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Reinsurance people
■ Broking group Aon Re US has appointed Jon Ingersoll
as senior vice president, based in the Philadelphia office. He was previously with Overseas Partners US. The broker has also named Chris Daley
as vice president, responsible for..
Online Published Date:
11 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
23-02 - 11 November 2002
Corporate round-up
Bermudian reinsurance group PartnerRe is buying back 6mn shares from one of its founding investors, Swiss Re. PartnerRe said it would offer 8m common shares to the public under its existing shelf registration, using the net proceeds to repurchase..
Online Published Date:
11 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
23-02 - 11 November 2002
Corporate security assessment
Regular analysis of reinsurance corporate security using information based on recent financial and market performance.
REINSURANCE AUSTRALIA CORPORATION
: Over the last decades there have been a few attempts to develop reinsurance companies outside..
Online Published Date:
11 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
23-02 - 11 November 2002
IASB moves closer to Phase I
The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) continues to prepare for the issue of a global standard for insurance contracts, and the board made further progress in defining key issues like what constitutes insurance and reinsurance at last..
Online Published Date:
11 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
23-02 - 11 November 2002
Tawa renames CNA Re UK
Run-off specialist Tawa UK has completed the takeover of CNA Reinsurance Co (UK) and changed the company’s name to CX Reinsurance Co. Tawa’s Philip Singer, appointed chief executive of CX Re, told TRR
that the renamed reinsurer..
Online Published Date:
11 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
23-02 - 11 November 2002
Now Cigna faces class actions
US healthcare insurer Cigna has run into further trouble following its recent moves to take more than $1bn in charges in connection with the Unicover workers’ compensation reinsurance pool and its discontinued variable annuity reinsurance..
Online Published Date:
11 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
23-02 - 11 November 2002
Platinum’s IPO raises more than $1bn
Platinum Underwriters Holdings, the Bermuda-based company that resulted from St Paul Cos’ spin-off of its reinsurance operations, has completed its initial public offering of more than 33m common shares and 5.5m equity security units.
It..
Online Published Date:
11 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
23-02 - 11 November 2002
Lincoln Re price row is settled
Swiss Re and US financial group Lincoln National have ended their differences on the final price to be paid for the Swiss company’s acquisition of Lincoln Re last year. The settlement includes an end to legal disputes between the two, and the..
Online Published Date:
11 November 2002
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23-02 - 11 November 2002
Allianz reorganizes UK MAT
Allianz has completed the relocation of its marine and aviation team based in London in advance of a restructuring of its entire Marine, Aviation & Transport (MAT) operation in the UK from the beginning of next year. Allianz AGF MAT, Allianz..
Online Published Date:
11 November 2002
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23-02 - 11 November 2002
Old year losses hit Converium
When Zurich Financial Services floated its third party reinsurance operations under the name of Converium in December last year, it retained certain reinsurance liabilities and committed to provide some indemnities to the new reinsurer. But most of..
Online Published Date:
11 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
23-02 - 11 November 2002
Asbestos claims rise again
The spectre of asbestos-related claims has strengthened in recent weeks with insurers and industrial groups on both sides of the Atlantic adding to reserves or becoming ensnared in litigation.
The new surge in potential asbestos losses was..
Online Published Date:
11 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
23-02 - 11 November 2002
Arig pulls plug on rights issue
Arab Insurance Group (Arig) has rescinded its rights share offering because of the withdrawal of one of the two government shareholders originally due to underwrite the $100m issue which closed on October 15.
Two sovereign shareholders of Arig, the..
Online Published Date:
11 November 2002
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23-02 - 11 November 2002
Trenwick takes radical action
One Bermudian company not having such a good time is Trenwick Group. Late last month it stopped underwriting US specialty programme business in a bid to cut the group’s operating leverage and allow it to focus on other lines.
The closed..
Online Published Date:
11 November 2002
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23-02 - 11 November 2002
Bermudians escape old losses
Dislocation is the buzz word in Bermuda – but fortunately for the island’s reinsurers the dislocation is taking place elsewhere. Bermudian companies young and old reported strong figures for the first nine months of the year, taking full..
Online Published Date:
11 November 2002
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23-02 - 11 November 2002
Highlands files for bankruptcy
New Jersey-based non-life group Highlands Insurance has filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in a US court in Delaware.
The company made the filing 11 months after it adopted a plan to cease writings of new and renewal business, and run off its..
Online Published Date:
11 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
23-02 - 11 November 2002
Blondeau goes as Scor slumps
Exit Blondeau, enter Kessler. French reinsurance group Scor’s current financial difficulties provide a vivid illustration of the problems faced by established players when competing with the clean-slate, start-up reinsurers that have emerged..
Online Published Date:
11 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
23-02 - 11 November 2002
Reinsurance People
■ US reinsurance group GE Employers Reinsurance has appointed Kathryn Baker
as general counsel for the global property & casualty business unit. She reports directly to Rick Smith
, chief executive of the global P&C unit.
■..
Online Published Date:
25 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
24-02 - 25 November 2002
Corporate round-up
A reorganization of operations at broking group Aon in the UK sees Colin Bryan become chairman of Aon Ltd’s UK reinsurance business. Mr Bryan was previously chairman of Aon’s non-marine reinsurance division.
From the beginning of next..
Online Published Date:
25 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
24-02 - 25 November 2002
US book hits Converium again
Reinsurance group Converium has now confirmed it will add $70.3m net in the fourth quarter to its provisions for liability business written by its main US subsidiary, bringing the total second half reserving addition to $117.3m.
Boosting reserves..
Online Published Date:
25 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
24-02 - 25 November 2002
Low cat loss level cheers US
Cat losses in the US were fairly low for the third quarter, with the Property Claim Services (PCS) division of the Insurance Services Office expecting insurers to face claims of $675m from six events during the three months. The figure compares..
