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New CEO for AXA Re
Hans-Peter Gerhardt, who is currently vice president of the board of directors of General Cologne Re, is to take over as chief executive of AXA Re. His appointment is effective 1 May 2003.
Philippe Donnet, member of AXA executive committee, recently..
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01 April 2003
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0140 - 01 April 2003
XL signs CFO for financial business unit
XL Capital has made David Shea chief financial & administrative officer of the company’s financial products and services business segment.
Mr Shea, who was CFO and treasurer at General Electric’s New York-based Financial Guaranty..
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01 April 2003
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Fox-Pitt Kelton team defects to KB & W
Fox-Pitt Kelton, the London-based boutique insurance investment bank owned by Swiss Re, lost three of its key investment bankers to rival Keefe Bruyette & Woods last month.
Keefe Bruyette & Woods said it had hired Peter Roth, head of..
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01 April 2003
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Swiss Re forms Tokyo securities unit
Swiss Re has established a licensed securities arm in Tokyo called Swiss Re Capital Markets (Japan).
The focus of the new company’s business will be to provide integrated capital and risk management solutions to big corporate clients in..
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01 April 2003
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JLT adds to alternative capabilities in US
Capital Risk Group, the specialist US ART shop, has acquired Texas Specialty Insurance Agency, a recently formed specialist broker based in Houston, Texas.
Capital Risk Group is a joint venture between global broker Jardine Lloyd Thompson and US..
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01 April 2003
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Aon forms Swiss ART shop
Aon has launched an alternative risk management consulting operation in Switzerland, IRMG (Switzerland) Ltd.
Intended to meet what Aon describes as the growing client demand in German speaking continental Europe for integrated risk consulting..
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01 April 2003
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Two new ART units from Ace
Ace European Markets has launched two new ART divisions. Ace Financial Solutions Europe, a division of Ace European Markets Insurance Ltd (AEMI), will be located in London, and Ace Financial Solutions Reinsurance Europe, a division of Ace European..
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01 April 2003
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Weather workshop planned
Swiss Re, in partnership with Penn State’s Smeal College of Business and the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, is planning to host a one-day workshop entitled, Weatherproof Your Business: New Financial Strategies For Managing Weather and..
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01 April 2003
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Japanese weather alliance formed
Japanese non-life insurer Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co has formed an alliance with US weather-risk management firm GuaranteedWeather in the field of weather derivatives products.
Under the agreement, the two firms will co-operate in marketing..
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01 April 2003
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Multi line cat model includes life risks
What is claimed to be the first probabilistic catastrophe risk analysis of a combined portfolio of life, accident, and property risks for a major insurer has been carried out by Aon in conjunction with its catastrophe modelling unit, Impact..
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01 April 2003
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Swiss Re toasts good year for cat bonds
Insurance linked securities ended 2002 on a high note with over US$2.9bn of cat bond outstandings, an increase of around 22% from 2001 year-end.
According to Swiss Re Capital Markets, the primary drivers of growth include the hardening of the..
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01 April 2003
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Record year for cat bonds in 2002
The catastrophe bond market had record issuance in 2002 of $1.2bn, exceeding the previous high of $1.1bn set in 2000, according to a new report co-sponsored by Guy Carpenter & Co, the reinsurance broker, and Marsh & McLennan Securities,..
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01 April 2003
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EU insolvency law scuppers ‘mixed’ carriers
Insurers in the London companies market and Lloyd’s, who cover big commercial risks such as aviation, marine and property, are under threat from new EU legislation designed to protect insurance policyholders.
The insurers (reorganisation and..
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01 April 2003
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Max Re Capital 2002
The Bermuda reinsurer Max Re Capital is unusual even among an island filled with young and unconventional reinsurers. Not exactly a start-up, it was formed in 1999, and set out with the intention of writing highly structured programmes in both the..
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01 April 2003
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Imagine Insurance doubles profits to US28.5mn
The fast growing Bermuda finite reinsurer Imagine Insurance reported a net income of US$28.5mn for 2002, on the back of net premium income of US133m. In 2001, Imagine Insurance posted a net income of US$14.7mn and net premium income of US$459mn.
