY's latest cost and operational benchmarking survey.

AIG has brought its third Tradewynd Re cat bond to market and is seeking to raise $300mn of indemnity cover for multiple perils across the US, Canada, Mexico and parts of the Caribbean.

Start-up fund Third Point Investment Management is considering whether to keep its $110mn cat fund running in its current form in 2015.

White Mountains' reinsurance subsidiary Sirius is set to close its insurance-linked securities (ILS) fund in 2015, however its Sirius Capital Markets (SCM) division will remain open, sister publication Trading Risk revealed last week.

Florida carrier HCI Group faces the prospect of shareholder class action suits over compensation granted to its CEO and board of directors in 2013

(Re)insurers are bracing themselves for losses after wintry weather more typical of January and February engulfed much of the US last week

Acquisitive Hyperion subsidiary Howden Broking Group announced two additional broking M&A transactions last week, bringing its tally to three for the month to date

Newly approved adjustments to the UK's state-backed terrorism vehicle Pool Re could make the programme increasingly competitive

Lancashire-owned Cathedral Group is pre-empting capacity on its aligned Syndicate 3010 from £60mn to £100mn for 2015 after adding new underwriting teams this year

Embattled UK insurance outsourcer Quindell endured more upheaval last week following the departure of its founder and chairman Rob Terry

A major restructuring of UK broker consolidator Towergate looks inevitable if any one of a number of private equity houses looking at the indebted business ultimately gets their way

Kidnap and ransom (K&R) underwriters have told this publication that proposed introduction of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill will have little effect on their business.

Ken LeStrange has returned to the market as chairman of Orchid Underwriters Agency, LLC after a management buyout of the Florida-based managing general agency earlier this month backed by private equity firm Gryphon Investors, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

Bermudian carrier Everest Re is to open a new continental operation in Zurich, The Insurance Insider has learned.

China Re's standalone syndicate, Syndicate 2088, has been formally approved and will officially begin incepting risks on 1 January.

Ace buyback; Friendly M&A; Costa lot; A&H launch; Green flag; P&I push; R&Q's rescue; Blessed hire; Cat bond dispute; Commissioner joins Evercore; Down under; Airline rates up; CGSC merge...

The $1.9bn cash-and-stock deal RenaissanceRe has struck to buy fellow Bermudian Platinum leaves the door open for rival bids, according to industry analysts

One of the great complaints of investors in our sector is that we only start to act with any conviction once our default option of doing nothing ceases to be viable.

Global insurance powerhouse Allianz has issued firm order terms for its EUR1.3bn "SuperCat" treaty that will see reinsurers subject to a risk-adjusted rate reduction of around 10 percent, The Insurance Insider can reveal.