October 2013/2

Berkshire Hathaway was among the parties that made first-round bids for The Hartford's Japanese variable annuity business, it is understood.

London-listed Randall & Quilter (R&Q) bought run-off insurer Flagstone Alliance Insurance and Reinsurance (FAIR) from Validus for $24.1mn last week, at a 15 percent discount to net asset value.

The hit to profitability from the well-publicised drop-off in US catastrophe rates in 2013 will start to become apparent in the third quarter, analysts at US investment bank Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW) said in a note previewing the upcoming results season.

If 2013 will be remembered for the growing exercise of broker power, 2014 may be the year when the battlefield moves to the wholesale arena.

More (re)insurers are likely to suffer financial crises of the kind that have engulfed Tower Group and Meadowbrook due to underpriced business and under-reserving in the low interest rate environment, says industry entrepreneur Bill Berkley.

Capacity prices at Lloyd's jumped by nearly two thirds in the second auction of 2013, in a further sign of the 325 year-old insurance market's growing appeal to investors.

The more energetic approach that Lloyd's has taken to bringing the People's Insurance Company of China (PICC) into the market is part of a wider strategic shift that also saw the Corporation reach out to Spanish and Latin American market leader Mapfre earlier in the year, it is understood.

Two equity analysts have written notes with valuations for New York-listed carrier Tower Group based on it going into run-off.

AIG, Ace, CNA and Chubb are among the insurers that look set to take losses as Tower's $100mn directors' and officers' (D&O) cover threatens to be overwhelmed by class action lawsuits on its calamitous under-reserving, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

VisionRe has postponed its launch until next year after failing to find sufficiently attractive opportunities to deploy its capital, it said today (14 October).

Prominent members of the London (re)insurance community have described collateralised insurance-linked securities (ILS) as extremely dangerous and a huge threat to the London market.

Costly Mex; Dual appointments; Uniqa ‘re-IPO'; Equity offloads; Risk spreads like wildfire; Markel promotes; MGAA MD; DWF expands; Saudi sun; Munich reshuffle; Cooper Gay promotes; Japan stable; Phailin hits; Benmosche gaffe; AIG sale; Diversity matters; Jubilee golden.