AM Best affirms Lloyd’s ‘A’ rating despite £2bn 2017 lossAM Best has affirmed Lloyd’s “A” rating in spite of last year’s dismal £2mn loss as it praised the Corporation’s “strong operating performance”.
AM Best downgrades AmTrust citing ‘material weaknesses’AM Best has downgraded AmTrust just weeks after the listed insurer’s CEO, his in-laws and their backers secured shareholder approval to buy the carrier and take it private.
AM Best goes positive on PartnerReAM Best has said PartnerRe’s ability to eke out an underwriting profit last year - despite a swathe of devastating catastrophes - helped its decision to assign a positive outlook to the reinsurer’s “A” financial strength rating.
Munich Re forms $330mn Bermuda life insurerThe industry’s largest reinsurer Munich Re has capitalised a run-off Bermuda unit and which it will use as an in-house reinsurer of group subsidiaries.
Sompo International upgraded to A+ by S&PRating house Standard and Poor’s has upgraded the financial strength rating of John Charman-led Sompo International Holdings (SIH).
AM Best affirms Accredited’s A- ratingAccredited Surety & Casualty Company Inc (Accredited), the US insurance arm of London-listed R&Q, has had its AM Best A- (excellent) rating affirmed yesterday (6 April).
S&P downgrades Chaucer as Hanover eyes saleRatings agency S&P has lowered Chaucer’s financial strength rating (FSR) by one notch from A to A- as the Lloyd’s carrier’s US owner The Hanover Group (THG) weighs up selling off the business.
Third Point Re affirmed after strong 17.8 percent investment returnDespite never having made an underwriting profit, the total return reinsurer Third Point Re (TP Re) has had its AM Best A- (excellent) financial strength rating affirmed by AM Best after another strong year of investment returns.
Lloyd’s acts to assuage rating agency concerns over peak exposuresOn the eve of Lloyd’s publishing its worst results since 2001, representatives from the Corporation’s Performance directorate met with senior executives from a number of Lloyd’s insurers to score-card how they are managing their aggregate cat exposures.
Brexit uncertainty drives AM Best negative outlook on UK insurance sectorOn the day that Lloyd’s of London posted its worst result since 2001, AM Best went negative on the UK non-life sector citing a difficult operating environment caused by competitive market conditions and Brexit uncertainty.
AM Best in talks with Canopius to resolve “under review” stanceAM Best expects to resolve its “under review” status of the Swiss and US subsidiaries of Canopius in the next few weeks following the completion of the Lloyd’s insurer’s $952mn buy-out.
Aspen confirms $125mn ADC and buys more QS and XoL in 2018Bermudian (re)insurer Aspen has bought a $125mn adverse development cover (ADC) to protect against prior year deterioration and is buying significantly more reinsurance in 2018 that may inhibit its ability to rebound its net earnings.
S&P places Axa on watch over XL bidRatings agency S&P has put Axa’s long-term ratings on negative watch citing concerns about the French carrier’s capital adequacy if its proposed $15.3bn acquisition of XL succeeds.
Rating agencies flex their muscles once againDowngrades and negative outlooks are becoming a common phenomenon once again.
Under pressure Maiden shares hold up despite AM Best downgradeShares in Maiden Holdings closed broadly flat on 2 March following a downgrade by AM Best earlier that day as investors acknowledged the Bermudian’s lower dependence on financial strength ratings compared to its peers.
CBL puts itself into administrationEmbattled New Zealand carrier CBL Group has placed itself into voluntary administration in the wake of a High Court order forcing it to put its insurer into interim liquidation late last week.
New Zealand regulator puts CBL into liquidationThe Reserve Bank of New Zealand has won a court order to place CBL Insurance into interim liquidation amid concerns about the adequacy of the construction specialist’s reserving practices.
CBL shares now halted amid Gibraltar ‘dommages ouvrage’ concernsNew Zealand-listed carrier CBL has had its shares suspended by the country’s stock exchange days after it announced a NZ$100mn reserve strengthening to deal with deteriorations in controversial Gibraltar-written French construction business.
Hurricanes and wildfires drive US P&C underwriting 2017 loss: AM BestHurricanes and wildfires in the third and fourth quarter of 2017 pushed US property and casualty (P&C) business to a loss for the year, according to AM Best.
AM Best model change to spur reinsurance demandReinsurers are set to benefit from an uptick in demand for coverage from primary carriers following a change to AM Best’s rating methodology, Aon Benfield has said.