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March 2010
Transamerica Reinsurance has appointed Larry Moews as senior vice-president, chief actuary and chief risk officer.
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American International Group could find out about the fate of its Taiwan unit, Nan Shan, as early as Thursday, when the Taiwanese parliament will review a report from the top financial regulator, Reuters has reported.
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With the news that AIG is selling Alico to MetLife and AIA to Prudential, Reactions assesses how far AIG still has to go to pay off its debts to the US government.
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Stewart Specialty Insurance Services (SSIS) has appointed Tom Carpentier as division president.
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Scott Rasor has been appointed as head of Zurich North America's commercial construction group.
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The Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers today filed its opposition to a house bill which would replace private sector risk bearing capital with government reinsurance and government guarantees of state debt.
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Leigh Ann Pusey, president and CEO of the American Insurance Association, today sent a letter to the House Financial Services Committee voicing concerns over the Homeowners’ Defense Act (HR 2555).
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Brit Insurance has named Bill Jackson senior vice-president of property direct and facultative of its US operations.
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Marsh and Aon should be more vocal about whether they will accept contingent commissions now that their ban has been lifted.
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Endurance's new CEO will be looking to continue the work done under eight years of Ken LeStrange's leadership but won't be afraid to make big changes if necessary, he tells Reactions in an exclusive interview.
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The Bermudian holding company Kinsale Capital Group, has announced the formation of Kinsale Insurance Company (KIC), a specialty insurance operation based in Richmond, Virginia.
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Navigators Management has expanded its professional liability division by appointing a new architects and engineers team.
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Swiss Re is preparing a new catastrophe bond, which will be the first cat bond to use Perils AG as a benchmark for losses.
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Zurich, along with Sonoma Risk Insurance Agency, is looking to start an attorneys’ fees insurance programme in the US.
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Transatlantic Holdings is looking to buy around 2 million of its common stock shares from American International Group (AIG).
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Fidelity National Financial (FNF) has reduced the size of its existing $1.1bn senior unsecured revolving credit facility. Previously, the facility was set to mature on October 24, 2011.
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Hank Greenberg, the former leader of American International Group (AIG), is set to testify on Wednesday (March 10) about the controversial deals involving AIG and General Re, Reuters reports.
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American International Group’s aircraft-leasing subsidiary is looking to add a $550m term loan to bank financing.
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US insurance broker Marsh has announced the appointment of Jonathan Zaffino as US global risk management (GRM) casualty practice leader.
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Marsh & McLennan Companies (MMC) is looking to sell Kroll, its corporate investigations division, for about $1.3bn, reports the Financial Times.
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US composite rate down 5% for February. But coastal property rates in certain locations are firming, leading to rumours of new entrants to the market to take advantage of higher pricing.
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Insured losses from winter storms that hit the US east coast between February 23 and February 28 are expected to be between $150m and $350m, according to an estimate by AIR Worldwide.
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MetLife is close to concluding its $15bn purchase of AIG’s foreign life-insurance unit, American Life Insurance Company (Alico), following a ruling by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), The Wall Street Journal reports.
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Marsh & McLennan Agency, a unit of Marsh, has added three executives to its senior leadership team.
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The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America has welcomed the House passage of the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers Reform Act (NARAB II).
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Two American International Group (AIG) units have settled federal charges that they discriminated against black customers, Reuters reports.
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Property/casualty insurer, Fireman’s Fund Insurance, has appointed David Zona as senior vice-president of product management in commercial insurance.
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The Washington Post has obtained a transcript that reveals the anger felt by employees of American International Group (AIG) Financial Product unit over the fact that they would have to give up their bonuses.
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American Capital Acquisition Corporation (ACAC) has completed its acquisition of GMAC Insurance Personal Lines.
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CNA Financial has named five commercial underwriting officers. Nancy Fallgren will be located in Seattle, Eva Gonzales will be based in New Jersey, Bruce Hay will work in Nashville, Frank Jevitz will be based in Lombard and Tony O’Sullivan will work in Columbus.
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After the ban on contingent commissions was lifted for the world’s three biggest three brokers, Reactions spoke to Pat Gallagher, chairman, president and CEO of the fourth-largest US broker Arthur J Gallagher & Co to see what his opinion is on the controversial payments.
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Marsh, the international insurance broker and risk adviser, has announced it is aggressively targeting emerging growth opportunities in the global construction industry this year.
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Radian Group’s mortgage insurance unit, Radian Guaranty, has named Robert Griffith as executive vice-president and chief operating officer.
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The US Senate has passed legislation that includes yet another short-term extension of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
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United States Aircraft Insurance Group (USAIG) has added two attorneys to its claims team.
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Brown & Brown has purchased the insurance agency and brokerage business-related assets of Seattle-based DiMartino Associates.
