Articles by Ben Berkowitz and Jonathan Gould

Top Brokers, Munich Re Pool Efforts to Expand Insurance for Oil Drilling

The world’s top three insurance brokers have joined reinsurer Munich Re to promote a major expansion in risk coverage for deepwater drilling in the wake of BP’s disastrous Gulf of Mexico spill last April. Their goal is to expand liability …

EU to Give Insurance Industry More Time to Prepare for Solvency II

European Union regulators look set to bow to insurance industry demands for more time to adjust to new solvency rules, with the head of the EU’s insurance watchdog acknowledging that some of the measures would have to be phased in …

Gale Force Winds Needed to Re-Inflate Insurance Share Prices

Nobody wishes for a natural disaster, but there’s nothing like a big U.S. hurricane to revitalize shares in property and casualty insurers, currently weighed down by persistently weak insurance prices. Nine analysts polled by Reuters on average said the U.S. …

Life products, Asset Mgmt. Buoy Allianz, Generali, Aegon, Ageas in Q1

European insurers were buoyed by strong sales of life insurance and asset management products on the back of a reviving economy in the first quarter, offsetting big disaster damage claims. Germany’s Allianz, Italy’s Assicurazioni Generali, The Netherlands’ Aegon and Belgium’s …

Buffett Increases Stake in Munich Re to Nearly 8%

Famed U.S. investor Warren Buffett, already Munich Re’s biggest shareholder, has built up his stake in the world’s No. 1 reinsurer to nearly 8 percent, increasing his bet on the sector’s long-term prospects. Buffett, who owns the world’s third-biggest reinsurer …

Big EU Insurers Pass Stress Tests

Europe’s insurers are able to withstand even a major financial crisis, an EU watchdog said on Tuesday, boosting industry hopes for less onerous regulation. EU insurance watchdog CEIOPS, (the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors) unveiled the long-awaited …

Reinsurers Say $4 to $7 Billion Chile Quake Loss ‘Unlikely’ to Raise Rates

Last month’s huge earthquake in Chile might cost the insurance industry up to $7 billion in damage claims, the world’s top two reinsurers said, but it looks unlikely to raise reinsurance prices. World leader Munich Re said it expected the …

Germany’s Munich Re and Allianz to Wind Down Business in Iran

Germany’s Munich Re and Allianz halted all remaining insurance business in Iran as their national representative body said it backed international moves toward tougher sanctions against Tehran. Against a backdrop of rising political tensions, the world’s biggest reinsurer, Munich Re, …

Buffett’s Berkshire Amasses $1 Billion Stake in Munich Re

Munich Re posted a statutory notice on Tuesday announcing that Berkshire Hathaway’s stake in the company rose to 3.045 percent on January 18, just above the level at which such holdings must be disclosed. “Warren Buffett is an expert at …

Reinsurers to ‘Stand Firm’ on 2010 Pricing Prospects

Reinsurers promised to stand firm on the prices they charge for covering big risks like hurricanes and plane crashes, even as the recession robs their insurance company customers of cash needed to pay for the service. Global reinsurers gathering for …