Financial Management

Oklahoma tornado one of costliest on record

Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The tornado that ripped through Moore, Oklahoma, on Monday could be the one of the costliest tornado on record, according to reports released today.

AIG to buy $93m of PICC shares

Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

AIG will continue to own a 9.9% share in Chinese insurer PICC P&C.

Reserve releases are like discovering fracking - Conning

Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

US property/casualty insurance industry releases more than $10.5bn in reserves in 2012, says Conning in a new report. The reserve position is stable despite the 2012 releases.

AM Best takes PartnerRe off negative outook

Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

AM Best has revised the outlook to stable from negative and affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of A+ (Superior) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “aa” of Partner Reinsurance Company Ltd. (PartnerRe)

Capital markets in reinsurance's “main tent”

Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Willis ILS report says $1.6bn of new cat bond issuance in the first quarter, and “2013 is roaring forward with a flurry of cat bond, sidecar, and collateralised reinsurance activity”, with record issuance expected.

Political turmoil threatens Bahrain hub status

Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Despite being hardest hit by political instability in the Middle East, Bahrain’s insurance industry is flourishing, partly because it’s less oil-dependent than its neighbours.

Berkshire Hathaway credit rating cut to AA

Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Standard & Poor’s has downgraded Berkshire Hathaway's credit rating one notch to AA from AA+ because of its “dependence on its core insurance operations for most of its dividend income”; AA+ financial strength rating affirmed.

Insurers speculate over content of FIO report

Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

US insurance and reinsurance firms are calm about the potential contents of the Federal Insurance Office’s regulation modernisation report but worry it will not make the system more efficient, while some predict increasing tensions between the FIO and NAIC.

Litmus: S&P rating changes “non-trivial”

Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Standard & Poor's may have become less prescriptive when assessing insurers’ operating performance as it found identifying coherent peer groups too challenging, Litmus Analysis has argued.

Zurich reports “strong results” for Q1

Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Swiss insurer Zurich has posted operating profit of $1.35bn for the first quarter, and a combined ratio of 94.9%.

Allianz toasts “strong first quarter”

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

German insurer Allianz had operating profit of €2.8bn and net income attributable to shareholders reached €1.7bn in the first quarter of 2013.

Berkshire E&S play “controlled and measured”

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

AM Best has predicted that Berkshire Hathaway’s E&S market entry will be “controlled and measured”. The rating agency affirmed Berkshire's insurance and reinsurance operations ratings for National Indemnity Company.

Scor makes €111m profit in Q1

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

French reinsurer Scor has announced a "very good" first quarter result, while highlighting continued economic uncertainty.

Vote for the Reactions Global Awards 2013

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Have your say on the the best insurance, reinsurance, broking and service provider firms for the Reactions Global Awards 2013. The winners will be anounced at our awards dinner in New York on September 25.

AIG delays aircraft leasing sale

Tue, 14 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

AIG’s deal to sell its aircraft leasing operation has been extended for a month, but is still expected to close in 2013’s second quarter.

AIG, Erie, XL technology initiatives praised

Tue, 14 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

AIG, Aegis, Erie Family Life, Great American, Nevada General, PURE, RLI, and XL have all been nominated for Novarica’s second annual Novarica Research Council Impact Awards.

Costa Rica: 7 in 11 insurers saw Q1 losses

Tue, 14 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

First quarter losses were suffered by seven in eleven Costa Rican insurers, despite the country's premiums jumping 17% in 2012, BNamericas reported.

Sirius launches capital markets initiative

Tue, 14 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Sirius hires Goldman Sach’s Michael Halsband for capital markets initiative in insurance-linked securities and reinsurance capital markets convergence.

Tokio Millennium Re in Switzerland redomicile

Tue, 14 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Tokio Millennium Re announces plans to redomesticate to Switzerland, with the reinsurer also planning to establish an operation in the US in the second quarter of 2014.

Cat models, capital models to integrate: PwC

Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

PwC is working with UK and London market insurance market clients to reduce a “communications gap” between the development of catastrophe risk models and capital models introduced under regulatory pressure.

Catlin’s Q1 premium jumps $201m

Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Catlin saw a 12% increase in premium for the first quarter of 2013, thanks to having no large catastrophes and expected operating expenditure.

Interview: Shah outlines RMS(one) vision

Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The CEO of Risk Management Solutions says his firm's new platform is the result of the risk modelling industry reaching an inflection point, while insurance and reinsurance firms welcome the chance to analyse data faster through the cloud.

Beazley ups reinsurance premium 20%

Thu, 09 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Lloyd’s insurer and reinsurer Beazley has issued its first quarter results update, announcing a 2% overall increase in rates at renewals, gross premium written of $518m.

New regulations have mixed credit effects

Thu, 09 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

New regulatory regimes could have both positive and negative credit implications for insurers, according to a new report released today by Moody's.

Record ILS issuance predicted for 2013

Thu, 09 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Catastrophe bonds are experiencing an expanding investor base and competitive capacity, while insurance-linked securities may hit issuance levels of $7bn this year, according to GC Securities.

Aegon Q1 profit dips to €204m

Wed, 08 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Netherlands-based insurer Aegon has revealed first quarter net income of €204m and return on equity of 6.3%.

AM Best: Buoyant UAE market

Wed, 08 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The UAE insurance market is being kept afloat by compulsory medical schemes, public spending and social programmes despite its slow economy.

RMS(one) unveiled as future of cat modelling

Wed, 08 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

RMS reveals RMS(one), which will allow insurance and reinsurance companies to manage all their risk models, exposures and analytics on a single platform. Partners for the platform include ERN, JBA, Risk Frontiers and Aon Benfield’s ReMetrica.

S&P revises insurer rating criteria

Wed, 08 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Standard & Poor’s explains in an interview with Reactions why the rating agency is preparing to release ratings from its new criteria to insurers around the world starting with global reinsurers and multiline insurers.

Berkshire to quickly become “sizeable” player

Tue, 07 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Berkshire Hathaway is on the brink of becoming a sizable player in the commercial insurance market, according to equity analyst Meyer Shields, which will have, overall, a negative impact for specialty insurers such as AIG and Lloyd’s.