October 2012/5

The open year of Lloyd's insurer Jubilee's run-off motor business is being brought to market to seek a reinsurance to close transaction at year-end, The Insurance Insider understands.

As the airline insurance market prepares for the major Q4 renewals, it is understood that brokers are using a 10 percent risk-adjusted discount as a starting point for negotiations

The volume of companies in liquidation in the US represents a "golden opportunity" for the run-off market, but the country's fragmented state-by-state regulatory system is hampering progress.

The long-anticipated overhaul of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is waiting on the too-close-to-call US presidential election result, but reinsurers could benefit from additional business being ceded in 2013.

The head of XL's professional liability practice in Europe, Bill Walton, has left the firm, The Insurance Insider understands

Global regulators are introducing ever-higher systemic targets for capital requirements that could exacerbate firms' tendency to place buffer upon buffer of capital above statutory levels.

The FSA is urging the industry to provide forward-projecting income and risk profiles, in the likelihood of a persistent low interest rate and low growth economic environment.

UK banking group Barclays' primary directors' and officers' (D&O) cover is set to renew up 10-15 percent amid a hardening financial institutions (FI) market, according to market sources

Lloyd's has given a positive spin to the likely Solvency II delay and highlighted the benefits of having extra time for regulators and policymakers to eliminate unnecessary elements and realign over-ambitious provisions.

A loosening of terms and conditions and an expansion of the coverage being offered to buyers of UK commercial D&O insurance is symptomatic of an ultra-soft market, market sources have told The Insurance Insider

PartnerRe has appointed Hervé Castella to lead its capital markets operations and added to his team with a new hire.

Investors seeking property cat risk are turning to capital markets reinsurance vehicles because the traditional benefits of investing in reinsurance equity are not working.

Reinsurers are set to benefit from Florida's Citizens Property Insurance Corporation's aggressive strategy of depopulating its swollen personal lines account (PLA)

Scor and Swiss Re have more than doubled the target size of their latest cat bonds, taking the total issuance currently being marketed to capital markets investors to more than $500mn, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

Several of this year's start-up reinsurers are among the new names on the first part of the California Earthquake Authority (CEA)'s 2013 reinsurance programme.

Lloyd's has spotted potential for developing political risk and crop insurance in the growing South African insurance market, which already accounts for over half of Africa's non-life gross premiums

Insurers are likely to bear the brunt of losses from Hurricane Sandy, which is on course to be the second landfalling hurricane in the north-east US in two years

2012 broker M&A transaction tracker

As the so-called de-pop drive continues, a number of start-ups are entering the Florida homeowners' market

Third Point Re and Platinum Holdings have completed an innovative reinsurance transaction that provides a guaranteed investment return for the listed Bermudian carrier Platinum

Weekly share price movements and key data on The Insurance Insider's universe of P&C (re)insurers and brokers

Jeff Consolino, Validus' highly regarded CFO and strategic mastermind, is to leave the expansive Bermudian reinsurer for American Financial Group

Aon Benfield revenues up in third quarter; PCI welcomes...; Meadowbrook rating threat; Transformation Re; Hiscox syndicate profit; P&C on the rise at Axa...

The reinsurance industry's over-reliance on third-party vendor models to price catastrophe risk could create similar issues to those experienced by the asset-backed securities market during the financial crisis, Validus Re CEO Kean Driscoll warned last week.

Allied World has settled its dispute with wholesale broker Southwest Risk over two US commercial property placements that soured, according to a statement from the broker

Inevitably, one of the sub-themes at Baden-Baden was the further delay to the implementation of the proposed European capital regime Solvency II.

European and international casualty will be one of the main battleground classes for the Lloyd's market at the upcoming 1 January renewals, according to director of performance management Tom Bolt.

Specialist cat writer ICAT is restructuring its reinsurance programme in a move that demonstrates the changes in buying habits in response to Solvency II, as well as the appetite of collateralised capacity and model changes

Low interest rates will keep reinsurance prices stable in 2013, claimed European reinsurers. Brokers are publicly cautious, privately sceptical

As (re)insurers report their third quarter results, the prevalent themes include the absence of the large catastrophe losses that marred last year's results and the continuing strong improvements in US commercial rates.

This week sees the passing of the renewals baton from Europe across the Atlantic to the west coast of the US

Any fears that the US P&C rate increases seen in the first half of 2012 were slowing down have been scotched by strong results from (re)insurers, as a light cat season and reserve releases have more than offset sluggish investment returns.

The resurgent American International Group (AIG) is undertaking a significant consolidation of its property per risk reinsurance by buying a single $1.5bn global treaty, further demonstrating the trend of major insurers streamlining their own risk transfer