News

AmTrust founders up buy-out offer to $2.7bn as company discloses 'material weaknesses'

US carrier AmTrust has upped its buyout offer to public equity holders to $13.50 per share and requested a 15 day extension to file its 2017 results amid “material weaknesses” in internal controls in a hectic 24 hours after sister company Maiden Holdings posted poor Q4 results yesterday.

UPDATE: £2.1bn Pool Re XoL restructures with new third layer and cyber trigger

Analysis of the industry’s largest XoL retro terrorism programme, together with diagram of stack and Pool Re chain of security…

Hurricanes push Starstone to underwriting loss as Atrium breaks even

The trio of Atlantic hurricanes that battered parts of the US and the Caribbean also took their toll on Starstone’s profits, while reserve releases kept fellow Enstar subsidiary Atrium in the black for 2017.

Pool Re expands Munich Re led XoL treaty to record £2.1bn

Pool Re has once again expanded its excess of loss treaty to a new record size of £2.1bn and extended the cover to include an element of cyber coverage, the UK state-backed terrorism mutual has confirmed today.

AmTrust completes US fee sale to Madison Dearborn

US carrier AmTrust has completed the sale of a 51 percent stake in its US fee business to private equity firm Madison Dearborn in a deal struck late last year which brings the firm around $950mn in cash to boost its capital base.

Christian steps down as Aon UK CEO to take new global chairman role

Dominic Christian, the senior London market figure who oversaw the integration of Aon Re and Benfield following the latter’s acquisition in 2008, is stepping down from his role as CEO of Aon UK

Leadenhall launches new remote risk fund

The London-based ILS fund manager Leadenhall Capital Partners has launched a new “remote risk” fund with $22.5mn of seed capital, re-Insurance.com can reveal.

Exin faces losing EUR5mn if Ethniki deal fails to complete

Matt Fairfield’s Exin could be hit with a EUR5mn ($6.1mn) break clause if its faltering EUR720mn deal to buy Greek state-owned insurer Ethniki fails to complete.

Legacy gold rush continues with Quest’s $300mn+ Bermuda build

Re-Insurance.com tracks all the fund-raisings in 2017-18 as interest in the discontinued sector continues to grow…

Maiden shares plunge as investors punish AmTrust reserve charge

Shares in Maiden plunged by as much as 16 percent in early morning trading in New York as investors pummelled the Bermudian reinsurer for a $139mn reserve charge on a book of business written by its sister company AmTrust.

JLT’s Burke calls hopes for hardening market ‘premature’

JLT CEO Dominic Burke has warned burgeoning optimism over a market shift towards rising prices is ‘premature’ despite signs of an uptick following the catastrophes of 2017.

Property drags insurance prices up for first time since 2013: Marsh

A roughly 3.2 percent rise in global property insurance prices following last year’s catastrophes has pulled overall market rates up for the first time since Q1 2013, research from Marsh has found.

US and LatAm push JLT insurance revenues up 5%

Organic revenues at London-listed broker JLT’s insurance businesses rose 5 percent last year as a strong performance in Latin America and continued growth in the US helped it to a £192mn ($266.8mn) underlying profit.

Quest to launch $300mn+ Bermuda run-off vehicle

Legacy acquirer Quest Group is poised to launch a new Bermudian run-off vehicle with more than $300mn of capital, re-Insurance.com understands.

PRA ‘not going to go soft’ on Solvency II despite UK insurer consultation

The deputy governor of the Bank of England and head of the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) Sam Woods has warned insurers that the regulator is not about to soften its overall approach to Solvency II despite an ongoing review over its impact.

Nat Gen beats despite $53mn wildfire loss

National General beat analysts expectations to deliver a $30mn operating profit in the fourth quarter despite taking a $52.9mn hit from the wildfires that ravaged California late last year.

Liberty Mutual Specialty profits absorb heavy cat losses

Boston-based Liberty Mutual’s specialty division reported pre-tax operating income of $92mn for the fourth quarter despite its share of the period’s catastrophes nearly doubling to $120mn year-on-year.

Irish Central Bank places CBL under administration

Following a similar move by its counterpart in New Zealand, the Irish regulator has petitioned the country’s high court today (26 February) to appoint an administrator for CBL’s European operations.