Latest Reinsurance Headlines

Sep 5 2005 // Linda Slaughter has been promoted from senior vice president of claims to COO at Concord, Calif.-based Athens Administrators, part of the Jenkins Athens Group. Slaughter joined Athens in its founding days and has been with...

Sep 5 2005 // Barbara Zimmerman has joined IBA West as membership benefits vice president. She will be responsible for the research, development and management of IBA West Service Corporation programs and management of Membership...

Sep 5 2005 // Extreme Weather Hits Europe: Devastating wild fires in Portugal; torrential rains in Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Romania; drought in much of France. There seems to be no end to the list of extreme weather conditions...

ACE’s U.S. Subsidiaries Upgraded

Sep 5 2005 // A.M. Best Co. upgraded the financial strength ratings to “A+” (superior) from “A” (excellent) and assigned issuer credit ratings of “aa-” to ACE Westchester Specialty Group,...

International Newsbriefs

Sep 5 2005 // Extreme Weather Hits Europe: Devastating wild fires in Portugal; torrential rains in Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Romania; drought in much of France. There seems to be no end to the list of extreme weather conditions...

S&P Assigns ‘BBB+’ Rating to Slovenia’s Sava Re

Sep 1 2005 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it has assigned its “BBB+” long-term counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings to Slovenia-based reinsurer Pozavarovalnica Sava,...

Everest Re Extends CEO Taranto’s Employment Agreement

Sep 1 2005 // The Bermuda-based Everest Re Group, Ltd. announced that the employment agreement of Chairman and CEO Joseph V. Taranto, has been extended to March 31, 2008. Taranto has been in charge at Everest Re since it was formed in...

Alea Group 1st Half Profit Off 47% to $25.9 Million

Sep 1 2005 // The Bermuda-based Alea Group announced that its first half profits suffered a 47 percent decline to $25.9 million, compared to $48.8 million in the same period of 2004, due mainly to total reserve increases of $34.7...

State Auto Cuts Reinsurance Agreement for Subsidiary

Sep 1 2005 // State Auto Financial told the Securities and Exchange Commission its subsidiary, State Auto National Insurance Co., no longer needs a reinsurance agreement. The reinsurance agreement protected State Auto National from...

Best: Most Insurers Will Meet Hurricane Katrina’s Financial Commitments

Sep 1 2005 // In response to Hurricane Katrina, A.M. Best Co. has begun to aggregate public and private information in order to assess the financial impact it will have on the global property/casualty insurance and reinsurance...

SCOR Opens Indian Office

Aug 30 2005 // France’s SCOR Group announced that it has obtained permission from the Indian regulatory authority (IRDA) to open a representative office in India, “with a view to strengthening and developing its activities in...

Fla. Withdraws Added Finite Reinsurance Requirements

Aug 30 2005 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has withdrawn proposed state-specific requirements regarding the accounting treatment of finite reinsurance, making it the second state in three weeks to do so. The office has...

Allied World Announces Three Management Changes

Aug 25 2005 // Allied World Assurance Company, Ltd. [AWAC] has announced the following management changes: — Daniel Brandon has been promoted to the position of senior vice president, Professional-Specialty Lines Treaty...

Swiss Re Names Aigrain to Succeed Coomber as CEO

Aug 25 2005 // Concurrently with its 1st half earnings release (See related article), Swiss Re’s Board of Directors announced that Jacques Aigrain, currently Deputy CEO, has been appointed to succeed John Coomber, who will retire...

Best Affirms FSR for Kenya Reinsurance Corporation Ltd.

Aug 23 2005 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of B+ (Very Good) and the issuer credit rating of “bbb-” of the Kenya Reinsurance Corporation Limited (Kenya Re) (Kenya). The outlook for both ratings is...

AIG Denies Claims Fraud Charges by Consortium of Reinsurers

Aug 22 2005 // A group of 18 insurers is suing American International Group and bankrupt fronting company Trenwick America Reinsurance Corp. for allegedly scheming to collect as much as $73 million in what the insurers claim are...

Catastrophe Models No Substitute for Experienced Underwriters

Aug 22 2005 // Managing Editor, Insurance Insider Computer programs designed to predict losses from possible cataclysmic events have been a boon to the insurance industry-the programs have reinforced reinsurers’ loss expectations,...

Liberty Mutual Affirmed

Aug 22 2005 // Fitch Ratings affirmed the “A-” insurer financial strength ratings on the members of the Liberty Mutual inter-company pool and revised the rating outlook on pool members to stable from negative. Additionally,...

Best Upgrades ACE’s U.S. Subsidiaries

Aug 16 2005 // A.M. Best Co. has upgraded the financial strength ratings (FSR) to A+ (Superior) from A (Excellent) and assigned issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “aa-” to ACE Westchester Specialty Group (ACE Westchester) (lead...

RMS to Open Bermuda Office

Aug 12 2005 // Calif.-based Risk Management Solutions will open an office in Hamilton, Bermuda. RMS made the announcement at a market seminar on the island that focused on recent technical developments in catastrophe modeling relevant to...