September 2006/2

Sidecar vehicles have now raised more than $4bn in capital since they roared into fashion in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina last year.

Bookmakers will rarely accept bets once the race has started which explains why – halfway through the Atlantic hurricane season – there have not been any recent US windstorm catastrophe (cat) bonds.

Consolidation of arbitration takes new path

Insurance giant Zurich Financial Services (ZFS) reported half-year net profits of $1.96bn, up 9 percent on the first six months of 2005, and ahead of analysts’ consensus of $1.8bn.

It was a tale of two markets for reinsurance specialist Benfield Group with disappointing news on its new corporate risks division being more than matched by impressive earnings growth in its US division on the back of the capacity crunch for catastrophe

Lloyd’s insurers saw half-year profits dented by the impact of foreign exchange adjustments, with the effect on the bottom line partially influenced by the hedging strategy company's employed.

The going rate for a privately owned broker is typically one to one-and-a-half times annual broking revenues, which suggests US broker Lockton Company and the private equity firm Stone Point Capital LLC bought Alexander Forbes’ international arm...

Hiscox plc revealed on 1 September that it is close to setting up a Bermudian sidecar operation to reinsure its Lloyd’s Syndicate 33.