Industry
U.S. property and casualty insurers will post a combined ratio of 98.0% for 2003, 6.9% better than 2002, says Fitch Ratings. Return on equity was up to 11.6% last year from 6.5% the year prior.The rating agency looked at 55 companies, with the overwhelming majority posting ratios below 100%. Premiums were up to US$217 billion, […]
By Canadian Underwriter | March 30, 2004
2 min read
Signs of recovery are evident, but problems linger for European non-life insurers and reinsurers, says Fitch Ratings.The rating agency is continuing its stable outlook for non-life insurers in most European countries, noting operating results should continue to improve over the next 12 to 24 months. Disciplined underwriting and a focus on technical profits are helping […]
By Canadian Underwriter | March 29, 2004
1 min read
Rating agency Standard & Poor’s has held its "BBB" financial strength rating of Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. (TSX: FFH) and its operating insurance companies which carry a "stable" outlook for the year ahead. The rating agency’s action stems from the recent announcement by Fairfax to make available a debt exchange offering valued at about US$445 […]
By Canadian Underwriter | March 24, 2004
In a move to reduce and refinance company debt, Toronto-based Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. will offer to exchange US$445 million in senior notes for a combination of cash value and new notes.The offering involves up to US$275 million principal amount of Fairfax’s 7.375% senior notes due 2006, and up to US$170 million of its 6.875% […]
Responding to a published letter by Quebec’s justice minister, the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) says the government is being overly-optimistic about the level of public support for auto reform in that province.According to CAA-Quebec, Minister Marc Bellemare’s references to a government survey showing public support for changes to the current system a mix of public […]
By Canadian Underwriter | March 23, 2004
A consultation paper outlining a new system to replace Ontario’s designated assessment centers (DACs) has been released by the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO). The “expert assessor network” (EAN) is being proposed as an alternative to what FSCO calls the “adversarial, costly, time consuming, and complex” DAC system. FSCO notes the DAC system has […]
By Canadian Underwriter | March 22, 2004
Regulators in the U.S. are getting an earful from insurers at the prospect that all insurance companies, whether publicly-traded or not, could be subject to Sarbanes-Oxley.At the annual meeting of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), the plan, which would see major requirements of the new corporate governance rules applied to annual audited financial […]
By Canadian Underwriter | March 17, 2004
Through an agreement with Satellite Acquisition Corp., Hub International is acquiring new Mexico-based Talbot Financial Corp. and its subsidiaries from Safeco Corp. in a deal valued at US$120 million.Hub will invest in Satellite Acquisition, which is owned by the senior management of Talbot, resulting in Hub owning 70% of Talbot. The further 30% stake will […]
The U.S. arm of Kingsway Financial Services Inc., Kingsway America, will reopen an offering of senior notes valued at US$25 million. The 7.5% notes are due 2014 and are guaranteed by the parent company.This is from the same series of notes offered by the company back in late January, when US$100 million worth were issued. […]
By Canadian Underwriter | March 16, 2004
Rating agency Moody’s Investors Service is predicting the 2002 to 2004 years of account for Lloyd’s of London will produce a profit of GBP6 billion (Cdn$14.4 billion), or 42% of capacity on a cumulative basis. In the absence of major losses in 2002 and 2003, plus stronger underwriting, profits for these two years are each […]
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