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AIG has injected $2.3bn into the loss reserves of its main property/casualty insurance unit, The Wall Street Journal reports.
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General Re Life has made appointments to its North American reinsurance unit, Gen Re LifeHealth.
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Ironshore has announced the appointment of Daniel Sussman to head the expansion of its platform for political risk insurance lines and other trade related insurance coverages.
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Liberty Mutual Group has reported net income of $456m for the fourth quarter of 2009, an increase of $9m compared with the same period last year. The net income for the full year of 2009 was $1.0bn, a decrease of $90m from 2008.
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US insurance broker Marsh has appointed two senior executives as part of its aggressive US growth strategy.
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Kermitt Brooks, a former deputy superintendent with the New York State Insurance Department, has been named associate general counsel with the AXA Equitable law department.
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Before it issues outstanding retention pay, American International Group (AIG) has quizzed ex-Financial Products division employees about how much they have earned since leaving the company, reports Reuters.
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The deal is the largest insurance acquisition ever and will make Prudential south-east Asia's largest insurer.
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Favourable reserve development meant medical malpractice insurance writers achieved better operating results in 2008 and the first nine months of 2009 than S&P had predicted two years ago.
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For the second consecutive time, US Congress has failed to extend the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) before its expiration date and has allowed it to lapse.
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February 2010
UK insurer Prudential is in advanced talks to buy AIA, the Asian operations of bailed-out US insuerer American International Group (AIG), Reuters has reported.
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US insurer American International Group (AIG) has reported a fourth-quarter loss of $8.9bn and warned that it may need more support from the US government.
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Specialty insurer, The Navigators Group, has added Marjorie Raines to its board of directors. Most recently, she was executive vice-president - chief investment officer of Chubb Group of Insurance Companies.
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US insurer State Farm Group reported $777m net income in 2009, compared with a $542m net loss in 2008.
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Fairfax's acquisition of Californian workers' compensation insurer Zenith National Insurance in a $1.4bn deal is a long-term play and the firm does not expect great results in the short term, Prem Watsa, chairman and CEO of Fairfax, told Reactions in an exclusive interview.
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The Navigators Group has reported net income of $6.1m in the fourth quarter of 2009, compared with net income of $10.0m for the same period in 2008.
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The US House of Representatives has passed the Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act, legislation repealing the limited anti-trust exemption for health insurers.
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AIG’s consumer lending arm, American General Finance, has had its credit rating cut four levels to B, as it continued to sell assets to meet debt payments.
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Zurich has added Richard Calvert and Warren Puffer to its North American environmental team.
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Edward Kelly, vice-chairman of Citigroup, will retire from the board of directors of US insurer The Hartford.
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Moody’s has a negative outlook for the financial guaranty industry in 2010.
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In a first of its kind agreement, German reinsurer Hannover Re has become the first foreign reinsurer to benefit from lower collateral requirements in the US, with an agreement it has reached with the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.
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AIG’s plane leasing unit, International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC), is planning to raise a new senior secured loan of $750m.
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Steve Peeters has joined Main Street America Group as vice-president of commercial lines product, reports. Peeters will report to the insurer’s chairman, president and CEO, Tom Berkel.
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MGIC Investment has reduced its insurance premium rates, Reuters reports. The US mortgage insurer has lowered its prices to fight loss of market share to the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).
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Richard Cordray, the attorney general of Ohio, said he is encouraged by a federal court ruling granting class certification in his securities litigation against US insurer American International Group.
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The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) is urging the International Association of Insurance Supervisors' (IAIS) to protect insurers from bank-focused regulatory reform.
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US reinsurance firm Transatlantic Holdings today announced that William Poutsiaka has resigned from the board.
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AIG has named UBS and Goldman Sachs senior bookrunners for the $20bn IPO of American International Assurance.
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US specialty insurer HCC Insurance Holdings has reported net earnings of $84.8m for the fourth quarter, up from $71.6m in the fourth quarter of 2008.
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Reactions speaks to brokerage veteran Pat Ryan, who built Aon into a global powerhouse, about his plans for new firm Ryan Specialty Group.
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AM Best has assigned the US commercial market a stable outlook despite soft market conditions, the anticipation of less favourable loss reserve releases and a contracting economy.
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A financial institution’s size should not be the determinant of systemic risk, the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America has urged.
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XL Insurance, XL Capital's global insurance operations, has appointed Seraina Maag as CEO of its North America property/casualty (P/C) unit. She succeeds Dennis Kane, who is retiring at the end of the year.
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Medical malpractice insurance has been excluded from a bill introduced in the US House of Representatives that would eliminate portions of the McCarran-Ferguson Act, which exempts the insurance industry from certain anti-trust laws.
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President Barack Obama may consider giving the federal government authority to block insurers from making premium rate increases.
