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Monte Carlo: the past seven years
2007 No major outside event means delegates control the discussion THE FIRST Rendez-Vous for several years not beset by external events - a catastrophe, significant ratings change or major ...
Market conditions may force repricing of casualty business
THE CURRENT pressure on investment returns has been a fairly consistent theme of insurers and reinsurers’ recent interim results. For casualty underwriters, it is just one more driver for change ...
Industry can no longer rely on influx of capital after a catastrophic event
AS THE ripples from the current financial uncertainty continue to spread, it is clear that few can assume their businesses will remain untouched. Reflecting this, already there has been an ...
Tough conditions cannot squeeze out M&A among growth-hungry brokers
AON’S high-profile bid for rival reinsurance broker Benfield and a rumoured but officially denied counter-bid from Marsh & McLennan have refocused attention on consolidation prospects in the broking community. ...
Soaring claims will hit aviation price
AVERAGE airline claims will soar dramatically as compensation levels in the rest of the world come into line with those in the US and Europe. That is the warning ...
WTO setback will not stall expansion
FAILED trade talks at Doha have not sabotaged US insurer expansion abroad, a US trade body says. Instead, regulatory pressure has become the new driving force of globalisation. The ...
Casualty sector to remain lacklustre as insurer demand keeps falling away
THE CASUALTY reinsurance market is still suffering from reduced demand and the desire for insurers to keep top-line growth could well ensure a lacklustre market for the foreseeable future. ...
Offshore energy awaits loss that will turn market
IT SHOULD come as no great surprise that the offshore energy insurance market has been subject to downward rating pressure in the last two years; a dramatic surge in rates ...
Global need for capital rising
CAPITAL needs are increasing for the global reinsurance sector following changes to investment risk and underwriting risk over the last 12 months, according to Standard & Poor’s (S&P), writes Scott ...
Is reinsurance escaping the worst of sub-prime?
REINSURANCE may soon prove itself to be the Houdini of the financial world by escaping the worst of sub-prime losses - even avoiding the costly directors’ and officers’ (D&O) claims ...
Cash-in-transit market mergers make underwriters’ lives harder
CONSOLIDATION among global security firms is making it even harder for underwriters in the cash-in-transit (CIT) market to keep their market share and maintain profitable underwriting while remaining competitive. ...
Timing means Ike will dominate discussions at 2008 Rendez-Vous
HURRICANE IKE’s timing will mean that those attending the Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous will have more to talk about this year than has recently been the case. How far these ...
Gustav near miss has no effect on property pricing
GUSTAV alone will not change the pricing environment in the property insurance/reinsurance sector, which has been declining on the back of massive rate rises back in 2005, writes Scott Vincent. ...
THERE will be thousands of conversations taking place in Monte Carlo over the next few days, as industry leaders get together to discuss what to do next, writes Scott Vincent. ...
Ike threatens to steal the show
THE ANNUAL Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous is a major event in the industry calendar. How much business actually gets done there is often open to question but the discussions that take ...
Recent healthy reserve releases may be masking real state of the industry
THE BLANKET profitability experienced by the international insurance and reinsurance industry over the last few years has come to an end in 2008. The low-loss years of 2006 and ...
Time is right for further acquisitions to be made
FUTURE opportunities for consolidation and the inevitable implications for the rest of the industry will be high on the agenda as this week’s annual Rendez-Vous de Septembre continues in Monte ...
Aon’s Benfield bid alters broking sector dynamics
Underwriters prepare themselves for changes in reinsurance intermediary market NERVOUS underwriters are set to discover over the next few days how they will fare in talks with brokers ...
Pressure remains on European risk rates
WHILE the US is currently at risk of a large catastrophe loss in 2008, the absence of a major loss in Europe has meant that downward rating pressure has shown ...
Developing countries may force aviation pricing up
THE AVIATION primary insurance industry is struggling to keep the balance between the risk involved and the premium received at an acceptable level. Since the immediate rate rises that ...
