October 2007/6

Willis Group Holdings improved both its top and bottom lines in its third quarter results, which were published last week.

It may have been another benign year for US hurricanes, but IPCRe's international book means it has inevitably taken a number of hefty non-US catastrophe losses, not least from the UK summer floods.

Bermudian reinsurers Everest Re and PartnerRe both reported third quarter results last week comfortably ahead of analysts' estimates after benefiting from this year's low catastrophe losses.

UK flood losses of $11.4mn during the third quarter failed to dampen Bermudian firm Montpelier Re's net income of $101.3mn, up from $83.4mn in the prior-year period.

John Charman will stay on as CEO and president of AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd for at least a further year after the Bermudian (re)insurer extended his contract to 31 December 2009.

Brian O'Hara, president and CEO of Bermudian (re)insurer XL Capital announced last week that he will retire from the post in mid-2008, drawing the current chairman...

Early-reporting (re)insurers and brokers posted a healthy set of third quarter results last week, reflecting a quiet US catastrophe year to date and boosted by increased retention rates and reserve releases, according to William Wilt, analyst at Morgan St

The four-month trial of three former Independent Insurance Group plc (IIG) executives ended with a successful conviction for the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and a total of 14 years in jail sentences last week.

Deccan Value Advisors LP, the hedge fund which specialises in buying firms that look under-priced, has continued to build its stake in the UK quoted reinsurance intermediary, Benfield Group.

Giant reinsurer Swiss Re has signed an agreement to acquire some of UK life funds consolidator Resolution plc's life books from Standard Life plc for £2.35bn as it continues to build its Admin Re brand.

The southern California wildfires, which have been raging across the region since 21 October, look set to cost (re)insurers between $900mn and $1.6bn in insured losses, according to the latest estimates from catastrophe modelling firm Risk Management Solu

Bank of Ireland Life has securitised EUR400mn of value-in-force (VIF) life insurance policies in the first rated European VIF transaction for almost three years, according to ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P).