The..
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01 April 2003
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German giants strengthen capital bases
In an effort to strengthen its balance sheet, Munich Re, the world’s biggest reinsurer, sold a €3bn hybrid bond last month. Shareholders’ equity stands at €14.5bn
Munich Re Finance BV, a unit of the German company, priced its..
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01 April 2003
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Lloyd’s back in the black after six years
Lloyd’s of London returned to profit last year for the first time in six years. Lloyd’s said that the profit of £
834mn for 2002 was in line with expectations, and reflected favourable market conditions that would persist for the..
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01 April 2003
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CNA divests risk management arm
CNA is to sell its unbundled risk management claims business to US company Cunningham Lindsey. CNA has signed a binding agreement to sell its subsidiary, RSKCo, to Cunningham Lindsey, US, which is a subsidiary of Lindsey Morden Group, Inc, a..
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01 April 2003
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Toa UK run-off business sold to Enstar
Toa Re (UK), the London subsidiary of the US reinsurance group, has been sold to Castlewood Holdings and Shinsei Bank. Castlewood is part of The Enstar Group.
The joint venture paid around US$46mn for Toa UK, which is in run-off.
Toa UK underwrote..
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01 April 2003
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0140 - 01 April 2003
Fiat sells insurance unit to De Agostini
Fiat SpA is to sell its insurance unit, Toro Assicurazioni, to privately held publishing company De Agostini SpA for €2.4bn.
De Agostini, which also controls Italy’s national lottery company, beat off rival bids from Toro’s..
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01 April 2003
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Inreon signs Asian reinsurers
Inreon, eReinsure’s rival for online reinsurance business, has signed Korean Re and China International Re as active members.
Founded in 1963 Korean Re is today one of Asia’s largest reinsurance groups. For the year ending 2001 Korean..
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01 April 2003
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Fireman’s Fund signs up to eReinsure
Allianz subsidiary Fireman’s Fund is to use the online reinsurance trading platform eReinsure.com for the purchase of its facultative reinsurance. The agreement followed pilot testing at 10 Fireman’s Fund branches.
Joe Dillon, chief..
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01 April 2003
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D&O increases hit home at AIG
Firsthand evidence of how high directors’ and officers (D&O) liability insurance costs are running emerged from AIG last month.
The world’s largest insurer reported an almost 60% rise in the cost of the premium it pays to protect..
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01 April 2003
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Honeywell reaches asbestos deal with Equitas
Honeywell International and Equitas have reached a policy buy-back settlement of US$472mn in cash for asbestos claims from two businesses that Honeywell has sold or is in process of selling.
The settlement doesn’t affect claims by Honeywell..
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01 April 2003
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Risk managers increase loss control spending
Risk managers are spending an average 17% more on loss control services in an effort to drive down the cost of risk, according to another risk manager survey from Chubb.
Those organisations that increased loss control spending on security,..
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01 April 2003
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US property market starts to go soft
Rates for US property insurance have begun to fall as insurers compromise to meet their target levels of premium growth, according to a report published by Aon. Timed to coincide with this year’s RIMS (Risk and Insurance Management Society)..
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01 April 2003
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Risk managers pledge to use more ART
Risk carriers also used last month’s RIMS meeting in Chicago to take the temperature of risk managers over pricing. Most are hot and bothered about price hikes and say they want to employ more ART.
The overwhelming majority of 1400 risk..
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01 April 2003
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Terrorism not a threat, survey says
An overwhelming 84% of professional risk managers think risks to their organisations’ operations have not increased at all or have increased only slightly since the start of the US war with Iraq, according to a survey by Allianz Global..
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01 April 2003
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AIG moves into European energy market
American International Group is believed to be moving into the European energy markets. Newspaper reports quoted an unnamed AIG spokesman as saying that AIG ‘is moving into a full risk management and trading structure, looking at physical..
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01 April 2003
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Credit derivatives fall out of favour with insurers – but growth continues
Insurers, reinsurers and regulators seem to be in agreement with Warren Buffett that derivatives are potentially ‘weapons of financial mass destruction’ and many carriers are starting to unwind their exposure to credit derivatives after..
