October 2008/2

London and international broker HSBC Insurance Brokers Ltd. has opened a branch office and received regulatory approval from the QFC Authority to provide insurance broking services to corporate customers within Qatar.

London and international broker Thompson, Heath & Bond has appointed John Goldsmith, former chairman of the London (re)insurance broker Dennis M. Clayton (now part of Towers Perrin), as non-executive director of the firm.

The notional value of the global weather derivatives market has tripled in three years to $32bn for 2007-8 and is expected to see 30 percent annual growth "for the next several years", according to a report from the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Aon Ltd, the UK operation of the Chicago-based global broking giant, has agreed a deal to buy niche trade broker Supercover Holdings Ltd, as it continues to snap up specialist firms to boost distribution.

Bermudian-headquartered run-off specialist Enstar Group Ltd has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Royston Run-Off Ltd, has won the race to buy Unionamerica Holdings Ltd, the discontinued UK-based operations of Travelers for $343.4mn.

A UK commercial court judge continued to weigh up issues of fraud definition and jurisdiction as both sides in the long-running dispute between Randall and Quilter (R&Q) affiliate Cavell USA and private equity-owned Seaton Insurance Co and Stonewall Insur

A financial report from Atlas partners LLP has alluded to factors that point to the end of the soft market.

Global stock indices rebounded from their spiralling falls last week on news of a central bank co-ordinated rescue plan to provide emergency funding to countries hit by the credit crunch.

Troubled Australian insurer Insurance Australia Group (IAG) is continuing to seek potential buyers for its Singapore-focussed Lloyd's operation Alba, with AMTrust and Asia Capital Reinsurance Group (ACR) thought to have expressed an interest in the platfo

Jardine Lloyd Thompson has announced that Warren Dann will join its Global Risk Solutions (GRS) division as sales leader on 16 October.

A survey of senior level members of insurance brokerage firms carried out by market data provider Advisen suggests that most brokers are "very confident" or "somewhat confident" in AIG after the $85mn federal bail-out, and only a small percent are advisin

Janet Edey and Mathew Carr, two underwriters with 35 years experience in D&O between them, have been appointed as joint leaders of Novae's Syndicate 2007 management liability unit.