October 2006/5

Recently, AM Best appears to be singing from a different song sheet to that of the other rating agencies.

Bermudian-headquartered Endurance Specialty Holdings is pulling out of the offshore energy market and parting company with Paul Upton, who ran the business out of its London subsidiary, our sister title The Insurance Insider revealed last week (17 October

Listed insurer Hiscox is awaiting Lloyd’s approval for its planned Bermudian sidecar, which, Insider Week can reveal, will be called Panther Re.

The insurance industry must make attracting and retaining young talent one of its highest priorities, according to Marsh.

Listed broker Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc has beaten off fierce competition to win the contract as insurance construction partner for the London Olympics in 2012.

Mike Walker has replaced Tony McMahon as head of KPMG’s Restructuring Insurance Solutions Practice.

Fairfax Financial Holdings controlled reinsurer Odyssey Re restated its results for the past five years on 16 October, correcting accounting errors relating to its investments.

Reliance National Insurance received High Court approval for its solvent scheme of arrangement last Friday (20 October) as the proposal passed unopposed.

Elliot Richardson, the new head of Aon’s facultative reinsurance division, was tempted away from rival Benfield Group by a bumper remuneration package of up to £1mn, according to market sources.

Standard & Poor’s (S&P) was the first rating agency to respond to news of the proposed reinsurance deal between Equitas and Berkshire Hathaway by signaling the possibility of an upgrade in Lloyd’s financial strength rating.

Friday’s (20 October) landmark $7bn deal between Equitas and Berkshire Hathaway lays a framework for reinsured Names and Lloyd’s to achieve finality for pre-1993 liabilities and, if completed, nearly doubles the assets available to the run-off vehicle.