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01 April 2003
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Weather appointment at ACE USA
ACE USA has appointed Ravi Nathan to the position of senior vice president, Global Weather, a new division within ACE USA.
Nathan reports to Ed Zaccaria, president of ACE USA Specialty P&C Group.
Based in Philadelphia, Nathan will be..
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01 April 2003
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Marsh names new UK CEO
Marsh has appointed former banker Bruce Carnegie-Brown as chief executive of its UK operations. Mr Carnegie-Brown, 43, was head of European debt capital markets at JP Morgan until March, after nearly 18 years with the US investment bank.
Until the..
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01 April 2003
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Acordia launches alternative solutions unit
Acordia, the US broker with offices across the states, has formed a risk finance group that will concentrate on financial risks associated with corporate governance, errors and omissions, employment practice liability and environmental..
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01 April 2003
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Wide variability in US weather indices
Final values for the US regional weather indices for the winter of 2002–2003 showed it to be extremely cold in the east and extremely mild in the west, according to Risk Management Solutions (RMS), the natural hazards data specialist.
The RMS..
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01 April 2003
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Weather traders avoid big payout on option
Weather traders were focused on the temperature at Amsterdam’s Schipol airport throughout March.
The biggest ever weather hedge would have paid out if there had been more than 19 ‘frost days’ at Schipol during the month.
The cold..
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01 April 2003
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March snow hurts Colorado insurers
Colorado’s March blizzard will cost the insurance industry nearly US$100mn, making it the most expensive winter storm in state history, according to the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information agency.
Insurance companies had earlier estimated the..
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01 April 2003
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Residual value line dents Travelers’ profits
Travelers Property, the big US insurer, is strengthening certain reserves at Gulf Insurance, its majority owned subsidiary, as a result of falling used car prices.
The first quarter 2003 charge to Travelers is around US$77mn, and relates to a line..
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01 April 2003
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ESG Re puts legacy issues behind it
ESG Re, the Bermuda reinsurer that specialises in medical business, showed an overall loss of US$51.2mn. ESG Re attributed the underwriting loss of US$16.4mn to a deterioration in the results for the legacy underwriting years of 1997–2000...
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01 April 2003
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SCOR tries to stem losses, sells CRP
French reinsurer SCOR recorded a net loss of €455m for 2002 on the back of €5,016mn premium income.
Attributing the loss to the impact of the stock market crisis and additions to prior-year reserves, SCOR stressed that it was succeeding..
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01 April 2003
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Tokio Marine and Nichido Fire to merge
Standard & Poor’s says that the merger plan between Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Co Ltd (AA-/Negative/--) and Nichido Fire & Marine Insurance Co Ltd (AA-/Negative/--) would have a limited impact on its ratings on the..
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01 April 2003
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Alcatel captive downgraded
Electro Re, the Luxembourg captive owned by French conglomerate Alcatel, has been downgraded by AM Best. Its financial strength rating has been lowered to B++ (Very Good) from A– (Excellent).
The outlook is stable.
The rating action reflects..
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01 April 2003
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Insurers and reinsurers divided over asbestos
Asbestos exposure foreshadows a growing rift between insurers and the reinsurance companies that back them, according to a new report by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services.
Disputes between insurers and reinsurers appear to be..
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01 April 2003
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Phoenix drops closed block ABS plan
The US life assurance group, Phoenix Cos Inc has abandoned a previously announced plan to securitise a block of its residual assets.
It said that it has decided not to proceed ‘at this time’ with the securitisation of the residual assets..
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01 April 2003
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Terror cover seen as an unnessary luxury
Businesses in the US are not buying terrorism coverage either because they believe it is too expensive or because they do not feel they need it, according to a big survey of commercial brokers.
More businesses were buying coverage in the days..
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01 April 2003
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New reporting standards a mixed blessing for ART
International financial reporting standards will introduce a new era of transparency ‘and put an end to the current Tower of Babel in financial reporting’, Frits Bolkenstein, EC internal markets commissioner, told finance ministers in..
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01 April 2003
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0140 - 01 April 2003