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March 2010
Insurers paid out £650m ($980m) in dealing with 335,000 claims from customers who suffered damage to their homes, businesses and vehicles in the coldest winter for thirty years, according to the ABI.
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The merger of Bermudian firms Max Capital Group and Harbor Point has been termed a merger of equals. Reactions spoke to the CEO’s of the two companies and an analyst to get the perspective from all sides on what the future holds for the combined company Alterra Capital Holdings.
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Lloyd's insurer Omega Insurance Holdings has published the results of the proxy vote on a board revamp at a special general meeting held today.
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Omega Insurance Holdings, the international insurance and reinsurance group, today announced a full year profit for the year of $43.6m compared with $22.2m in 2008.
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Standard Life has recorded a drop in 2009 pre-tax operating profit on a European Embedded Value (EEV) basis.
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Aggregate Industries has struck insurance deals to transfer the risk of two of its pension schemes with Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC).
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Brit Insurance, the international insurance and reinsurance group, today announced the establishment of its own Australian office, replacing its previous third party arrangement.
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The catastrophe reinsurance fund of Nephila Capital has secured $340m from 11 UK institutions.
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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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Ace UK has strengthened its environmental risk team with the appointment of Victoria Keeble as environmental risk underwriter.
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Prudential is planning to list in Hong Kong before its $20 billion rights issue, the Financial Times reports.
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Lloyd’s of London insurer Chaucer returned to profit last year, helped by higher investment returns.
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Andrew Moss, CEO of Aviva, said Thursday that the insurer is more interested in targeting growth in Europe than Asia, as the firm returned to profit in 2009 on higher investment returns.
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Lloyd’s of London insurer Novae reported a dip in 2009 pre-tax profits after suffering increased aviation reinsurance and credit losses.
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Omega Insurance, which is involved in a row with shareholders over a board shake-up, has accused its broker, Cenkos Securities, of backing the measure.
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Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT) said Tuesday that 2009 pre-tax profits rose 10%, beating analyst expectation owing to the strong performance of its risk and insurance businesses.
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Independent insurance and reinsurance broker Miller has appointed Jeremy Mander to expand its treaty business.
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Moody's has affirmed the insurance financial strength ratings of Prudential and its subsidiaries following the UK insurer’s $35.5bn acquisition of American International Group’s Asian life insurance unit.
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RSA Insurance Group revealed Tuesday that the earthquake to hit Chile on February 27 is likely to cost the insurer £30m ($44.7m), net of reinsurance.
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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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Amlin, the largest Lloyd’s of London insurer, posted a better-than-expected 2009 result after profits surged following a recovery in investment markets and a benign hurricane season.
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Lloyd’s of London insurer Hiscox said Monday that 2009 profits tripled, helped by a lack of natural catastrophes and a good investment performance.
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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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Brit Insurance said Friday that 2009 pre-tax profits increased 30% as the insurer posted better-than-expected full-year figures.
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Lancashire Holdings said Friday that net income for 2009 increased four-fold as the insurer experienced a low incidence of catastrophe-related claims.
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Research released today by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) shows that 83% of students would never consider a career in insurance.
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Chartis Insurance UK (Chartis UK) has established a captive practice group, bringing together risk management, risk finance, underwriting, legal, accounting, tax and actuarial functions.
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The UK government has upheld a 2007 ruling in the House of Lords that pleural plaques does not constitute actionable or compensatable damage.
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RSA, the UK’s largest commercial insurer, said Thursday that 2009 pre-tax profit slumped by 27%, but remained confident of “delivering excellent results” despite continued economic uncertainties.
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RSA Insurance Group is likely to declare a decline in profits owing to lower investment returns and higher claims, Bloomberg reports.
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HSBC’s head of insurance, Clive Bannister, is resigning at the end of March 2010, The Wall Street Journal reports.
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Lloyd’s of London was today announced as one of the UK’s leading business brands - ranking first in the insurance industry and 40th overall - in the 2010 Business Superbrands survey.
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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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Deutsche Bank will assume longevity risks worth about £3bn of pension liabilities from BMW’s UK scheme.
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Aegis London, the UK-based subsidiary of Aegis (Associated Electric & Gas Insurance Services Limited), has announced a move into the reinsurance treaty business.
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Old Mutual has appointed JPMorgan to assess the sale of its US life assurance business.
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Lloyd's insurer Omega has made another call for the support from shareholders against investor Invesco’s demand that the company changes it board of directors.
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Reactions will be recognising the best companies, teams and individuals in the London market with our Reactions London Awards 2010 programme, and we need your help. Have your say now!
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Hiscox has appointed Graeme King as underwriter - international TMT.
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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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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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QBE European Operations has appointed Steve Dickie to the position of motor fleet portfolio manager within QBE’s motor division.
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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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The British Insurance Brokers' Association (Biba) has reacted angrily to the UK Financial Services Authority’s (FSA) plan to hike insurance broker’s fees by 122%.
