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March 2010
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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The 2009 net profit estimates of China Life Insurance may increase by more than 200%, as compared to 2008.
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The catastrophe reinsurance fund of Nephila Capital has secured $340m from 11 UK institutions.
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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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American International Group (AIG) is selling American Life Insurance Company (Alico) to MetLife for around $15.5bn, in a deal that will help AIG repay the US government.
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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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American International Group’s aircraft-leasing subsidiary is looking to add a $550m term loan to bank financing.
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ING Groep is planning an initial public offering (IPO) of its global insurance operations as a single entity.
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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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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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South African property/casualty insurer, Santam, has booked an increase in profit for 2009, because of better returns on its investment portfolio.
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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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Scor, France’s largest reinsurer, said Wednesday that 2009 net income increased 17.6%, while fourth quarter-profit more than doubled to Eu92m ($125m).
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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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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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American International Group (AIG) confirmed Monday that it is to sell its Asian life insurance business to Prudential for around $35.5bn.
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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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Hannover Re has concluded a $500m long-term letter of credit facility with Deutsche Bank to expand its life and health business.
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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
The board of directors of Ace Group will propose a 6.5% increase in the dollar-denominated dividend to shareholders.
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Aegon is not planning to take any further steps to pay the Eu3bn state aid it received during the financial crisis, Financial Times reports.
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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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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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Assicurazioni Generali’s gross premiums on life insurance surged 6.2% in 2009, Bloomberg reports.
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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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Allianz, Europe’s largest insurer, said Thursday that it plans to increase its dividend by 17% after reporting a Eu1.08bn ($1.47bn) profit in the fourth quarter compared to a loss of Eu145m a year ago.
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Insurance Australia Group (IAG) has reported a net profit after tax of $329m for the six months ended December 31, 2009. The firm’s insurance profit increased to $488m, indicative of an insurance margin of 13.4%.
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Bermudian reinsurance firm PartnerRe today announced that its board of directors has approved a new share repurchase authorisation up to a total of 8 million common shares.
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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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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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Three shareholders of Ping An Insurance are looking to reduce their holdings in the Chinese insurer over the next five years, The Wall Street Journal reports.
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Mizuho Financial Group and Sompo Japan Insurance will take part in Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance’s initial public offering, to be launched on April 1.
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Torus has raised $185m in equity to support the continued expansion of its specialty insurance and reinsurance businesses.
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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 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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Validus Holdings has reported net income of $165.8m in the fourth quarter of 2009, compared with net income of $37.0m for the same period last year. Net income for the year was $897.4m, compared with $53.1m for 2008.
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AIG has scrapped plans to sell the whole of the AIG Financial Products.
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Allianz Takaful is negotiating with a regional Islamic institution, to offer a sukuk bond, Reuters reports.
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Axa, Europe’s second-largest insurer, reported Thursday an almost four-fold increase in 2009 net earnings to Eu3.6bn from Eu900m in 2008. The increase comes despite Axa posting a 6% fall in underlying earnings, down to Eu3.8bn.
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RenaissanceRe’s board of directors has approved an increase in RenaissanceRe's stock repurchase programme, bringing the total authorisation to $500m.
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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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Axa Asia Pacific Holdings has reported earnings of $553.6m for the year ended December 31, 2009.
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Italian insurer Fondiaria’s gross premiums for 2009 were at Eu4.8bn, down 2.5% on the year, The Wall Street Journal reports.
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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 potential $15bn sale of AIG’s foreign life-insurance division to MetLife has been halted owing to a tax dispute.
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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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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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Warren Buffett now holds a 5.073% stake in insurer, Munich Re.
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American International Assurance, the Asian life-insurance unit of AIG, has appointed seven banks to handle its $10bn to $20bn Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO).
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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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Korea Life Insurance is seeking to raise a maximum of $2bn through an initial public offering.
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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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Prudential Financial has recorded net income of its financial services businesses at $3.4bn or $7.63 per share for 2009.
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Australian insurer, Suncorp-Metway, has reported a first-half profit increase of 45%.
