September 2013/3

Bermudian reinsurer Maiden has been the top-performing share among the island's risk carriers in 2013 to date, climbing 42 percent.

The Insurance Insider's second Honours event saw 700 leading industry executives packed into the spectacular riverside setting of London's Old Billingsgate Market. As the accolades were distributed in a splendid gala evening compered by UK comedian David Mitchell, The Insider team were on hand to keep tabs on the medals haul...

London-listed Catco has picked up almost a 20 percent share of the estimated $9bn indemnity retrocession market since it began underwriting at the start of 2011, but its chief product is dividing opinion amongst retro buyers and writers at the Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous.

Potential buyers have a strong preference for strategic bolt-on deals rather than transformational transactions, which could trigger an uptick in M&A activity, Guy Carpenter said in its Monte Carlo mid-year review.

The European run-off market has grown in size by EUR11bn in the past year to around EUR235bn, mainly due to a greater number of firms classifying more recent business as run-off, according to the latest PwC survey on the sector.

The Catalina and American Safety Insurance (ASI) transaction demonstrates that activist shareholders continue to be instrumental in facilitating change and driving value, said Willis Capital Markets and Advisory CEO Tony Ursano.

New capital is continuing to enter the run-off space and the idea that a company may be worth more dead than alive is gaining acceptance, said Tony Ursano, CEO of Willis Capital Markets and Advisory (WCMA).

New York buyout firm Fortress Investment Group has put its majority stake in run-off (re)insurer Alea up for sale, in a move that is likely to excite interest from the legacy sector's heavyweight acquisition firms, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

The larger balance sheet created by the merger of Markel Corp and Alterra Capital earlier this year has already attracted increased submissions to the combined entity's reinsurance operations.

Hedge funds remain "very interested" in the P&C sector, with more hedge fund-sponsored reinsurers expected to be formed over the next 12 months, according to Willis Capital Markets & Advisory (WCMA) chief executive Tony Ursano.

Despite the foothold third-party capital is gaining in the property cat market, reinsurance brokers must provide a balanced offering to their clients, John Cavanagh, Global CEO of Willis Re, tells The Insurance Insider

This is Richard Ward's last Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous as Lloyd's CEO. But don't be surprised if he is back...