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Brit Insurance has appointed Ian Powell to the newly-created role of chief information officer. Reporting to chief operating officer Malcolm Beane, he takes up his position immediately.
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Kwik-Fit Holdings, the UK car repair firm owned by PAI Partners, is preparing to sell its insurance business for more than £200m ($314m).
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John McNally has been hired by Beazley to head a new team. He will be based in London and report to the head of Beazley’s global management liability team, Neal Wilkinson.
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Chaucer Insurance, the UK Division of Chaucer Holdings, has appointed Ken Hutchinson as the head of e-commerce.
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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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Lloyds Banking Group is divesting its 70% stake in online motor insurer, esure.
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Brit Insurance has revamped its underwriting and business development teams within the Glasgow office.
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Catlin Group, the international specialty property/casualty insurer and reinsurer, has announced net income of $509m in the fourth quarter of 2009, benefiting from lower hurricane claims.
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Lloyd’s insurer Chaucer Holdings has established a new international liability division within Chaucer Syndicate 1084.
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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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Shares in UK insurer Aviva gained 5.3% in morning trading on the London Stock Exchange amid renewed talk that Prudential and Resolution could get together to carve up Aviva.
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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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By Mark Howard, a partner at Barlow Lyde & Gilbert LLP
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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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A review into UK civil litigation costs has sparked controversy.
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A Scottish ruling leaves insurers on hook for billions.
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Resolution has appointed Malcolm Williamson as chairman of Friends Provident Holdings.
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Arch Underwriting at Lloyd’s has announced the opening of a Johannesburg office of its Lloyd’s operations, led by a former Chartis manager.
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Lloyd’s of London insurer Beazley said Tuesday that 2009 profit increased 15% to £100.7m ($157m) on higher rates and lower catastrophe claims than expected.
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Hector Sants resigned as CEO of the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) on Monday, throwing the future of future role of the FSA into confusion.
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Lloyd’s of London is set to reveal its biggest ever strategic review. The insurer will unveil the Deloitte-led plan following a nine-month consultation with underwriters, brokers and market associations.
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Lloyd’s today released its 2010-2012 Strategy after a detailed review of the market’s position.
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Labour MP Andrew Dismore on Friday reintroduced a Bill in the UK House of Commons to reverse a 2007 House of Lords ruling that ended rights of pleural plaques sufferers from claiming compensation.
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Two brokers from RFIB’s property facultative team are set to join rival insurance broker Miller Insurance Services, Reactions has learned.
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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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London-based insurer, Aviva, has reported improved fourth quarter sales results for 2009.
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The Lloyd’s market had a strong year and is presently experiencing a period of unprecedented profitability reports Guy Carpenter in its review of the UK based syndicate.
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Lloyd’s insurer Jubilee Managing Agency Limited (Jubilee) has merged its motor Syndicate 1231 and property and personal lines Syndicate 5820 for the 2010 year of account.
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Ascot Underwriting plans to launch a commercial motor line business, the Lloyd’s insurer said Thursday.
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A continued strong underwriting and investment performance at Markel International, which manages the international operations of Markel Corporation, supported a 27% increase in book value of Markel Corporation in 2009.
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Catlin Group announced Thursday that Martin Zingg has been appointed chief investment officer of the Catlin Group with effect from March 1, 2010.
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Insurance broker Marsh has appointed Martin Clark as UK leader of its energy claims team.
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UK-based legal insurance firm Arag UK has made two further appointments; Paul Mather and Carrie-Anne Woods. These latest hires follow last week’s appointment of three new staff.
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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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Lloyd’s of London insurer Hiscox said Monday that 2009 profits tripled, helped by a lack of natural catastrophes and a good investment performance.
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Lancashire Holdings said Monday it has appointed Len Messenger chairman of energy for the company’s UK operating subsidiary, Lancashire Insurance Company (UK).
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January 2010
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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The new director of underwriting performance at Lloyd’s has a big challenge to fill the shoes of his predecessor, Rolf Tolle.
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Specialist broker THB Group has announced an18% increase in fee and commission income and a 43% year-on-year increase in broking profit for the year to October 31, 2009.
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Beazley Insurance has appointed Jayne Cunningham to its environmental liability team.
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Jacques Aigrain, the former chief executive of Swiss Re, has joined UK insurer Resolution as one of a trio of independent directors, the company said Wednesday.
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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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Lloyd’s of London wants to build up its market share among insurance buyers in continental Europe, says the market’s chairman Lord Peter Levene.
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The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has suggested insurance companies in the UK may decide to relocate, due to rising taxes.
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AM Best has given the financial strength ratings of A and issuer credit ratings of “a” to the main UK operating subsidiaries of RSA Insurance.
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The Actuarial Profession’s UK Asbestos Working Party has updated its estimate of the future cost of UK asbestos-related claims to the insurance industry.