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With Aon, Marsh and Willis now able to accept contingent commissions again, the market is abuzz with questions about which of them will accept the controversial payments, how much business this could bring and what buyers’ reaction will be.
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Fairfax Financial Holdings’ proposed acquisition of US insurer Zenith National Insurance is facing multiple investigations on behalf of disgruntled investors in Zenith over allegations of breaches of fiduciary duty by Zenith’s board of directors.
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Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America has named Kara Barrow as the new senior counsel.
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Allstate has appointed Peruvemba Satish as managing director and chief risk officer, investments.
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Argo Group International Holdings has reported net income for the full year of 2009 that increased 87% to $117.5m from $62.9m in 2008.
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The unsettled economy is having a big effect on claim operations in the US, according to a survey conducted by global professional services company Towers Watson.
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The Hanover Insurance Group has priced a $200m debt offering. The senior unsecured notes carry a coupon rate of 7.5% and are due March 1, 2020.
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AIG has scrapped plans to sell the whole of the AIG Financial Products.
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Fairfax Financial Holdings said Thursday that it is to acquire a 100% of Zenith National Insurance in a deal that values Zenith at around $1.4bn.
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Canadian insurance and reinsurance group Fairfax Financial Holdings has announced net earnings of $79.4m in the fourth quarter, down from $346.8m in 2008. Net earnings for the year were $856.8m, down from $1.47bn.
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Law firm Robbins Umeda has started an investigation into possible breaches of fiduciary duty and other violations of state law by the board of directors of US insurer Zenith National Insurance Corp in connection with their actions in the firm’s merger agreement with Canadian insurer Fairfax Financial Holdings, announced today.
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Swiss Re has raised its dividend for 2009, in a sign that the world’s second-largest reinsurer is now in a position to repay a expensive convertible loan from Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.
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Timothy Schiltz has been appointed senior vice-president of SunAmerica Financial Group and, effective April 1 2010, will be named chairman of AIG Star Life Insurance and AIG Edison Life Insurance Company.
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AmTrust Financial Services has reported a net income of $28.1m in the fourth quarter. The increase in the net profit, which was $25m last year, is attributed to a 20% rise in premiums.
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Canadian insurers, Manulife Financial and Sun Life Financial, are increasing their stake in the nation’s government bonds, Bloomberg reports.
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The Spitzer-era ban on contingent commissions for the world’s biggest insurance brokers, Aon, Marsh and Willis, has been lifted. An equity analyst believes Aon and Marsh could now receive as much as $200m a year in contingent commissions.
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The Risk and Insurance Management Society today announced its dismay at a decision by the New York insurance department and attorney general to allow the big three brokers to resume taking contingent commissions.
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RiskProNet International has appointed Gerry O’Connor as president. Most recently, he was senior vice-president with AAI, a unit of Old National Insurance.
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Swiss insurance firm Zurich today named Daniel Riordan president of its North America commercial specialties business unit, effective immediately.
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Lloyd’s of London’s decision to broaden its product range as part of its strategic plan will not harm the market’s position in its core lines, Sean McGovern, Lloyd’s general council, has told Reactions.
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US insurance broker Aon Corporation has today announced that it has reached an amended and restated agreement on the issue of compensation business practices with three states.
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Insurance agency and brokerage firm, Brown & Brown, has reported $23.65m net income for the fourth quarter of 2009.
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PMI Mortgage Assurance Company (PMAC) has received approval from Fannie Mae to act as a direct issuer of mortgage guaranty insurance.
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US insurer The Hartford Financial Services Group announced today that Christopher Swift will join the company as executive vice-president and chief financial officer, effective March 1.
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Hawaii Medical Assurance Association (HMAA) will buy Summerlin Life and Health Insurance’s health plan membership portfolio in Hawaii.
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PartnerRe's acquisition of Paris Re, along with involvement in initiatives such as the Global Reinsurance Forum trade group, confirms Patrick Thiele's position as one of the most influential reinsurance executives around.
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Iron-Starr Excess Agency has appointed Lawrence Engrissei as senior vice-president, claims manager of the Bermuda-based specialty lines entity.
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Liberty Mutual Insurance has claimed it has been a victim of fraud and asked a federal court judge to undo a recent settlement between a US regulator and General Re.
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The US government will offer an online session of the healthcare bill ahead of President Barack Obama’s bipartisan summit on February 25, Financial Times reports.
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A piece of US employment legislation introduced in the US senate that included an extension of the National Flood Insurance Programme has been scaled back to a version that does not include the NFIP.
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Insurance broker Willis Group Holdings today entered into agreement with the attorney general and the superintendent of insurance of the state of New York to amend and restate its 2005 Assurance of Discontinuance and Stipulation (the AOD).
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US health insurer Anthem Blue Cross on Saturday agreed to delay its much criticised plan to raise rates for some Californian residents.
