News
Lloyds TSB talks of impact of £750m from insurance volatility as HBOS crashes to historic loss
Announcing a trading update today for 2008, Lloyds TSB said it made a pre-tax profit of £1.3bn but suffered from around £0.75bn of "insurance volatility", goodwill write-downs and £0.4bn of aggregate provisions in respect of the Financial Services…
Groupama splits UK business into three
Groupama Insurances has changed its operational structure with specialist business divisions for personal lines, commercial lines and healthcare, each being headed by a director with overall responsibility for divisional performance including bottom line…
MMA relaunches commercial combined policy
Broker insurer MMA Insurance has relaunched its commercial combined policy for small to medium-sized enterprises (SME) as part of its drive to enhance its commercial lines development.
MMA revamps SME offering
MMA Insurance has relaunched its commercial combined policy for SMEs as part of a plan to improve its commercial lines development.
Helphire consolidates business
Helphire has consolidated its Helphire UK and Albany Assistance business units into a single accident management business unit.
Global Aerospace, USAIG lead insurers on Buffalo plane crash - sources
Global Aerospace and US aviation underwriting pool US Aviation Insurance Group are the leaders for the plane crash in Buffalo, New York, which killed 49 people yesterday, Reinsurance can reveal.
Fitch gloomy about Bermuda
Fitch Ratings stated in a Special Report today that its Rating Outlook for the Bermuda (re)insurance market remains 'Negative reflecting uncertainty tied to the continued highly volatile investment markets and a more severe economic recession than those…
PB Week: What can we learn from Scolari's sacking, if anything?
Roman Abramovich's decision to sack Chelsea's manager Phil Scolari after the transfer window reflects the growing impatience for success in football writes Andrew Tjaardstra, editor of Professional Broking , the management magazine for insurance brokers.
Provident Financial chairman joins Hyperion as non executive chairman
Hyperion Insurance Group has appointed John van Kuffeler as non-executive chairman.
Validus FY net income tumbles
Validus, the Bermudian (re)insurer, said that net income for the year ended December 31, 2008 was $53.1m, compared with $403m, for the corresponding period in 2007.
Argo FY net income more than halves
Bermudian (re)insurer Argo said its full year net income figure more than halved because of hurricanes and investment losses.
Argo FY net income more than halves
Argo said its full year net income figure more than halved because of hurricanes and investment losses.
Endurance net income tumbles on hurricanes and investment losses
Endurance, the Bermudian (re)insurer said that fourth quarter net income fell to $16.9m from $152.5m in the same period last year. For the year ended December 31, 2008, net income was $98.6m, down $521.1m in 2007.
Another Lloyd's insurer redomiciles
Lloyd's insurer Beazley has unveiled plans to change corporate structure through creation of new parent company for the Beazley Group, incorporated in Jersey and tax resident in the Republic of Ireland.
AM Best downgrades Fuji Fire & Marine
AM Best has downgraded the financial strength rating (FSR) to B++ (Good) from A- (Excellent) and the issuer credit rating (ICR) to "bbb+" from "a-" of The Fuji Fire & Marine Insurance Company, Limited (Fuji Fire) (Japan). The ratings have been placed…
Beazley to raise £150m after acquisition
Lloyd's insurer Beazley this morning announced a US acquisition and £150m capital raising to support growth as it unveiled a profit before tax of £87.2m (2007: £138.5m).
Beazley raises capital, makes acquisition
Beazley became the latest Lloyd's (re)insurer to raise capital when it proposed to raise £150m from the markets.
MI Adjusting buys DMS
MI Adjusting has acquired Dispute Mediation Services a national mediation company.
Unum announces new improvements to group IP products
Unum has introduced a range of improvements to its group income protection (IP) products. The changes cover both policy conditions and pricing and are designed to help policyholders manage their costs at the same time as extending the appeal of the…
Friends Provident announces next online seminar
Friends Provident is inviting advisers to register for the next online seminar, which will take place at 10 am on Tuesday 24 February. The title of the latest online seminar is 'Selling Protection effectively - going back to basics.'
HSBC launch broker platform
Following launch on the HSBC Platform 24 broker platform, over 400 brokers have signed up for access to the product.
Zurich takes senior casualty manager from Ace
Zurich said that it has appointed Brad Gow to head the Specialty Errors & Omissions (E&O) group of its Specialties business unit.
Investment losses send Arig to FY loss
The dramatic decline in the global equity markets triggered a revaluation in the invested assets held by the Arab Insurance Group (Arig) and produced a net loss of $28.6m for the 2008 financial year, down from a net profit of $23.7m in 2007.
AIG division to be investigated by Serious Fraud Office
The UK's Serious Fraud Office said that it is investigating the UK business operations of AIG's Financial Products division.