Buoyant future for sinking marine rates
Pricing in P&I sector at February renewals most likely to see change as falling rates stabilise, says CHRISTOPHER MUNRO MARINE insurers and reinsurers have experienced a gradual decline ...
Premium ‘may fall by 15% in the next year’
PREMIUM volumes in liability reinsurance lines could continue to fall by as much as 15% in the next 12 months, a leading industry figure has warned. And the news is ...
Plenty of capacity - except if you are affected by downturn
WHILE capacity may be plentiful for many clients looking for liability reinsurance, accounts most affected by the global downturn may find the market to be less than bountiful. Speaking ...
Higher rates as injury costs skyrocket
WHILE it has been denounced by French primary insurers for several years, the ongoing increase in the cost of severe motor claims in France has had a much more tangible ...
THERE remain a number of candidates to emerge as a real contender to the major reinsurance brokers in the wake of the acquisition of Benfield by Aon (pictured), writes Scott ...
8 September 2008 - Front Page
Hanna hammers in latest landfall
HANNA made the seventh US landfall of the 2008 Atlantic season late last week, bringing heavy rain to the Carolinas and north-eastern US coast, writes Scott Vincent. The storm, ...
Ike muddies waters before renewal talks
Uncertainty over hurricane’s path complicates discussions but should halt softening UNCERTAINTY over where hurricane Ike will make landfall in the US this week will significantly increase the complexity ...
Mounting claims switch focus to minimising risk
CONSTRUCTION firms hit by the first wave of sub-prime troubles are turning their attention to reducing the number of claims against them. In the current climate, risk management is ...
Extra scrutiny leads to better discipline
IT IS much more difficult for new players to enter the property/ catastrophe market and sread disruption than in the past, a prominent figure has claimed. Jack Graham, chief ...
China wholly owned licence for Lockton
LOCKTON has been granted a wholly owned licence to operate in China, in order to capitalise on the country’s promising long-term potential. The independent insurance broker is only the ...
Dublin cements place as leader
THE EXTENT to which Dublin is cementing a position in the global insurance and reinsurance sector was underlined by improved premium statistics for 2007. Figures from the Dublin International ...
Casualty models can help underwriters with pricing
Guy Carpenter ’s David Lewin says solvency scrutiny will force use of such tools CASUALTY modelling techniques will increasingly assist the pricing side of underwriting as solvency scrutiny ...
Future looks bright for ratings despite economic instability
DESPITE increasing concerns over pricing in the global reinsurance market in the run-up to Monte Carlo, two leading ratings agencies are currently reporting a reasonably bright future for ratings in ...
ZURICH has announced a number of changes to its global life division as part of its new growth strategy. Chris Gillies, currently head of the IFA/brokers’ distribution channel for ...
Frequent storms may turn market
THE FREQUENCY of storm losses in the US could prove to be as influential in turning the underwriting market as severity in the current climate, writes Richard Banks. Neil ...
European building firms face collapse
INSURERS say faith in Europe’s construction sector is reaching a new low, despite decisions taken by Britain and Spain to launch new measures to help boost ailing housing markets. ...
Investment returns set to weather the fiscal storm
INVESTMENT returns for the reinsurance industry are predicted to survive the fiscal storm, according to two rating agencies, although yields may well decline from the buoyant figures reported last year. ...
Liquidity challenge may hinder new investments
IN RECENT years the Rendez-Vous de Septembre has attracted an increasing number of bankers and investment experts, writes Richard Banks. The way the reinsurance market reacted after September 11, ...
Tools help but discipline counts
HURRICANES are exciting. There is no doubt about it. I know, I experienced one at first hand in 2003 and am more than happy to repeat the story if asked. ...
Two up at Glacier Re GLACIER RE has promoted Ralph Bothe and Eduoard von Herberstein to the position of senior treaty underwriter. Bothe, who joined Glacier Re in 2007 ...
PIMCO chief retires PIMCO, a global investment management firm owned by Allianz Global Investors, has announced that chief executive, Bill Thompson, will retire at the end of the year ...
