What’s new: In brief (November 04, 2004)

Bermuda-based ACE Ltd. announces it has fired two employees and suspended three more as a result of internal investigations sparked by the U.S. probe of broker compensation practices. ACE Casualty Risk president Geoffrey Gregory and his staffer Patricia Abrams have been let go, while the three suspended employees are not named. The company is also appointing a business practices compliance officer, revising its broker compensation practices and commissioning an external consultant to review its business practices in response to the controversy.Risk modeling agency AIR Worldwide says the four hurricanes which struck the U.S. coast this year are not as rare as first thought insurers should expect four hurricanes to hit the country once every 12 years. However, the chance of four hitting the state of Florida is one in 150 years, the range for which most insurers plan. Of the loss total, which should be in excess of US$20 billion, insurers should expect this on a national scale once every 13 years, and for the state of Florida once every 24 years.

GE Mortgage Insurance is being renamed Genworth Financial Canada. The change ties in with the initial public offering of Genworth Financial by parent General Electric earlier this year. Genworth includes GE’s life insurance, mortgage insurance and retirement investment operations. The company notes that other than the name change, “it’s business as usual” for clients.