What’s New: In Brief (March 24, 2008)

Integro Insurance Brokers, an international insurance broker and risk management firm, has appointed managing principals Mark Rankin and John Haas to the firm’s partnership group in Canada.Rankin is client development sales leader for the Toronto and Vancouver offices. He has 23 years of experience in property and casualty insurance, with an emphasis on international placements and captives.Haas is in client development in the firm’s Toronto office. He has 19 years’ experience in international risk management experience across many industries and risk practice categories including the manufacturing, automotive, energy, transportation and retail sectors.Also, Integro has promoted Patrick Bourk to be senior associate in the firm’s management liability and legal practices.

No one is safe from a softening insurance market, not even in outer space.A recent study by Aon Risk Management shows space insurers are targeting premium increases of up to 30%, following 2007 losses that included the failures of the Sea Launch rocket carrying the NSS-8 satellite and the Proton carrying JCSat 11. “Now with another failure of the Proton rocket carrying the AMC-14 satellite, this spells a pivotal time for both the insurance market and operators after several years of reducing premiums,” according to the latest Aon Space Market Review 2007.The 2007 space insurance market, worth approximately US$660 million in launch and in-orbit premium, saw the arrival of several new insurers, leading to abundant capacity and falling premiums.