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Shares in Berkshire Hathaway, billionaire Warren Buffett's holding company, rose on February 12 as trading of its shares reached a record as it joined the Standard & Poor's 500 index.
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First Bank Insurance Services has acquired Montgomery County-based The Insurance Center.
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Lincoln Financial Network has set up a general insurance and financial services agency, Coastal Financial Partners Group.
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New-York bond insurer MBIA must defend a class-action lawsuit challenging its 2009 decision to place its municipal insurance business into a new unit.
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Fresh off the back of the busiest ever fourth quarter for cat bonds, insurance-linked securities activity is predicted to be high in 2010. Reactions' Convergence Quarterly section includes all the cat bond data from 2009.
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Japan car maker Toyota’s embarrassing recall of many of its cars because of braking problems will cause headaches for people who have bought its cars, but is unlikely to cause a big problem for insurers.
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Catastrophe risk modelling firm Eqecat estimates insured losses resulting from the two February winter storms in the eastern US will exceed $2bn.
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Chartis, American International Group’s property/casualty and general insurer, today announced the appointment of Gretchen Hayes as chief diversity officer.
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Bermudian reinsurer PartnerRe today announced organisational changes, following the acquisition of Paris Re. These include Paris Re’s chief executive officer leaving the company at the end of June.
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Reinsurance pricing softened at the January 1 2010 renewals. Reactions asks what this will mean for pricing for the rest of the year.
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The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of New York (IIABNY) association will go ahead with legal action to stop a new piece of producer compensation disclosure regulation that has been proposed by the New York state insurance department.
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Federal and state investigators are probing into the cause of premium hikes by a division of health insurer, WellPoint.
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US insurance firm Allstate Corporation has announced fourth quarter 2009 net income of $518m, compared with a net loss of $1.1bn in the fourth quarter of 2008.
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After getting sidetracked by the minor inconvenience of the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression, New York’s state insurance department is serious again about setting up an insurance exchange in New York city.
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Fierce pricing competition is prompting investors to choose their stocks carefully this year. We reveal which stocks equity analysts are tipping to outperform.
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Rating agency Fitch has downgraded the issuer debt rating of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway to AA- from AA+ and the insurance financial strength ratings of its insurance subsidiaries National Indemnity Company, General Re and Geico to AA- from AAA.
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MMC today reported a decline of net income to $38m in the fourth quarter of 2009, compared with net income of $80m in 2008. Marsh’s revenue for the quarter fell 4% while Guy Carpenter’s revenue for the year was up 23%.
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American International Group (AIG) has launched a new performance-based system to determine how employees get incentive pay, reports the Wall Street Journal.
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The Travelers Companies has appointed Bill Cunningham as executive vice-president of business insurance.
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The Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorisation Act provides important solvency protection for property/casualty insurers in the event of catastrophic acts of terrorism and a scaling back of the programme will increase property/casualty insurers’ exposure to terrorism, says rating agency Moody’s.
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Hartford Financial Services has posted $557m of net income in the fourth quarter of 2009 as against a 2008 fourth quarter net loss of $806m.
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New York-based bond insurer, MBIA, is reorganising its fixed-income asset management subsidiary.
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US life insurer MetLife is negotiating buying Alico, the AIG life unit, with a mixture of stock and cash in the rumoured $15bn deal, reports Bloomberg.
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Specialty insurer Torus has opened a west coast office located in San Francisco, California.
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W R Berkley has reported net income of $134m, or 81 cents per share, for the fourth quarter of 2009.
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Ace Group unit, Ace Westchester, has appointed Bruce Kessler as president.
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American International Group announced Monday that Peter Hancock will join AIG as executive vice-president, finance, risk, and investments.
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Rating agency AM Best expects the US property/casualty industry’s net income after taxes to improve to $30.6bn for 2009, up almost 10-fold from the $3.8bn reported in 2008.
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Chartis, the property/casualty insurance operation of American International Group, is on the hook for millions of dollars of losses after an explosion at an under-construction power plant in Middletown, Connecticut.
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CNA Financial Corporation has reported a net income of $246m for the fourth quarter of 2009, compared with a net income loss of $336m in the fourth quarter of last year.
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In a forthright luncheon address, Kenneth Feinberg described the challenges he faces in his role as the federal government's executive compensation special master for companies that have received Tarp payments.
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AIG today announced that Peter Hancock will join AIG as executive vice president, finance, risk, and investments. Some believe Hancock’s appointment positions him as a potential successor to Robert Benmosche, AIG’s CEO.
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US congressman Tom Perriello and congresswoman Betsy Markey today introduced a stand alone bill to remove the limited antitrust exemption for health and medical professional liability insurers.
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Aon Corporation surpassed expectations in the fourth quarter as the company saw the benefit of restructuring savings and favourable foreign currency translation.
