News
RMS: Gustav will be "critical test" of New Orleans flood defences
Hurricane Gustav could offer a "critical test" of whether New Orleans could handle such a powerful surge without being overwhelmed, as happened during Hurricane Katrina, RMS has claimed.
Bollington appoints ex-Aviva manager to head up arm
Bollington has appointed Chris Patterson as managing director of its wholesale operations.
Liberty gets new chief risk officer from Beazley
Liberty Syndicates said that it has appointed Jonathan Matthews as its new chief risk officer.
Legal & General double immediate cover
Legal & General has increased cover for its immediate protection cover facility from 30 to 60 days and has doubled business critical illness cover to £1million.
JLT falls in first half
Broker JLT reported a 9% increase in fees and commissions to £266.2m and a 4.9% jump in underlying t...
Aon buys Benfield for $1.75bn
After much discussion of "champagne talk and beer money" from Benfield's Grahame Chilton, the corks are out in Bishopsgate after Aon offered $1.75bn for the business. Alex Ferguson has more..
M&A buying continues unabated
Swiss Re has agreed to acquire Barclay's closed life business Barclays Life for £753m. "The transac...
(Re)insurers may have to adjust strategy after credit crunch havoc
Insurers and reinsurers may have to adjust their risk strategy in the coming months as investment ga...
Recruitment moves
Swiss Re America, a unit of Swiss (re)insurer Swiss Re, has appointed Alabama insurance commissioner...
Aon places three on leave of absence pending illegal payment investigation
Aon has placed three employees in its aviation team on a leave of absence pending an investigation t...
Growth in demand for captive ratings says AM Best
AM Best has reported a growing interest in financial strength ratings for captives and other alterna...
Spiller appointed chairman at Heritage Underwriting
The board of Heritage Managing Agency, a member of Argo Group, has appointed David Spiller as its ne...
Flagstone Re restructures operations
Flagstone Re plans to restructure its global reinsurance operations by merging its two wholly owned ...
Candidates voice Act opinions
Unusually for an insurance issue, both presidential candidates have voiced opinions on the Homeowner...
Scor purchases Prevoyance Re in France for EUR73m
Scor, the French (re)insurer, said it has bought French (re)insurer Prevoyance et Reassurance and it...
XL comes to a deal with SCA
Bermudian (re)insurer XL Capital has come to an agreement with bond insurer Security Capital Assuran...
MMC to cut 900 jobs as profit falls
Marsh and McLennan, the owner of brokers Marsh and Guy Carpenter, said it will lay off 900 employees...
Carvill in 'exploratory talks' with Stone Point over stake sale
Insurance broker Carvill is in the process of selling a stake in its business to US private equity h...
First half results have reinsurers feeling gloomy
Falling (re)insurance prices, subprime writeoffs and lower investment income all contributed to a di...
Hurricane Gustav closes in on New Orleans
Hurricane Gustav, which is closing in on the coast of Louisiana, could produce a storm surge of between 13 and 18ft if it gets to a Category 4 hurricane as forecast, and may overtop some floodwalls and levees in New Orleans if it were to hit the city,…
Fairfax buyout of Advent looms after company says has 58% of shares
North American financial services company Fairfax has declared their offer unconditional for Lloyd's (re)insurer Advent after receiving an extra 14% of acceptances which put them over the 50% threshold.
Stovin replaces Albanese as president of Markel International
Markel has said that William Stovin will replace Gerry Albanese as president and chief operating officer of Markel International.
Zoom latest airline to go bust: The insurance implications
As another long-distance budget airline goes bust this week, Katherine Brandon, reporter at Professional Broking , the management magazine for insurance brokers, looks at the possible insurance implications of cancelled flights as airlines suffer.
MMC forbidden from poaching Benfield brokers
MMC has been barred from approaching Benfield staff after it failed to buy Benfield last week, sources have told Reinsurance.