London News

Burns & Wilcox Hires Gatewood to Lead Personal Lines

Burns & Wilcox hired Bill Gatewood to lead the company’s national personal lines sales and marketing, recruitment and product initiatives, effective Sept. 27. Gatewood has more than 20 years personal lines experience with a number of leading insurance carriers. Prior …

Syndicates – The Heart of the Market

Catlin, and Other Lloyd’s Syndicates As underwriters, syndicates are the heart of the Lloyd’s market. Until the end of the 20th century they were largely funded by wealthy individuals, who pledged their fortunes to back the risks accepted by the …

Lloyd’s Chairman Warns on Peril of Over-Regulation; Urges Growth

Lloyd’s Chairman, Lord Peter Levene warned a receptive audience at Lloyd’s City dinner that the current focus on regulation should not get in the way of strategies for future growth. His speech was addressed to two hundred of London’s leading …

C.V. Starr Opens Political Risk Department in New York

Starr Underwriting Agents Limited and Starr Specialty Lines Insurance Agency, LLC (“Starr Specialty”), both subsidiaries of C. V. Starr & Co., Inc., have recently expanded their geographic reach with the opening of a Political Risks underwriting unit in C.V. Starr’s …

UK, Guernsey Execs Strengthen Relationships with China

Peter Niven, Chief Executive of Guernsey Finance – the promotional agency for the Island’s finance industry, recently joined the Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alderman Nick Anstee, for a trip to Beijing and Shanghai. “The trip included meeting …

Best Affirms ‘A’ Ratings of QBE Insurance Group and Subsidiaries

A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has affirmed the financial strength ratings of ‘A’ (Excellent) and the issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “a+” of UK-based QBE Insurance (Europe) Limited, Australia-based QBE Insurance (International) Limited and QBE Reinsurance (Europe) Limited, …

Marsh Exec Tells European Companies to Take Longer View on Risks

Europe’s largest companies will need to spend more time and resources over the next year on long-term strategic risk planning to avoid being vulnerable to changing market conditions. That’s the advice from Gilbert Van den Eynde, Global Leader of Marsh’s …

Insurance Provides Value Catlin CEO Reminds London’s Insurance Institute

“Insurers and brokers must remind themselves of the value that insurance provides to clients and to society as a whole,” stated Stephen Catlin, chief executive of Catlin Group Limited*, in a speech delivered on Tuesday after his investiture as president …

FERMA’s 2010 Survey Highlights Growing Role of Risk Management

“Risk management is now on the agenda for top management, the board and shareholders, which clearly support and sponsor the function,” states a bulletin from Federation of European Risk Management Associations (FERMA), released at its 2010 Risk Seminar, which opened …

Lloyd’s Reports First Six Months Profit of $992 Million

Lloyd’s of London reported its interim (6 months to June 30) results today, which could best be described as mixed. Although Lloyd’s posted an overall pretax profit of £628 million [$922 million], this was less than half the amount, £1.322 …