March 16, 2011
Losses from the Japanese earthquake will reduce insurers’ capital reserves, insurance brokers said Tuesday, as sector shares continued their sharp declines on fears the disaster’s size could grow. Ace, a leading insurer and reinsurer, warned the Japanese earthquake would cause …
February 24, 2011
A bumper equity issue from Aegon and a disappointing dividend from Allianz stirred fresh fears about European insurers’ capital strength on Thursday, weighing on their shares. The capital-boosting measures by Allianz and Aegon suggest the industry is worried Europe’s Solvency …
September 28, 2010
The Lloyd’s of London insurance market revealed that record claims from disasters including the Chilean earthquake and U.S. oil spill halved its profits, and said it saw no respite from a steady decline in prices. Lloyd’s, which traces its origins …
August 4, 2010
British life insurers reporting half-year results this month plan to simplify their notoriously complex financial statements in a move that could lift their flagging shares. Standard Life, Britain’s fourth-biggest life insurer, two weeks ago became the latest to say it …
July 16, 2010
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. …
June 15, 2010
U.S. buyout firm Apollo will have to raise its offer for Brit Insurance by at least 10 percent to pull off its planned takeover of the Lloyd’s of London insurer, analysts said. Five analysts polled by Reuters said Brit would …
June 11, 2010
A bid for Lloyd’s of London insurer Brit is unlikely to trigger acquisitions in the battered sector because targets feel they can hold out against lowball private equity bids and trade buyers remain strapped for cash. Shares across the Lloyd’s …
May 28, 2010
The UK’s Prudential on Thursday denied market talk that it had pulled its $35.5 billion bid for U.S. rival AIG’s Asian unit, after rumors the deal was off boosted Pru’s shares as well as the pound. “This speculation is unfounded,” …
May 28, 2010
Prudential has entered talks to cut its $35.5 billion offer for for AIG’s Asian life insurance arm, in a last-ditch bid to salvage a deal criticised by shareholders as too expensive. Prudential chief executive Tidjane Thiam’s future hinges on the …
April 26, 2010
British insurer Prudential will try to reassure investors it can seamlessly absorb the Asian arm of AIG next week when it publishes the prospectus for a record $21 billion cash call to fund the takeover. With shareholders broadly backing the …