October 2009/1

Lloyd’s insurer Beazley has hired a team from rival Mitsui Sumitomo to bolster its marine liability offering.

Allianz's Q3 group operating profits were up 23 percent, as resurgent life and health financial services performance offset lower contributions from property and casualty (P&C) insurance.

Global insurance giant Axa has unveiled a EUR2bn rights issue to enable it to "seize future acquisition opportunities, primarily in high growth markets".

The industry's potential exposure to political risk/trade credit losses emanating from the global economic downturn in 2008-09 was hinted at by Beazley today.

Just days after announcing its largest ever acquisition, Berkshire Hathaway has unveiled third quarter net profits that almost trebled from $1.1bn to $3.2bn on the back of rebounding stock index derivative contracts.

Eamon Brown, a key member of the Lloyd's Franchise performance team that oversaw Lloyd's underwriting standards, is to leave the Society at year-end.

AIG reported a moderate $455mn third quarter net profit - compared to the giant $24.5bn net loss of the same period last year - as net realised capital losses stabilised.

Hannover Re has upped its top and bottom line targets for the full year after a strong quarter driven by the benign claims environment, resurgent investment income and continued growth in its life and health business.

A bumper $302.9mn gain booked on acquiring IPC Holdings helped push Validus Holdings to a $499.2mn net profit for the third quarter, compared to a $126.3mn net loss in the prior-year period.

After bumper Q3 results, Bermuda-headquartered Lancashire is to give back capital to shareholders through a $263mn special dividend and an additional $150mn share buyback facility.

Munich Re is on course for a full-year profit of EUR2.2-2.5bn after a significant improvement in its investment result pushed third quarter consolidated profit to EUR651mn, compared to just EUR2mn in the prior-year period.

MMC, the holding company for the resurgent Marsh and Guy Carpenter global (re)insurance broking operations, has reported Q3 consolidated revenue of $2.5bn – down 11 percent from the third quarter of 2008.

WR Berkley has named William Berkley Junior (Robert) as president and COO of the US insurer, paving the way for an eventual move into his father’s chief executive role.

Following the Scottish Lion scheme dismissal the first signs of activity have emerged in that sector of the legacy market...

Morgan Stanley and UBS are joint advisors for the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS)'s restructuring plan, which includes the shedding of its European P&C insurance operations, RBS Insurance (RBSI).

The president and COO of US-based independent retail insurance brokerage Frank Crystal & Company has left the firm, The Insurance Insider has learned.

Berkshire Hathaway will take 100 percent ownership of US freight railway operator the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (BNSF) in a cash and share deal worth $44bn - the largest transaction in the firm's history.

Shares in Swiss Re climbed this morning after analyst-beating third quarter net profits helped further boost its capital base and it continues on the recovery path to paying back its Berkshire Hathaway capital injection.

Swiss Re CFO George Quinn has underlined the reinsurer's priorities: first secure a return to the Standard & Poor's (S&P) AA rating level it lost in February and then strive to redeem the Berkshire Hathaway investment.

The torturous £5bn+ sale auction process for RBSI - the Royal Bank of Scotland's European P&C insurance operations - will be revisited after the UK government decided to place the business up for sale.

Improved underwriting profit drove a 20 percent increase in third quarter net earnings to $562.4mn for Canadian investment conglomerate Fairfax Financial Holdings, compared to $467.6mn during the same period in 2008.

There were few surprises from Aon's third quarter results, as Chicago's tight grip on margins and restructuring savings enabled the firm to weather the recessionary headwinds.

Glacier Group founding CEO Robbie Klaus has resigned from the (re)insurer with immediate effect.

Outgoing Chaucer Holdings CEO Ewen Gilmour is joining Hampden Agencies Limited as non-executive chairman at the start of next year, replacing Nigel Hanbury in the position.

Transatlantic Holdings and Aspen Insurance Holdings reported record third quarter profits with Everest Re also booking a dramatic swing in fortunes against the prior-year period as the theme of bumper returns from benign underwriting conditions and recove

After booking second quarter net profits, XL Capital has slipped into the red once again as its bottom line was hit by realised investment losses in Q3 and its top line showed further evidence of the franchise damage inflicted in 2008.

Shares in Omega Insurance Holdings have dropped nearly 10 percent this morning after the (re)insurer announced the sudden departure of John Robinson, who has stepped down from his position as chief underwriting officer (CUO) with immediate effect.

