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Hull underwriters and classification societies
Simon Stonehouse, Marine Hull Underwriter at Brit Insurance, recently delivered the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) Stanley Gray Lecture in London. Mr Stonehouse addressed several issues in his lecture: the..
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
850 - 17 November 2008
Market turmoil hits Euro reinsurers’ capital
Referring to the litany oflosses being reported by competitiors, Odyssey Re’s chief executive Andrew Barnard said: “Reaching for (investment) yield to enhance operating performance has been revealed as a costly practice and, at some companies, utterly destructive of value.” Odyssey Re was the only company able to report an increase in pre-tax profits for the nine months to September
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
850 - 17 November 2008
P&C industry turns back on government rescue package
Companies say they have more than enough capital to weather the current financial market crisis without federal assistance
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
850 - 17 November 2008
Cost of cat losses double in third quarter as “Ike” estimates rise
In the first three quarters of this year, 36 catastrophe events, costing insurers a total of $22.1bn, were officially declared
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18 November 2008
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850 - 17 November 2008
Avoiding ‘gaps’ in the insurance of infrastructure projects
Avoiding ‘gaps’ in insurance cover is essential in any project. Where a project comprises a number of plant units which are completed, tested and commissioned in advance of completion and hand over of the whole project, the risk of such gaps arising increases significantly. Below, Peter Hall, infrastructure finance partner, and Mary Greenhow, senior associate, at London law firm, Norton Rose LLP, outline the main issues that need to be considered
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
850 - 17 November 2008
Insurers granted limited access to state health statistics
The government will make available medical data to insurance associations, but not to individual firms
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
850 - 17 November 2008
Reinsurers see opportunities to offset investment losses
Now that access to other means of capital is restricted, direct insurers will be more dependent on well established reinsurers
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18 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
850 - 17 November 2008
Rebranding in an economic downturn
The US based Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) generated $1.5bn in revenue providing IT services to the global insurance sector during the last financial year. Patrick Molineux, Head of Market Development at CSC, says the takeovers and acquisitions that are happening in the banking and insurance sectors creates tremendous opportunities for merger and acquisition work for the company, a leading player in systems consolidation. He also believes that the current crisis in the financial services market is going to be a real challenge for the smaller IT services companies which do not have the capacity or flexibility to offer a multi-layered service solution to their customers
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
850 - 17 November 2008
MAPFRE reins in regional expansion plans
International insurance groups are concerned about the devaluation of regional currencies on their bottom lines
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
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850 - 17 November 2008
AXA freezes investors’ funds to avoid run
Funds that do not qualify for the government guarantee face customer withdrawals
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
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850 - 17 November 2008
Friendly societies report 20% fall in net income
However, mutual organisations’ premium income of around £1.4bn in 2007 was little changed from the previous year
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
850 - 17 November 2008
White Mountains Insurance
The underwriting losses and underwriting related expenses at Esurance, the group’s US based online motor insurer, comprehensively wiped out whatever underwriting profits were generated at OneBeacon and White Mountains Re
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18 November 2008
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850 - 17 November 2008
Visible and effective regulation seen as critical to growth of market
The Albanian insurance market has developed only since the fall of the Communist regime in the early 1990s. The political and economic history of the country had left a legacy of problems that were reflected in the insurance market: not least a culture of corruption and the absence of a tradition of insurance among the population. But since the new Financial Supervisory Authority replaced an earlier, largely ineffective supervisory institution in 2006, a comprehensive new insurance law has been passed. The industry is now effectively policed and there is an increasing number of foreign equity participants
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
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850 - 17 November 2008
Sector stocks resilient in face of catastrophe and investment losses
The two week period ending 6th November represented something of a recovery for the insurance and reinsurance stocks tracked by WIR, despite a spate of dismal third quarter results marked by an almost standardised mixture of catastrophe, equity and..
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
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850 - 17 November 2008
Liability, awards and settlements
23.10, Queen of the North, jury trial
Canada: a British Columbia Supreme Court justice began to untangle the mess of litigation resulting from the loss of life, possessions and the trauma suffered by passengers of sunken passenger ro/ro Queen of..
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
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850 - 17 November 2008
Property damage and business interruption
26.10, gas pipeline explosions
Canada: two EnCana sour gas pipelines attacked with explosives earlier in the month have been repaired and put back into service. RCMP anti-terrorism officers continued a probe into the blasts near Dawson Creek,..
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
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850 - 17 November 2008
Late reports
14.10, aircraft grounded
Indonesia: Indonesia grounded four airlines and it has given them three months to improve safety standards or face a ban, according to the country’s Transport Ministry. A safety audit found airlines Pura Wisata..
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
850 - 17 November 2008
International
Marsh creates binding authority division
Broker Marsh has established a new business division to house a dedicated binding authority and consumer placement service, bringing together expertise and administrative functions from across its various..
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
850 - 17 November 2008
Aviation
23.10, crash, fatalities
Mexico: five people were killed when a light aircraft crashed in the northern Mexican state of Tamaulipas. Four of the five victims were public notaries who were heading to Nuevo Laredo city in Texas to take part in a..
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18 November 2008
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850 - 17 November 2008
Natural catastrophes
21.10, Hurricane Ike
US: a preliminary estimate released by the Harris County Housing Authority showed that Hurricane “Ike” damaged $8.5bn worth of homes, apartments and mobile homes in the Texas county. The hurricane wrought the..
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
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850 - 17 November 2008
Marine
21.10, Princess of the Stars sinking
Philippines: the retrieval of bodies inside the sunken passenger ro/ro Princess of the Stars, which was scheduled to resume, did not take place because the salvor failed to apply for a salvage permit with the..
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
850 - 17 November 2008
Asia
Tokio Marine branch converts to subsidiary
Japan’s Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co has received regulatory approval to incorporate its Shanghai branch as a wholly-owned subsidiary in China. The Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire..
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
850 - 17 November 2008
Europe
Insurers eyed for takeover
European insurance companies are shaping up to be attractive takeover targets for cash-rich Japanese insurers and private equity houses, according to merger & acquisition advisers at KPMG. Japanese firms are starting..
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
850 - 17 November 2008
US
Hayward Fault quake could cost over $200bn
Catastrophe modelling firm Risk Management Solutions (RMS) has estimated that a 6.8 magnitude earthquake on the Southern Hayward Fault in San Francisco would cause economic losses of between $112bn..
Online Published Date:
18 November 2008
Appeared in issue:
850 - 17 November 2008