October 2005/1

Shares in Bermuda headquartered GoshawK slumped 18 percent to a low of 19.5 pence this morning (7 October) after the troubled reinsurer more than doubled its estimate of net losses stemming from Hurricane Katrina and said it would have difficulty...

Shares in Bermudian insurer have dropped alarmingly by over 30 percent this month in the wake of substantial Katrina losses and poor results from the first-half of 2005. At the beginning of September shares in Goshawk were trading at over 36p on the...

Despite the estimated £1.4bn ($2.5bn) blow from Hurricane Katrina, Lloyd’s still expects to make a full year profit in 2005. This was one of the messages from Lloyd’s first ever interim results published this morning (6 October) which show a profit...

Aon UK has confirmed that it is to lose up to 750 jobs in a major restructuring of its Risk Services and Specialty divisions. As revealed by Insider Week on the 26 September, the broker is to place its employees into “consultation” which is expected...

Ratings agency AM Best has placed the financial strength rating of “A-” (Excellent) and issuer credit rating of “a-” of Bermudian reinsurer Aspen Insurance Limited under review with negative implications.

Lloyd’s insurer Wellington Underwriting plc has become the latest company to increase its estimated loss exposures from Hurricane Katrina.

Australian insurer QBE signed an agreement on 27 September for the acquisition of specialist insurer British Marine for an expected purchase price of $204mn. The purchase price will be close to 1.7 times the firm’s net tangible assets, which are...

Three US insurance executives who pleaded guilty to charges arising from New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer’s investigations into the industry will not be sentenced until next year after the presiding judge postponed his decision. Former Marsh...

After floating on the Alternative Investment Market for £20mn in April this year Omega has increased its net tangible assets to £26mn. And net tangible assets per share are up to 69.8 pence per share the group reported in its first-half results on...

Giant insurer American International Group (AIG) has taken legal action in an effort to seize $20bn of its own shares from the control of ousted former chief executive Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, according to reports last week (29 September) in the Wall...

Lloyd’s press office has confirmed the resignation of head of application development Brian Goode from Kinnect. Goode’s departure comes less than a month after the high profile resignations of executive chairman Iain Saville and CEO Toby Davies.

The threat of a Post-Katrina liquidity crunch has grown as the rating agencies have become more aggressive in responding to the industry’s exposures to the loss. Initially, rating agencies such as Standard & Poor’s (S&P) and AM Best appeared...