Risk
In a bid to expand services in Southern U.S., Hub International Ltd. opened a new office in New Orleans. Hub International Gulf South’s office of producers formerly members of Marsh & McLennan will provide Louisiana and nearby states with a full range of brokerage services. The next initiative will be amalgamating Hub’s producer team and […]
By Canadian Underwriter | May 19, 2005
1 min read
Chief risk officers (CROs) are multiplying in the financial services sector and expected to grow exponentially in other industries. According to a recent survey of 137 global risk managers conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), mounting regulatory pressures and a daunting array of business threats are generating the need for enterprise risk assessment. Representing […]
By Canadian Underwriter | May 17, 2005
Despite the higher profitability achieved by Canadian property and casualty insurers for 2004, the industry is unlikely to maintain this earnings momentum through this year and into 2006, according to the recently released fourth quarter 2004 "MSA/Baron Outlook Report". The report expects that developing pricing weakness in commercial lines, combined with the auto rate rollbacks […]
By Canadian Underwriter | May 5, 2005
2 min read
Kingsway Financial Services Inc. (TSX: KFS) brought home an annualized return on equity (ROE) of 22.6% for the first quarter of 2005, showing a 5.7 percentage point gain on its 16.9% return achieved for the same period last year. The specialty risk insurer’s net earnings for the first quarter of this year rose by 52% […]
A survey of the U.S. general insurance marketplace by specialty reinsurance brokerage Guy Carpenter & Co. Inc. points to renewed growth in specialty risk program business handled by third-party program administrators. In addition to rising demand by insurers for this type of business, the survey suggests that this segment of the industry has attracted the […]
Hannover Reinsurance Co. and General Electric Co. are among the latest targets of the U.S.’s Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) in its investigation into finite reinsurance transactions. The SEC’s interest in the use of finite reinsurance by insurers was sparked earlier this year when both the commission and New York’s attorney general Eliot Spitzer revealed that […]
By Canadian Underwriter | May 4, 2005
American International Group Inc. (AIG) has hit another hurdle in attempts to deal with accounting irregularities that will require the insurer to restate five years of its financial results. AIG says that a review of its books by auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP may not be completed until the end of May this year, thus producing the […]
By Canadian Underwriter | May 3, 2005
The 2004 financial returns of Canadian insurers were boosted to an unprecedented level of profitability by mainly a strong underwriting recovery in the notorious auto line. And, the first quarter 2005 financial results of companies suggest that auto business continues to offer a healthy operating margin. However, as premiums have "peaked" - partly due to enforced rate reductions by the provincial governments but also the result of heightened market competition - the question on many insurance CEOs minds is not "if" the claims experience of the $29 billion annual auto line will deteriorate, but rather "when".
By Sean van Zyl, Editor | April 30, 2005
11 min read
Well-publicized investigations of "finite risk reinsurance" in the U.S. have cast a pall over many of these "non-traditional" products. Specifically, the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and New York's attorney general Eliot Spitzer have put a 2000/2001 arrangement between General Re and American International Group squarely in the spotlight of regulatory scrutiny. As regulators continue to closely monitor the nature of more complex financial reinsurance transactions, the twin themes of legitimate risk transfer and transparency emerge as paramount.
By Craig Harris | April 30, 2005
9 min read
In CU’s article “The Politics of Leasing” from the March 2005 issue, Glenn McGillivray dealt with the challenges faced by automobile leasing companies and their insurers in light of recent precedent setting settlements. While the CFLA and others step up lobbying efforts in the hopes of obtaining an amendment to the Highway Traffic Act, car […]
By William Blakeney of Blakeney Henneberry Murphy | April 30, 2005
8 min read
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