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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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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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W R Berkley has reported net income of $134m, or 81 cents per share, for the fourth quarter of 2009.
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Insurance broker, Aon, will buy back $2bn in shares, Bloomberg reports.
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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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London-based insurer, Aviva, has reported improved fourth quarter sales results for 2009.
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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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Cigna has reported fourth quarter 2009 net income of $330m.
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The Brazilian federal government has decided to reduce its control of IRB Brasil Re, the former reinsurance monopoly holder in Brazil, by transferring control over to Banco do Brasil.
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The Hanover Insurance Group has reported a net income of $57.3m, or $1.14 per share in the fourth-quarter.
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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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Willis Group Holdings said Wednesday that 2009 net income increased 44% on greater commissions and fees.
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Zurich Financial Services, Switzerland’s largest insurer, reported Thursday a five-fold increase in fourth-quarter profits and announced plans to pay its biggest dividend in 10 years.
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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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Hannover Re, Germany’s second-largest reinsurer, said Wednesday it is targeting a return on equity of 15% in 2010 as it expects modest premium growth in the coming year.
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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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Fairfax Financial has raised $194m through a share sale.
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Munich Re, the world’s largest reinsurer, said Tuesday that it plans to raise its dividend after reporting a seven-fold increase in profits for the fourth-quarter, helped fewer natural catastrophe claims and higher investment income.
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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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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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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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January 2010
Munich Re’s financial instruments owned by Warren Buffett as of January 19 are likely to raise his voting rights in the firm to 5.029%.
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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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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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German reinsurer Hannover Re has securitised more natural catastrophe risk through its K6 transaction.
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US investor Warren Buffett has taken a taken a 3% stake in German reinsurer Munich Re, the company revealed Tuesday.
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Bermuda-based insurer Hiscox said Monday that during the January reinsurance renewal season it experienced average reductions in reinsurance rates of between 5% and 7% from the historically high rating levels of 2009.
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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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Bermuda-based reinsurer Validus Holdings plans to sell $250m of debt, the company said in a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
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Samsung Life Insurance is planning an initial public offering of more than $4bn by the end of June, Financial Times reports.
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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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Insurance industry third-quarter debt and equity issuance and the top ten bookrunners have now been published in Reactions specialist data section in partnership with Thomson Reuters.
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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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Allianz is looking to boost its share in alternative asset classes, The Financial Times reports.
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Swiss Re said Monday it has closed a reinsurance deal with Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway that the Zurich-based reinsurer said would improve its capital efficiency.
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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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Deutscher Ring Leben and Deutscher Ring Sach, the German units of Swiss insurer, Baloise, have presented a separation plan to their negotiation partners.
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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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Read a selection of stories from the December 2009/January 2010 issue of Reactions.
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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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Prudential Financial is planning to sell its South Korean unit and its fund management affiliate in a deal valued at about $900m, Reuters reports.
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XL Capital has announced today that it proposes to change the parent holding company's place of incorporation to Ireland from the Cayman Islands, with the parent holding company to be renamed XL Group.
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Zurich Financial Services Group today announced the transfer of the majority of its general insurance portfolios in Italy, Portugal and Spain to local branches of its EU-based risk carrier Zurich Insurance in Ireland.
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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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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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Swiss Reinsurance and Zurich Financial Services have reached an agreement to plan advisory polls of shareholders, The Wall Street Journal reports.
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The Asia Special Situation Acquisition Corporation is seeking shareholder approval to acquire up to three insurance companies and $650 million of assets of two families of hedge funds.
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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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Aspen Insurance Holdings has announced an accelerated share repurchase program with Goldman Sachs to buy back $200m of Aspen's ordinary shares within the next 10 months.
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The Bermuda firms tracked by reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter experienced strong recovery in their balance sheets as net income improved to $7.28bn in the first nine months of 2009, from a $440m loss in the first nine months of 2008.
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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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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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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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A subsidiary of Brown & Brown Insurance has acquired the assets of San Antonio, Texas-based Alamo Insurance.
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Swiss Reinsurance has secured a $1bn long-term letter of credit facility with JP Morgan.
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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.