October 2005/4

A bullish stance on the insurance broking sector by analysts at Numis Securities fuelled a price hike in the shares of brokers Benfield and JLT last week. In the research note, released on 10 October, Numis analysts Nick Johnson and Nick Gradidge...

Lloyd's chief executive Nick Prettejohn is to end his 10-year association with Lime Street and join the UK insurer Prudential plc at the beginning of next year. Prettejohn, aged 45, will replace Mark Wood as the chief executive of Prudential's UK...

US insurer HCC Insurance Holdings (HCCH) has announced that Barry J Cook has been appointed to the new position of chief executive of the company’s international operations.

Lloyd’s insurer Amlin has appointed Peter Tavner as deputy group actuary. Tavner joins Amlin from Lloyd’s Risk & Reserving Unit. Tavner has worked in the industry for 15 years for Commercial Union, Swiss Re and Lloyd’s and is a member of the...

Recently formed reinsurer Glacier Re announced this morning (17 October) the successful raising of $100mn from a common stock issue, increasing underwriting capital in response to “favourable market conditions” following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

GE Insurance has announced the merging of its South East Asian operations within its Singapore office with the Malaysian being placed into run-off immediately. The move is part of a business restructure and the Singapore office will handle all...

Marsh has appointed the former HBOS head of group regulatory risk Paul Moore to the new role of head of compliance for Europe and the Middle East at the broking giant. At a global level, Moore will report to Marsh Inc’s head of compliance...

Former Morgan Stanley insurance analyst Alice Schroeder has seen publishers push up the bidding rights to $7mn for her forthcoming biography on Berkshire Hathaway legend Warren Buffett. Schroeder left Morgan Stanley in 2003 to co-operate with...

A US federal court has overturned the $700mn damages awarded against the French firm Artermis SA for its role in the Executive Life scandal. Judge Howard Matz of the US District Court for the Central District of California ruled on 4 October that the..

As Europe braces itself for a potential influenza pandemic, broker Aon warned today (17 October) that businesses remain unprepared for “the greatest threat facing their business today” and called on companies to “take action to protect their performance”.

For those in the insurance industry who shudder at the very mention of his name, some satisfaction may be gleaned from New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer’s double defeats last week. On 13 October 2005 – on the eve of the anniversary of his...

A new report from insurance boker Aon has predicted that reductions in airline insurance rates will slow in the final quarter of 2005 as the sector feels the knock-on effect of the year’s hurricane season. To date this year, liability and hull...