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Zurich 2001
Centre Group, the ART provider owned by Zurich Financial Services, recorded a net profit of US$101mn last year, down from US$131mn in 2000. Net premium income was down slightly to US$1119mn from US$1159mn.
As we reported in AIC
126, Zurich now..
Online Published Date:
01 May 2002
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0129 - 01 May 2002
Scor 2001
French reinsurance group Scor recorded strong premium growth in its specialty operations, including ART business, last year, but heavy claims from the events of 11 September hit the division’s profitability.
Scor’s specialty division..
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01 May 2002
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0129 - 01 May 2002
Events
The International Faculty of Finance – Asset Securitization
6–7 June and 24–25 October • London • Subjects covered will include rationales for securitization, preparing for first-time securitization, liquidity..
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01 May 2002
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XL Primus takes main stake in credit risk insurer
Bermudian insurer XL Capital is the lead investor backing Primus Guaranty, a new credit risk company serving individual companies, sovereigns and financial institutions.
XL has made an investment of US$72.75mn out of a total of US$155mn in equity..
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01 May 2002
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0129 - 01 May 2002
FSA gives credit transfer cautious thumbs up
After all the fuss and dire warnings of impending disaster, the first serious analysis of credit risk transfer carried out by the UK’s financial regulator, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), has concluded that things are really not that..
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01 May 2002
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Results in brief
Swiss Re’s Financial Services Business Group
, the new home for ART and related business, recorded an operating loss of SF932mn (US$561mn) last year after a profit of SF431mn in 2000. The operation was hit by losses related to the US attacks..
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01 May 2002
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Bermuda’s RenaissanceRe announces stock split
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01 May 2002
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Benfield centre runs catastrophe course
Professionals in the UK cat market will shortly be able to study for a one-year course on ‘Natural hazards for insurers’. The course is due to start in September and will be run by the Benfield Greig Hazard Research Centre at the..
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01 May 2002
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0129 - 01 May 2002
Swiss Re considers threat from tsunamis
Since 11 September, the general public as well as insurers have become more aware of the risks we face from catastrophic but unlikely events. A note posted by Swiss Re on its website recently looks at the danger posed by tsunamis, something which..
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01 May 2002
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0129 - 01 May 2002
WTC legal rows plod on and proliferate
Few should be surprised that the terrorist attacks have led to a host of actual or threatened legal disputes. The most important disagreement is between Silverstein Properties, leaseholder of the World Trade Center, and its insurers, led by Swiss..
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01 May 2002
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0129 - 01 May 2002
Private and public schemes address terror
Moves to confront the new risk landscape that has emerged since 11 September continue, with various schemes and policies announced over the last month.
The larger scheme is the new €13bn terrorism insurance plan for Germany, incorporating..
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01 May 2002
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0129 - 01 May 2002
Study shows risk management capabilities
Financial risk management is not just a defensive tool and many companies are aware it can be used to give them a competitive edge, a survey carried out on behalf of broker Aon has found.
Aon said the survey showed that many chief financial officers..
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01 May 2002
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0129 - 01 May 2002
Bermuda is still the place for new financing
St Paul is not the only US company looking to Bermuda for the future. Leucadia National – investor in White Mountains and new reinsurer Olympus Re, among other insurance ventures – is looking to redomesticate from New York to..
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01 May 2002
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0129 - 01 May 2002
Swiss Re uses CDO to re-slice cat risk
Swiss Re has concluded an innovative US$40mn Collateralized Debt Obligation (CDO) allowing it to repackage catastrophe risk so as to attract greater interest from capital market investors. The deal sees the reinsurer write a book of index loss..
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01 May 2002
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0129 - 01 May 2002
Scor looks to Horizon for global credit protection
French reinsurance group Scor has approached the capital markets again for securitized cover, this time protecting its credit account against a global recession of catastrophic proportions.
The €130mn (US$117mn) deal is called Horizon and was..
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01 May 2002
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0129 - 01 May 2002
S&P studies growth of credit risk transfer
Balance sheet management and dynamic allocation of credit exposure to increasing liquidity are just two of the drivers behind the popularity of credit risk transfer, according to Elwyn Wong, a director in the structured finance CDO group at rating..
