October 2013/3

Arch Bermuda has paid the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) a $42mn settlement for a $50mn excess liability policy affected by one of the largest environmental disasters on the US mainland in recent years, according to a TVA spokesman

New York-headquartered Two Sigma is the prime candidate to buy out SAC Capital's stake in the Bermudian reinsurer it founded last year and save the business from the orderly wind-up some were expecting, The Insurance Insider revealed last week.

Lloyd's (re)insurer Catlin is returning to the cat bond market for the first time since 2008 and hopes to raise $175mn of aggregate industry loss-based cover from its new Galileo Re transaction

Endurance has lured two more senior underwriters from Axis Capital with Richard Allen and Ian Bowler set to join Graham Evans' new London-based international insurance division, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

Nephila Capital co-founder Frank Majors has said that reinsurers should act as transformer vehicles and offer traditional indemnity reinsurance at the front while issuing index-based products out the back to tap into the benefits of the rising convergence market

The non-life cat bond market saw a total issuance volume of $1.45bn during the third quarter and is now at a record $17.9bn in terms of outstanding capacity, according to Munich Re's latest Q3 market review

Liberty Mutual is set to restructure its casualty reinsurance programme at renewal by cutting its spend by around a half, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

AIG's chief reinsurance buyer Samir Shah has criticised the plethora of advisers required for a typical cat bond transaction, in a speech that may offer some succour to traditional reinsurers feeling the competitive squeeze from alternatives

The NYSE-listed reinsurer Platinum opened the earnings season for Bermuda-based (re)insurers with reported net income of $38.3mn, down significantly from the $84.9mn it reported in Q3 2012

Analysts expect US-listed P&C (re)insurers to report mostly stronger third-quarter earnings over the next three weeks relative to the second quarter, helped by subdued catastrophe claims and stable bond yields

Munich Re predicts; Australia wildfire; Ace appoints; Compre buys; ERM stutters; Hannover Re expects; Invesco exit; Hiscox hires; Uniqa upgraded; Q-Re appoints; Linked in; Gibraltar motors; US life; Mapfre buys; Hailstorm hit; FP departure; Echo Re upgraded; Swiss Re sells; Lloyd's on track; R&Q transfers; Syndicate auctions

A study of cession rates among major global insurance groups has shown the long-run trend of primary carriers retaining more of their business has plateaued in recent years, despite strong anecdotal evidence of its continuation