September 2013/5

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.