September 2004/4

US property/casualty insurers prospered in the first half of 2004, posting underwriting profit of almost $9bn, substantially up on the same period of 2003, according to a report published today (20 September) by ratings agency AM Best.

A trend gathering pace? Benfield Group has become the latest broker to recruit from a reinsurer with the appointment of former Swiss Re chief Patrick Murphy-O’Connor to its management team.

But third major US hurricane in a month avoids New Orleans; creates lower than predicted loss scenario An energetic storm season continued unabated last week with the landfall of Hurricane Ivan, the third major hurricane to hit the US in the space of

The embattled Swiss based reinsurer Converium revealed last week that Berkshire Hathaway unit National Indemnity Company and Munich Re will providing fronting insurance for its 27.25 percent share of the Global Aerospace aviation pool.