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A coalition of 13 US insurance groups have voiced support for US president Barack Obama’s proposal to cut what it sees as offshore tax avoidance. The coalition has urged legislation to be passed quickly.
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Warren Buffett’s investment holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, has raised $8bn through a six-part note sale.
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Larry Glasscock, chairman and member of the board of directors of health insurer WellPoint, is leaving the US health benefits firm on March 1. Angela Braly has been appointed by the board to replace Glasscock.
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Cigna has reported fourth quarter 2009 net income of $330m.
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The US property/casualty rates were down 4% on average in January 2010.
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This year firms face a stark choice over how to deploy their capital, says Kenneth LeStrange, chairman, president and CEO of Bermudian insurer and reinsurer Endurance Specialty Holdings.
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The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America has welcomed the House passage of the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers Reform Act (NARAB II).
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Steven Udvar-Hazy has stepped down as CEO of American International Group’s aircraft leasing unit, International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC), which he founded in 1973.
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Allied World Assurance Company has appointed Theana Iordanou as the vice-president and manager of the New York regional branch.
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American Safety Insurance (ASI) has appointed underwriters to expand its specialty property and casualty divisions.
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Conseco has added Charles Murphy to its board of directors. He is a senior vice-president at Paulson & Company and an analyst responsible for the insurance industry.
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Willis Group Holdings said Wednesday that 2009 net income increased 44% on greater commissions and fees.
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Rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) today lowered its long-term counterparty credit rating on Berkshire Hathaway to AA+ from AAA.
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SeaBright Insurance Holdings has hired Scott Maw. Maw, who will be based in Seattle, will join as CFO and senior vice-president.
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XL Insurance and American Wholesalers Underwriting have signed an underwriting agreement to offer the wholesalers insurance programme (WIP) to wholesale distributers.
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Around 200 American International Group employees have agreed to bonus cuts of at least 10%, enabling the insurer to return millions of dollars to the US authorities.
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US insurer MetLife's fourth quarter profits fell 70%. Its confirmation of talks over AIG's Alico unit has led S&P to put its ratings on negative outlook.
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Fitch ratings has delivered a downbeat outlook for the US broking industry.
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Testimony by US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner about the collapse of American International Group (AIG) has sparked criticism from insurers.
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US insurer Liberty Mutual has filed a lawsuit against rivals and former executives and Aspen Insurance, reports Reuters.
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US insurer MetLife said Wednesday fourth quarter profits fell 70% as the firm paid out more in claims and benefits.
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A wholly-owned subsidiary of United Insurance Holdings is applying to write property/casualty insurance in seven more states.
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Insurance and reinsurance group Ace Limited has reported a record fourth quarter income of $953m, compared with $20m in the same period last year.
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US insurer AIG has named six executives, including the appointment of an ex-Lehman Brothers lawyer as general counsel.
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PineBridge Investments, a fund-management unit of AIG, has delayed its $500m sale to Pacific Century Group for the second time in two months.
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US insurance broker Arthur J Gallagher & Co reported a net income for the fourth quarter of $19.4m compared with $11.7m in the same period last year.
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Insurance broker, Brown & Brown, has purchased the commercial, personal property and casualty books of business from a New Mexico agency.
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CV Starr & Company announced Tuesday that Michael Garrison has been appointed president and CEO of CV Starr & Company (California).
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Fairfax Financial has raised $194m through a share sale.
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As part of its strategy to acquire high-quality independent agencies in every region of the US, Marsh & McLennan Agency today announced it has acquired Haake Companies, one of the largest independent insurance agencies in the mid-west.
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US life reinsurer Reinsurance Group of America said Tuesday that it will hike its dividend payout by 33% after net income for the fourth quarter increased to $112.4m from $9.4m in the prior year quarter.
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The Risk and Insurance Management Society today expressed concerns with two Obama administration US budget proposals that it feels will be detrimental to commercial insurance consumers.
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Global reinsurers face the daunting prospect of eroding profitability margins over the next two to three years, S&P has warned in a new report.
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US property/casualty insurer Tower Group is to purchase the personal lines division of OneBeacon Insurance Group, in a cash transaction valued at $180m.
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US president Barack Obama’s 2010 new budget proposal puts the issue of tax avoidance through offshore business back in the limelight as it plans to reduce the US deficit.
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AIG has drawn about $2.4bn under a Federal Reserve credit line to repay debt from an expiring government commercial paper programme.
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Farmers Insurance has promoted Susan Bithell to the position of vice-president and chief underwriting officer.
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Global specialty insurer Torus has appointed Carl Groth as group chief risk officer with immediate effect.
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US president Barack Obama’s proposed budget unveiled today eliminates nearly $250m in federal subsidies to insurance companies for terrorism insurance, according to the AIA.
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January 2010
US insurer Chubb Corporation posted a third straight quarter of profit, up 71% in the fourth quarter as investment gains rose in value.