Online Published Date:
25 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
24-02 - 25 November 2002
Axis agrees Sheffield purchase
In line with its plan to retain its major underwriting operations but pursue a broad underwriting strategy, broking group Aon has now agreed to sell Sheffield Insurance Corp, a specialty non-life insurance subsidiary.
The buyer will be Bermudian..
Online Published Date:
25 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
24-02 - 25 November 2002
US court considers asbestosis
The US Supreme Court has heard oral arguments in a case that could determine whether litigants in asbestos-related lawsuits are entitled to collect damages on the basis of fearing that they could get cancer.
The court took up the case five years..
Online Published Date:
25 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
24-02 - 25 November 2002
Capacity holds back cat rises
The high level of capacity has helped keep down rates for property catastrophe reinsurance, and prices for renewals after July were lower than at the start of the year, according to the latest report by Gen Re Intermediaries, the broking unit of the..
Online Published Date:
25 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
24-02 - 25 November 2002
Employers Re prepares charge
US General Electric is expected to take a pre-tax charge of up to $2bn to cover losses at its Employers Reinsurance Corp (ERC) subsidiary and a restructuring of other GE operations, according to reports by several Wall Street analysts.
GE was..
Online Published Date:
25 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
24-02 - 25 November 2002
Annuity & Life restates figures
Discussions with the Securities & Exchange Commission in the US over accounting issues have resulted in Bermudian reinsurance group Annuity & Life Re restating its figures for the past two closed years.
For 2001, the restatement will..
Online Published Date:
25 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
24-02 - 25 November 2002
Catlin Westgen raises capital
Bermudian insurance and reinsurance group Catlin Westgen has concluded a $532m capital raising initiative designed to increase its underwriting capacity at Lloyd’s and support a much-expanded underwriting operation in Bermuda.
Catlin Westgen..
Online Published Date:
25 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
24-02 - 25 November 2002
Russia shows slow progress
Foreign penetration of the Russian reinsurance market has been limited, hampered by the slow development of the underlying direct insurance industry, according to a sector report produced by the analytical division of investment bank United..
Online Published Date:
25 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
24-02 - 25 November 2002
Beazley uses IPO for capacity
Lloyd’s operator Beazley Group launched a £150m initial public offering this month to allow it to take advantage of the strong market conditions for international insurance and reinsurance. Beazley is the parent of Lloyd’s managing..
Online Published Date:
25 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
24-02 - 25 November 2002
Asset managers interest market
Insurers in the US and Europe will make much greater use of specialist firms to manage their assets, Swiss Re predicts in a new Sigma study into the market.
Swiss Re expects third party asset management will grow by an average of 10% a year in both..
Online Published Date:
25 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
24-02 - 25 November 2002
Seibels Bruce stays profitable
US insurance holding company Seibels Bruce may be having problems with regulators, but it is still managing to remain profitable. The group produced net income of $1.8m in the third quarter and $5.3m for the first nine months of the year even though..
Online Published Date:
25 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
24-02 - 25 November 2002
Europeans press on collateral
Autumn sees the International Underwriting Association (IUA) continue attempts to convince US interests that its members should not be required to post collateral of 100% of their insured US liabilities. As TRR
went to press, the..
Online Published Date:
25 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
24-02 - 25 November 2002
Coomber is Swiss Re’s choice
Swiss Re took the market rather by surprise when choosing an Englishman, John Coomber, as successor to Walter Kielholz as chief executive. The move follows Mr Kielholz’s appointment as chairman of banking group Credit Suisse; he will become..
Online Published Date:
25 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
24-02 - 25 November 2002
Trenwick still talking on LOCs
Troubles continue to mount at Bermudian insurance and reinsurance group Trenwick, and as TRR
went to press the group was still talking to its letter of credit (LOC) providers in the hope of renewing its $226m credit facility.
If the talks fail,..
Online Published Date:
25 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
24-02 - 25 November 2002
Florida’s Aries is now in liquidation
Aries Insurance Co, based in Florida, has been put into liquidation shortly after losing an arbitration ruling against its reinsurer, General Re, over disputed reinsurance recoveries.
The arbitration panel ruled that Aries owed General Re $3.7m for..
Online Published Date:
25 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
24-02 - 25 November 2002
Traditional lines boost Max Re
Bermudian alternative risk transfer company Max Re has wasted no time in diversifying into more traditional lines of business. For the third quarter, 64% of Max Re’s total gross premiums came from traditional non-life reinsurance business.
For..
Online Published Date:
25 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
24-02 - 25 November 2002
US issues new tax haven rules
The US treasury department has issued new regulations that require insurers, reinsurers and other companies to notify shareholders and federal tax authorities in the event the firms move their headquarters to offshore tax havens outside the US or..
Online Published Date:
25 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
24-02 - 25 November 2002
Scor’s loss now put at €400m
French reinsurance group Scor’s old year losses are even more substantial than the level announced by the company at the end of last month. The market took a dim view of Scor’s unexpected announcement in October that it expected to post..
Online Published Date:
25 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
24-02 - 25 November 2002
IUA throughput shows upturn
Figures recently produced by the International Underwriting Association (IUA) provide confirmation of the current market recovery. Net premium income underwritten by IUA members through the London Processing Centre, or more recently Ins-sure,..
Online Published Date:
25 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
24-02 - 25 November 2002
Congress OKs terrorism plan
The US Congress has finally passed legislation for the creation of a federal terrorism insurance backstop that would provide the insurance industry with financial support in the event of heavy losses from future terrorist attacks.
President Bush has..
Online Published Date:
25 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
24-02 - 25 November 2002