Bank of America is shutting down its loss-making Lloyd's syndicate at the end of the year, with the vehicle to be placed into run-off, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

The current environment of falling economic growth and less demand for (re)insurance products makes it "more or less impossible to increase prices," according to Lloyd's franchise performance director Rolf Tolle.

RenaissanceRe generated a combined ratio of just 43.3 percent in the third quarter, as it benefitted from the unseasonably benign catastrophe loss climate.

Maurice "Hank" Greenberg’s CV Starr & Co has denied aggressively poaching dissatisfied American International Group (AIG) employees.

Private equity-backed insurer Torus is experiencing rapid growth in its casualty profile and is expected to post a modest pre-tax profit for 2009.

Three former Marsh excess casualty executives were cleared yesterday (26 October) of bid-rigging.

Willis is in exclusive talks with private equity firm Astorg Partners to sell down its stake in the French broker Gras Savoye and avoid the potential obligation to buy out minority shareholders next year for hundreds of millions of dollars.

After a lengthy impasse, Russian-backed private equity firm Pamplona Capital Management has finally upped its shareholding in Lloyd’s insurer Chaucer to 16.27 percent.

Willis CFO and COO Patrick Regan has announced plans to leave the insurance broker to join the world’s fifth largest insurance group, Aviva, as CFO.

Lloyd’s (re)insurer Brit has posted an upbeat Q3 management outlook as its reinsurance and UK markets business units achieved strong premium growth to offset declines at its global markets division.

American International Group’s (AIG) challenge of retaining its key management may have got tougher today (22 October) after the Obama administration’s pay tsar Kenneth Feinberg imposed brutal cuts on the salaries of its most senior executives.

In the latest chapter of the bid-rigging saga that has haunted Marsh since 2004, the broking giant and American International Group (AIG) have been served with a lawsuit by US commodity producer and distributor Seaboard Corp.

Platinum Underwriters Holdings became the latest (re)insurer to herald a return to active capital management as it opened the Q3 reporting season with record profits for the period.

Amlin-backed dedicated ILS investor Leadenhall Capital Partners has launched two $50mn Irish-based funds.

The convergence market’s uneasy relationship with US liability perils should be rethought as the prospect of a new era of tort expansion will create opportunities for the sector.

Bermudian Max Capital Group has appointed Adam Mullan as CEO of Max at Lloyd’s – the managing agent for Syndicates 1400, 2525 and 2526 – as it looks to build out its Lime Street platform.

Expansive Independent (re)insurance broker Cooper Gay has acquired a majority shareholding in Florida-based reinsurance broker, Reinsurance.com.ar LLC.

The World Bank is launching a catastrophe bond issuance platform to give governments and other public entities access to international capital markets for natural catastrophe insurance.

Maurice ‘Hank’ Greenberg and the firm he parted company with in 2005 American International Group (AIG) are in advanced talks to settle their legal differences, the Wall Street Journal reported last week.

Hardy Underwriting Bermuda Limited has launched a reinsurance joint venture based in Bahrain in equal partnership with Arab Insurance Group (Arig).

Brit Insurance Holdings has embarked on a shake-up of its professional indemnity division which has led to the departure of the unit's two most senior underwriters.

AIG will book a technical loss of $1.4bn on the sale of its 97.57 percent share in leading Taiwanese life insurer Nan Shan Life Insurance Compan, it unveiled on 12 October.

Lloyd’s insurer Hardy has pulled plans to launch a special purpose sidecar syndicate (SPS) to sit alongside its existing Syndicate 382 in 2010, The Insurance Insider has learned.

Bermudian (re)insurer Axis Capital has revealed it expects its third-quarter operating income to be impacted by an increase of approximately $136mn in the fair value liability of an indemnity derivative contract that is exposed to longevity risk.

Defying suggestions that property cat rates will be under pressure next year, quoted Lloyd’s insurer Hardy is set to launch the fifth start-up syndicate in January 2010 after receiving approval to form a sidecar to its existing Syndicate 382, The Insuranc

Munich Re is set to launch a new £67mn syndicate through its Lloyd’s platform Beaufort Underwriting Agency Ltd for the 2010 year targeting high risk high reward retro business, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

The delayed case management conference for the Scottish Lion scheme of arrangement that took place today (14 October) has resulted in the scheme being formally dismissed, The Insurance Insider has learned.