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XL plans to redomicile to Ireland and the remaining Lloyd’s players headquartered in the UK are also considering leaving. We ask why firms are looking to move and to where.
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Genworth Financial has recorded a fourth-quarter profit of $40m.
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A catastrophe bond to provide The Hartford with protection against east and Gulf Coast US hurricanes has been completed.
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Zurich has expanded its North American commercial energy casualty business unit with the two appointments.
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Farmers Insurance Group has appointed Dan Schrock as vice-president of expansion markets.
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US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and his predecessor, Hank Paulson, said they did not bail out AIG to save its derivatives counterparties.
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MetLife has appointed Cheryl Grisé as lead director of the company’s board of directors.
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Travelers’ fourth quarter underwriting performance does not bode will for brokers’ ongoing commissions and organic growth, an analyst at Atlantic Equities has warned.
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Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway will join the S&P 500 and S&P 100 stock indexes following its acquisition of railroad company Burlington Northern Santa Fe.
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Conseco’s subsidiary, Bankers Life and Casualty, has coinsured 234,000 life insurance policies with Wilton Re, with an effective date of October 1, 2009.
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Florida’s insurance market is in a state of disarray. Uncertainties about the quality, price and availability of property insurance have left homeowners desperately seeking stability, and insurers are struggling to meet demands.
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German reinsurer Hannover Re has securitised more natural catastrophe risk through its K6 transaction.
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A unit of Liberty Mutual has reorganised its US specialty casualty business.
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A federal judge has ordered Lloyd’s of London to pay for the criminal defence costs for Allen Stanford, the founder and chairman of Stanford Financial Group, and two officers in his company accused for their part in a $7bn Ponzi scheme.
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American International Group (AIG) has decided not to sell its aviation unit, International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC), just one day after reports claimed its CEO was leaving.
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US insurance broker Arthur J Gallagher & Co reported a net income for the fourth quarter of $19.4m compared with $11.7m in the same period last year.
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US insurer The Travelers Companies has reported net income of $1.29bn for the fourth quarter of 2009, up from $801m in the fourth quarter of 2008.
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Kingsway Financial Services is selling its Jevco Insurance stake to money manager Westaim for about $248.3m.
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Steven Udvar-Házy, the chief executive officer of AIG’s aviation leasing unit, is expected to leave the company as soon as this week reports the Wall Street Journal.
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US insurer AIG has restricted the personal use of its company planes for all executive officers apart from its chief executive officer Robert Benmosche, reports the Wall Street Journal.
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The US bond insurance market faces an uncertain future, while there are few prospects for a revival of the industry, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has said in a new report.
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Last year was one of the least active of the decade for M&A of US insurance brokers and the first year that the number of M&A deals dipped below 200 since 2003, according to Hales & Company.
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Willis North America has promoted Alastair Swift to chief placement officer.
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New York’s Insurance Department will prioritise making the city a place where insurance companies want to do business by launching the New York insurance exchange, said James Wrynn, the department’s superintendent, at a Reactions US Business Club held in New York last week.
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Chartis Insurance, the general insurance unit of American International Group, is selling the US passenger plane that made an emergency landing on New York’s Hudson River last January.
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Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America has named Ross Bowen as the vice-president of profitability management.
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Warren Buffett has admitted that the settlement General Re reached with the SEC for its role in finite reinsurance deals with American International and Prudential Financial is appropriate.
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Low demand continued to put pressure on US rates as carriers competed for new business, according to The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers’ quarterly Commercial P/C Market Index Survey.
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A New York judge Wednesday dismissed criminal charges against former Marsh & McLennan Companies and Zurich Financial Services executives who pleaded guilty to charges in connection with an insurance bid-rigging investigation.
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Willis Group has renewed the contract of its chairman and CEO, Joseph Plumeri. He will stay on at global insurance broker until July 7, 2013.
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Symetra Financial Corporation sold 30.4 million shares on the New York Stock exchange at $12.70 yesterday, raising $364.8m. Symetra had said in October it hoped the IPO's size would hit $575m.
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White Mountains Re announced today that it intends to acquire Central National Insurance Company of Omaha from Drum Financial Corporation.
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US specialty insurer Assurant has entered into a settlement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that concludes the SEC’s finite reinsurance investigation of the firm.
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A series of powerful winter storms have struck southern California between January 17 and January 20, bringing heavy rainfall and high winds that have caused road flooding, evacuations and property damage, RMS/Reactions Catastrophe Centre reports.
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Guy Carpenter has estimated that the southeast US will experience an above average rate of landfalling tropical cyclones in the coming year.
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Risk Management Solutions has launched a new parametric index for estimating insured industry losses from US earthquakes.
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Economic turmoil drove a surge in securities lawsuit filings in 2009, according to a new report from Advisen.