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01 May 2002
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0129 - 01 May 2002
Fitch rates Florida Wind bond issues
Rating agency Fitch has rated some of the notes issued by the Florida Windstorm Underwriting Association (FWUA), assigning an A senior debt rating to the US$750mn senior secured pre-event note issue (series 1997A), as well as affirming the AAA..
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01 May 2002
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0129 - 01 May 2002
Japan raises quake system limit once again
Japan has added another ¥400bn (US$3.1bn) to the limit of its state-backed earthquake scheme for domestic risks. As of the beginning of last month, the limit for aggregate damage covered by the scheme is ¥4500bn following another review of..
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01 May 2002
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Low cats cheer market after 2001 devastation
Hard pressed US insurers recovering from 11 September will be pleased that catastrophic losses in the first quarter were at their lowest level for more than a decade, thanks to an unusually mild winter. Quarterly figures produced by the Property..
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01 May 2002
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0129 - 01 May 2002
Watch out for more storms, Gray warns
Insurance underwriters and other interested parties can expect another year of above-average storm frequency for the eastern and Gulf coasts of the US, according to Professor Bill Gray of Colorado State University and his research team.
Prof Gray..
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01 May 2002
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0129 - 01 May 2002
Federal terror plan gains more support
US commercial interests generally and insurance organizations in particular are maintaining the momentum for a federal plan to cope with the threat of terrorism in the wake of the events of 11 September.
The biggest boost for the campaign came from..
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01 May 2002
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0129 - 01 May 2002
RMS adds more data on Italy and Japan
Modelling company Risk Management Solutions (RMS) has updated its Climetrix weather derivatives trading and risk management system to include more temperature information for Italy and Japan.
The new cleaned and enhanced data set for Italy contains..
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01 May 2002
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0129 - 01 May 2002
Centre sponsors student art prize in London
Jagannath Panda, a second year sculpture student at the Royal College of Arts in London last month won the £8500 first prize in a competition sponsored by Centre Group. Students had a free brief to produce a piece along the theme ‘Out of..
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01 May 2002
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0129 - 01 May 2002
Risconsulting adds more services to aircraft site
US ART advisory company Risconsulting has extended its online risk models allowing risk measurement and pricing for aircraft financial risk. The site, at www.aircraftrisk.com, now has six models (see AIC
126), the three new ones are:
a stress..
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01 May 2002
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0129 - 01 May 2002
Captive market prospects look even better
The captive market is much larger and more important than previously thought and has consistently shown stronger growth than the conventional insurance industry, A M Best noted in a recent report. The rating agency estimates that the overall ART..
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01 May 2002
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0129 - 01 May 2002
OECD whittles tax haven list down to six
More domiciles have reached agreement with the Organization for Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD) on tax matters, and the organization’s list of ‘unco-operative tax havens’ now numbers just six: Andorra,..
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01 May 2002
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Fitch affirms A rating of Max Re
Rating agency Fitch has affirmed the A insurer financial strength rating of Bermudian ART group Max Re and also assigned an A rating to the reinsurer’s wholly owned subsidiary, Max Re Europe, based in Dublin.
Fitch noted that Max Re’s..
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01 May 2002
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0129 - 01 May 2002
TFS structures precipitation volatility cover
The weather derivatives desk at financial broker TFS said it was chosen to put together a precipitation volatility programme for an undisclosed participant in the weather market. The cover was placed with French bank Société..
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01 May 2002
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0129 - 01 May 2002
AWS prepares weather information division
Weather station company AWS Convergence Technologies has formed a new division to develop weather information and analysis technology for weather risk managers, energy traders, and gas transmission and electric distribution professionals.
The..
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01 May 2002
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0129 - 01 May 2002
St Paul sees Platinum prospects in Bermuda
The events of 11 September have combined with several years of poor performance to encourage many companies to reassess their reinsurance operations, and St Paul is the latest insurer to take radical action on its reinsurance account.
It plans to..
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01 May 2002
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0129 - 01 May 2002
Element Re provides cover for Rock Garden
London restaurant the Rock Garden has bought its second weather derivative to protect itself against colder than usual weather during the spring and early summer. The contract is essentially a repeat of last year’s deal, the main difference..
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01 May 2002
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0129 - 01 May 2002