September 2013/5

Weekly share price movements and key data on The Insurance Insider's universe of P&C (re)insurers and brokers

The impact of selling KX Re to Catalina has pushed Tawa plc, the legacy-to-live firm backed by billionaires Francois Pinault and Lakshmi Mittal, to a $27mn group loss for the half-year

Legacy acquisition firm Catalina has agreed to purchase the run-off reinsurer Alea Group from New York buyout firm Fortress Investment Group for an undisclosed sum.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has proposed new legislation to regulate the controversial force-placed insurance sector in the state

The Financial Services Commission of Gibraltar (FSCG) said it is paying increased attention to the reinsurance arrangements of Gibraltar insurers, especially those that involve significant cessions to reinsurers domiciled outside the European Economic Area (EEA).

The Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) is the first insurance supervisory authority to agree to participate in the US National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)'s qualified jurisdiction process.

UK annuity provider Partnership Assurance Group confirmed that it is under investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for inducements, after a week in which its share price fell sharply.

A crucial exclusion used in directors' and officers' (D&O) policies has been upheld in a case involving the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has requested that the Court of Appeals throw out an appeal by Starr International Company against a ruling over the $100bn bailout of AIG

World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein is not entitled to any of the subrogated claims money paid to insurers by airlines over the 9/11 attacks, a court ruled last week

Greg Richardson has become acting head of retro property reinsurance at Markel Global Reinsurance, just three months after leaving Alterra when it was acquired by Markel

Deutsche Bank Asset & Wealth Management has added to its new ILS team with former Lockton Re broker Adam Sayers

The London-listed Blue Capital Global Reinsurance Fund has capped its upcoming fundraising at a maximum of $100mn, the Montpelier Re-backed company told investors on 20 September

Credit Suisse added a small amount to its loss reserves for Superstorm Sandy as it closed a sidepocket of shares in the London-listed DCG Iris fund that was set up after the storm hit New York last year

The US Federal Reserve's surprise postponement last week of plans to taper its $85bn-a-month bond-buying quantitative easing programme is likely to refocus (re)insurers on the task of optimising investment portfolios in a pervasive low interest rate environment

Reforms proposed by P&C reinsurers nursing heavy Costa Concordia shipwreck losses to protect themselves from ballooning wreck removal costs look increasingly unlikely to bear fruit

Europe's leading insurers have reduced their debts since the 2008 financial crisis, but their ability to service their loans has deteriorated due to a drop in profits, according to rating agency Moody's

It is not often that the broker and carrier communities are in unison, and it is rarer still that the P&C (re)insurance industry comes together to lobby for public intervention in the private marketplace.

Almost a year after Superstorm Sandy caused devastation across the northeast US, cat modelling company Karen Clark & Co (KCC) has warned that if a true 1-in-100 year hurricane event in the region could cause insured losses of over $100bn.

(Re)insurers involved in the early testing of RMS(one) have predicted a significant impact in the day-to-day business of cat modelling when the new product is launched in early 2014.

Mexico's insurers could face "potentially substantial" claims after hurricanes Manuel and Ingrid struck the south of the country on 14-15 September, causing widespread flooding in the tourist resort of Acapulco, according to rating agency Moody's.

Severe hailstorms that struck Germany in July will cost Swiss Re $240mn and inflict a claims burden of up to $2.7bn on the (re)insurance industry as a whole, the company said today (23 September).

(Re)insurers are not expected to pick up a significant bill from the recent Colorado floods, despite the fact Property Claim Services (PCS) has designated them a cat event.

Typhoon Usagi, the 19th and most powerful to strike the Northwest Pacific in 2013, made landfall as a Category 2 typhoon near the Chinese city of Shanwei yesterday (22 September).

The series of hailstorms that struck parts of Germany in late July are emerging as a surprise addition to the list of 2013's costliest events after Swiss Re became the latest company to preannounce its loss exposure.

London-headquartered Cooper Gay Swett & Crawford has taken the consolidation of EC3's independent broking sector a stage further with the acquisition of Newman Martin Buchan (NMB) in a cash deal understood to value the business at circa £40mn.

The Singapore-based Lloyd's Asia hub enjoyed a 16 percent increase in insurance premiums in 2012 while reinsurance premiums contracted by 8 percent, according to recent Lloyd's data.

Asia Capital Re Holdings (ACR) posted a return to profit in the year to 31 March as the regional reinsurer steadied itself following the heavily cat-affected 2011-12 year.

JLT Re's $250mn acquisition of Towers Re will make it the industry's fourth-largest reinsurance brokerage and enhance its analytics capabilities without the headache of widespread overlap.

JLT Re's $250mn acquisition of the reinsurance broking arm of Towers Watson values the business at a relatively modest 7x-8x multiple of 2012/13 earnings, despite the seller's initial target of more than 15x earnings, The Insurance Insider understands.

Lloyd's performance management director Tom Bolt has given a warning on the risks of insuring fracking and the potential long-term liability resulting from water aquifer contamination.

The US should make the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) permanent to help it cope with "unconventional" attacks by militant groups, the activist head of New York's financial regulator has said.

Uniqa offer; Aon's shares leap; Meadowbrook credit; Laying down the law; Markel re-hires; Direct Line sale; Travelers fills; Aon Benfield trends; French churn; Zurich appoints; China expansion; Travelers K&R; Tokio Marine reshuffle; Ironshore promotes; Xchanging takeover; Aspen affirmed

TigerRisk has hired Martin Bartell from Aon Benfield to lead its retro and specialty reinsurance unit in London, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

Shares in embattled US-listed (re)insurer Tower Group fell sharply last week (down circa 30 percent) - compounded by founder Michael Lee being forced to sell $12.6mn worth of stock because it was collateral for a Citigroup loan - and continued to fall today (23 September)

Five years ago, when Aon trumped Guy Carpenter to win major independent reinsurance broker Benfield, outgoing Benfield CEO Grahame "Chily" Chilton described the reinsurance broking world as being a "post-consolidated" one.