The total liabilities of the UK non-life run-off market increased by approximately 30 percent to an estimated £37.4bn at the end of 2008, according to the seventh annual KPMG run-off survey of UK non-life companies.

Despite a moderate uptick in the volume of securities lawsuits filed in the third quarter, the number of new suits related to the credit crisis fell sharply, as fears of a tidal wave of claims from the financial turmoil continue to recede.

Global reinsurance broker Willis Re has announced a series of management changes and a new organisational structure.

JLT has continued to lure senior Aon executives to bolster its Asian and aviation resources after confirming that Anthony Langridge - the former chairman of the broking giant's Hong Kong operations - will join next year.

Hannover Re will open a non-life branch in Shanghai, after receiving regulatory approval at the beginning of October.

Hong Kong-based investment company Primus Financial Holdings headed the consortium that won the battle to acquire AIG's Taiwanese life insurance unit, Nan Shan, for $2.15bn.

Munich Re's recent decision to reinstitute its share buyback programme to the tune of EUR1bn in "unneeded" capital could act as a catalyst for further returns, according to analysis by Oriel Securities.

Achieving $3-4bn total ILS issuance for 2009 will be "quite a stretch" but "attainable", as a number of trends converge to boost interest in cat bonds in the fourth quarter, according to reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter (GC) and its capital markets arm GC

AJ Gallagher's London operation confirmed it has hired the trade credit team that defected from former HCC-owned broker Rattner Mackenzie before the entity was sold to Guy Carpenter - a move first revealed by The Insurance Insider.

Typhoon Melor has caused substantial disruption to a number of companies in Japan, after making landfall on 8 October near the city of Nagoya, with winds of 139 kph (86 mph).

North American commercial property and casualty insurance renewals are still at "deeply depressed rates", according to the latest Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) Benchmark Survey of Q3 activity.

Verisk Analytics - the holding company for the family of risk analysis and assessment firms that includes ISO and modelling firm AIR Worldwide - has staged a successful initial public offering (IPO) of shares.

An unimpressed Buffy sees third party capital on the rise in 2010...

Global stocks play catch up with (re)insurers; Multiples begin recovery; Lloyd's continues to enjoy premium

A US district court ruled that the statute of limitations bars the action brought by insurers against law firm Milberg and four former partners, which is attempting to rescind professional liability policies and recover $4.8mn in costs.

Despite the uncertainty thrown up by the Scottish Lion ruling, administrator PricewaterhouseCoopers is pushing ahead with the proposed solvent scheme of arrangement for Minster Insurance Company.

Dan Ozizmir, convergence market rainmaker and former Swiss Re Capital Markets (SRCM) head, has joined the judging panel for the Trading Risk Awards 2010.

Industry loss warranty (ILW) buyers are returning to the market after a very quiet trading season, seeking cheap stopgap cover for the remainder of 2009, according to broker-dealers.

Ace Europe has extended its oil and gas industry policy to address a raft of new liability exposures facing offshore oil and gas contractors.

As the full impact of the credit crisis hit last autumn, one of the few markets to celebrate was the Asian surety bond market...

The London reinsurance market is gearing itself up for a potential legal battle over claims relating to the US energy giant Sempra, The Insurance Insider understands.

The run-off industry will again look to Scotland later this month to see whether the confusion created by last month's shock Scottish Lion decision becomes clearer after a case management conference, currently scheduled for the 12 October.

The two Bermudian entities linked most frequently when mergers are mentioned are Harborpoint and Montpelier Re...

(Excess) capital is back. Should the industry follow Munich Re’s lead?

A group of Mexican investors who claim they lost their life savings through disgraced Stanford International Bank (SIB) have taken action against six Lloyd’s syndicates, alleging that SIB's Bankers Blanket Bond (BBB) policy covers their $6mn loss.

Amid almost 50 separate US proceedings and dozens of international cases, Allen Stanford's UK and US legal teams are entrenched in an ever deepening dispute over accessing defence funds...

Former Swiss Re trader Al Selius has joined London-based Securis Investment Partners to start a New York office for the firm.

Despite a benign year so far for hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), Bermudian energy mutual OIL Insurance Ltd has bowed to pressure from members by introducing substantial changes to its windstorm programme.

Swiss Re has launched a three-year $250mn Mexican wind and earthquake cat bond, as first predicted by our sister publication Trading Risk.

Lloyd's declared pre-tax profits for the market of £1,322mn for the first half of 2009, up 39 percent on the previous year.