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Validus Holdings, the Bermudian reinsurer and insurer, has issued $250m of senior bonds according to IFR, the Thompson Reuters service.
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Global insurance broker Willis Group Holdings has extended the contract of its chairman and CEO, Joe Plumeri.
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MetLife’s rumoured deal for AIG’s Alico subsidiary would be a good deal for the US life insurance firm, according to an equity analyst.
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President Barack Obama’s plans for healthcare reform were thrown into jeopardy last night after the Republicans scored a political upset by winning Ted Kennedy's Senate seat in Massachusetts.
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US brokerage firm Marsh & McLennan Companies announced today that it has elected Edward Hanway as a director.
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General Re, the reinsurer owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, has agreed to pay more than $60m to end an investigation into its role in a fraud at American International Group, Bloomberg reports.
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Recent analysis of near-term US hurricane models has found that models for the cumulative seasons from 2006 to 2009 have greatly overestimated losses.
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Zenith Insurance, an insurance subsidiary of Zenith National Insurance, has appointed Judge Pamela Foust.
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AIG is looking to reduce and bring forward the payment of retention bonuses at its financial products division, reports the Wall Street Journal.
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US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has called for comprehensive review of the AIG bailout by the US Government Accountability Office.
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Chartis, the general insurance unit of American International Group, has named ex-Validus executive Samir Shah senior vice-president and chief risk officer.
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MetLife is in final negotiations to buy AIG's biggest life unit, Alico, for between $14bn and $15bn, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
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US specialty insurer RLI has entered into a two-year agreement to become a quota share reinsurer of Producers Agricultural Insurance Company, known as ProAg, based in Amarillo, Texas.
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Ambac Assurance may owe as much as $1.2bn after Las Vegas Monorail filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Bloomberg reports.
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Out of the pieces of legislation facing the industry this year, it was “too big to fail” which received the most attention at the annual Property/Casualty Insurance Joint Industry Forum held in New York this week.
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The US property/casualty industry faces serious challenges in 2010, according to Ernst & Young’s Global Insurance Centre 2010 US P/C Insurance Industry Outlook.
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Small insurers retain a decent market share of the overall US property-casualty market and have strong positions within certain niches, according to a new study by Conning Research & Consulting.
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The US insurance industry must act with a unified voice to improve the industry’s reputation, concludes a McKinsey & Company report, Building a Talent Magnet.
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Insurance and reinsurance company Ace Group has announced the appointment of John Lupica to chief operating officer, insurance for North America.
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The property/casualty insurance unit of wholesale insurance broker Crump Group is making key management changes.
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US insurer The Hartford could pay off its loan from the US government by the end of the year, says an analyst. The firm this week pre-announced fourth-quarter operating earnings per share of $1.45 to $1.65.
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An upcoming cat bond that will cover US insurer The Hartford against US hurricane risk has been rated by S&P.
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Bermudian insurer Ironshore has announced that its specialty healthcare division, IronHealth, has entered into a collaborative agreement with Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty.
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A recent lawsuit against 14 insurance companies could be the start of a trend in Chinese drywall legal action.
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The New York Insurance Association has filed a lawsuit to stop what it claims is New York state’s illegal diversion of insurance assessments to fund non-insurance programmes.
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Frank O’Halloran, CEO of Australian insurer QBE Insurance Group, has been announced as the 2010 Insurance Hall of Fame winner.
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Read a selection of stories from the December 2009/January 2010 issue of Reactions.
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XL Insurance today announced the expansion of its US aviation underwriting team with the opening of an aviation branch office in San Francisco and an addition to its New York-based underwriting staff.
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Michael McGavick, chief executive officer of XL, wants to move his firm’s holding company to Ireland because of the stability the country offers, he has told Reactions.
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An $825m collateral transaction for ING Insurance has reopened the Regulation XXX securitisation market.
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Thomas Scherer has been named senior vice-president and general counsel for Chartis, the general insurance operations of American International Group.
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Reactions canvassed executive search firms worldwide to produce a list of who they believe will be the top leaders of the future. Here are the names they came up with.
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US property-casualty insurer Zenith National Insurance has appointed Janet Frank as an executive vice-president.
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International brokerage Arthur J Gallagher & Co today announced that Scott Hudson has joined its property/casually subsidiary, Gallagher Bassett Services, as its president and chief executive officer.
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US insurer AIG has asked Thomas Russo, a former top lawyer at Lehman Brothers, to be its next general counsel, according to the Wall Street Journal.
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Hank Greenberg has questioned the role of investment bank Goldman Sachs in the collapse of AIG.
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The US life insurance industry will likely face an extended period of weak earnings, slow growth and greater regulatory oversight as the economy slowly recovers from the financial crisis, according to Ernst & Young.
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The mixed reinsurance rating environment is a disappointment against last years’ expectations says Bermudian reinsurer Aspen Re.