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Chaucer Syndicate 1084 has appointment Brian Everall as head of its specialist lines division.
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Specialty property/casualty insurer Markel International has appointed Simon Wilson to the role of director, international development.
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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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Lloyd’s insurer Amlin has completed the transfer of the insolvency practitioners’ insurance business in the UK from broker Lockton.
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Lloyd’s chairman, Lord Levene, has been named the 2009 Insurance Leader of the Year by the St John’s University School of Risk Management at its 15th annual award dinner in New York last night.
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Randall & Quilter Investment Holdings has closed its first deal of the year with the acquisition of JMD Specialist Insurance Services Group (JMD) from the existing JMD management team and BP Marsh & Partners.
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Standard Life has been fined £2.45m for misrepresenting the riskiness of an investment fund that buyers thought was primarily holding cash.
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Great Lakes Reinsurance has appointed the former group chief executive of Global Aerospace Underwriting Managers as a non-executive director and chairman of the company.
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Insurers exposed to the UK property/casualty market could face elevated claims costs from asbestos should four insurers fail in their bid to appeal a legal ruling which gives victims of an asbestos-related illness the right to claim damages.
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Chaucer Holdings, one of only three Lloyd’s of London insurers based in he UK, is considering redomiciling overseas to cut its tax bill.
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Christian Torkington has been hired as group information and operations director for Scottish insurer, Standard Life, Financial Times reports.
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Torus, the global specialty insurer, has appointed David Ring to lead its newly created London-based general property team.
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UK motor insurer Admiral said Monday it has signed reinsurance pacts with Munich Re and Hannover Re for Elephant Insurance, its new car insurance operation in the US.
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The British Insurance Brokers’ Association (Biba) has appointed Brendan McManus, CEO of Willis UK & Ireland and Ken Davidson, chairman of Crispin Speers, to its board.
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The UK government is failing exporters by refusing to underwrite the issue of bonds needed to win overseas orders and guarantee the performance of export contracts, according to Susan Ross, director of Aon Trade Credit and chair of the British Exporters Association.
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Brit Insurance has appointed Neil Russell and Joachim Tolle as underwriters in its global markets business unit. They take up their new positions immediately.
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In his review of civil litigation costs, Lord Justice Jackson has called for success fees and after-the-event (ATE) insurance premiums to be irrecoverable in no win, no fee cases.
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The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has banned Stephen Allen, a director of insurance broker, Fabien Risk Services, for failing in his duties as a director of a regulated firm.
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The Association of Run-Off Companies (ACR) has warned that run-off firms will be disadvantaged by the impending Solvency II directive.
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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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Brit Insurance has appointed Sean Norris as head of group services.
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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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Finex National, a division of the financial, executive and professional risks unit of insurance broker Willis Group, has entered into a strategic alliance with Dominion organisations.
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Ace European Group has appointed Iain Ainslie as the technology and cyber liability underwriter.
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UK insurance and reinsurance firm Brit Insurance has appointed Peter Grocock as head of its Bristol office, effective today.
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Delegates discussed the worrying implications of new regulation for the industry at the Reactions Global Insurance Conference on November 10 and 11.
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Cooper Gay, the global independent reinsurance and specialist retail insurance broker, has announced the appointment of Sam Hovey as chief financial officer of the group’s UK subsidiary, Cooper Gay & Co.
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Insurers have lost a legal battle to invalidate a Scottish legislation, which gives victims of an asbestos-related condition the right to claim damages, Financial Times reports.
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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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Modernisation and Solvency II, two of the London market’s biggest challenges for 2010, will be closely linked and interdependent, predicts Dave Matcham, chief executive of the International Underwriting Association.
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Thompson Heath & Bond, THB’s Lloyd’s broking arm, has enhanced its international treaty platform by hiring three senior brokers specialising in the Latin American, Caribbean, Middle Eastern and Asia/Pacific territories.
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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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Investors in UK life insurance run-off investment group Pearl Group are set to reject a debt swap offer by the firm, the Financial Times reports.
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RSA Insurance Group has announced the acquisition of 80.8% of Sveland P&C, for SEK138m ($19m) in cash.
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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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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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UK insurer Prudential is to acquire the life insurance arm of the Singapore’s United Overseas Bank as part of a long-term strategic partnership with the group.
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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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If insurers and company managers fail to address the increased risks that have followed the financial crisis, then a "perfect storm" may be seen in the UK commercial insurance market, according a report from Mactavish.
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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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QBE has appointed Chris Tomkins to the position of senior property underwriter at its Birmingham-based operation in the UK.
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XL Insurance, the global insurance operations of XL Capital, has appointed two financial institutions underwriters to its London-based professional lines team.
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Canopius Managing Agents, the largest privately-owned Lloyd's insurance business, has extended its portfolio of specialist construction products with the addition of construction and engineering insurance cover.