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Markel’s approach to investments cost the firm millions in 2008. Reactions asked its vice-chairman Tony Markel whether this has heralded a change at the firm.
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Lack of quality, consistency and transparency in financial reporting could hurt insurance companies by creating uncertainty about their financial condition and business drivers, according to a PWC report.
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The fourth quarter saw a big fall in cat bond spreads, according to a report issued today by reinsurance broker Aon Benfield. This trend was especially seen in the US wind and multi-peril sectors, which decreased by 36% and 26% respectively on a non-seasonal adjusted basis.
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Predicting the future direction of the market is not a simple exercise. In today’s climate it is a genuine challenge. Nevertheless, a number of events and recent judicial developments are helpful indicators.
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QBE Regional Insurance, the US property/casualty specialty insurance company, has named Andy Doll as commercial lines senior vice-president.
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The excess and surplus lines business segment of Argo Group International Holdings has announced the appointment of Michael Denton as senior vice-president of its specialty property department.
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Bermudian reinsurer Harbor Point has announced that its affiliate, New Point Re is continuing to offer collateralised retrocessional reinsurance coverage for contracts taken up from January 1 2010 onwards.
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The Hartford Financial Services Group has appointed Liam McGee president of the company, in addition to his roles as chairman and chief executive officer.
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The catastrophe bond market recovered in 2009, with issuance returning to the pre-crisis levels, says Munich Re in a briefing.
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The US state of Vermont licensed 39 new captive insurance companies in 2009, nearing it closer to a 900-licence milestone, according to data released by the Vermont Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care Administration.
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A division of AIG is required to pay more than $517m of reinsurance to five workers’ compensation insurers in liquidation.
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After the announcement that US Risk Insurance Group has expanded into the specialty reinsurance brokerage marketplace, Reactions quizzed Randall Goss, chairman and chief executive officer of US Risk Insurance Group about his intentions for 2010.
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Last year saw the most active fourth quarter ever for catastrophe bond issuance and insurance-linked securities (ILS) activity looks set to remain high in 2010 as a record volume of catastrophe bonds mature, according to risk modelling firm RMS.
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MetLife Global Funding I, a unit of MetLife, has raised $2.5bn in a two-part note sale.
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David Paterson, the New York state governor, today vowed to revive the New York insurance exchange.
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Members of the Guy Carpenter Global Reinsurance Composite saw their total net income more than double to almost $10bn in the first nine months of 2009, according to a Guy Carpenter briefing.
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Symetra Financial, a life insurer owned by an investor group led by Berkshire Hathaway and White Mountains Insurance Group, has disclosed terms for an initial public offering that would mean the life insurer raises less money than it initially hoped.
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XL Insurance, the global insurance unit of XL Capital, has signed an underwriting agreement with Dentists National Insurance of Coral Springs, Florida.
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Zurich has named Doug Bergen as south-west US regional property manager. Bergen will join Zurich’s Global Corporate in North America business unit and will be based in the Glendale, California office.
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Insurance and reinsurance group Ace expects its operating income per share to be between $6.25 and $6.75 for 2010.
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The role of an actuary has been ranked as the best job for 2010 by the online job site CareerCast.
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A private investor group, in which equity investors Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is the lead sponsor, has entered into an agreement to acquire AIG's Canadian mortgage insurance business.
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Aviva Investors, the global asset management business of UK insurer Aviva, has agreed to buy 100% of River Road Asset Management, a US equity manager, as a part of its North American strategy.
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A subsidiary of Brown & Brown Insurance has acquired the assets of San Antonio, Texas-based Alamo Insurance.
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US insurance broker Brown & Brown has announced Jim Henderson, its vice-chairman and chief operating officer and a member of its board of directors, will retire in August of this year.
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HCC Insurance Holdings has named Frank Ahlborn as vice-president and treasurer. He will report to Tobin Whamond, executive vice-president and chief financial officer of HCC.
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Reinsurance Group of America has concluded the acquisition of some of ReliaStar Life Insurance’s businesses.
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Swiss Re, the world’s second-largest reinsurer, has completed a $150m catastrophe bond deal to protect it against Californian earthquake risk.
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Last year finished with a pattern of US rate decreases not dissimmilar to that for most of the year, with the property/casualty composite rate index for December down 4%, according to online exchange MarketScout.
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American International Group is planning to use stock units matching the value of its common stock to pay the 2009 stock salary grants to executives, Reuters reports.
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Prolonged lower investment income will likely cause US property/casualty insurers to focus on improved underwriting, according to an AM Best report.
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Privately owned reinsurance broker Lockton Re has expanded its presence in the US with the appointments of three new executives at its offices in New York and Kansas City.
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US-based consultancy company Watson Wyatt completed its merger with rival Towers Perrin to form a combined company called Towers Watson & Co that will make its US listing debut on Monday.