Lower industry-wide pricing spurred Berkshire Hathaway Inc. [tickers: BRK-A, BRK-B] to reduce its exposure in the insurance sector this year, Chairman Warren Buffett told shareholders at the company’s annual meeting yesterday.The insurance and investment company -- which owns reinsurance operations and insurer outfit Geico -- has halved its exposure to hurricane-related losses this year. "We wouldn’t mind it being as much as last
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Property and casualty insurer Ace Ltd. [ticker: ACE] announced net income of $690 million, or $2.10 per share, for the quarter ending March 31, a 43% jump from $478 million, or $1.46 per share, earned during the same period a year ago. Analysts were expecting earnings, on average, of $1.75 per share.
Underwriting income for the Bermuda-based insurer jumped to $413 million, from $281 million during the first quarter of 2006. Net investment income increased $82 million to $451 million during the first quarter of 2007.
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First-quarter earnings shot up for Everest Re Group Ltd. [ticker: RE], on the heels of a quiet hurricane season.The Bermuda-based reinsurer earned $297.6 million, or $4.59 per share, during the quarter ending March 31. That compares with profits of $168.4 million, or $2.57 per share, in the year-prior period.Everest Re posted operating earnings, which discount investments, of $4.13 per share, well above analysts’ estimates of $3.07
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Max Re Capital Ltd. [ticker: MXRE] yesterday priced $100 million worth of 10-year senior notes. The sale is slated to close Monday.Max Re plans to use the proceeds to repay short-term debt. The Bermuda-based reinsurer has been embroiled in an accounting probe that requires it to restate earnings from 2001 through the first half of 2006.
After getting the OK from the Financial Services Authority, a new Lloyd’s of London insurance syndicate will begin to underwrite marine, energy, and property and casualty insurance and reinsurance on April 1.The syndicate, called Ark Syndicate Management, is backed by lead investor Aquiline Capital Partners LLC, a New York private equity firm run by former Marsh & McLennan Chief Executive Jeffrey Greenberg. Swiss Reinsurance Co., a private
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Private equity firm Apax Partners and investment bank Morgan Stanley [ticker: MS] announced intentions yesterday to buy insurance broker Hub International Ltd. [ticker: HBG] for about $1.8 billion.Terms of the deal call for Chicago-based Hub to receive $40 per share, a 16% premium from Friday's closing price of $34.49. Apax and Morgan Stanley are also expected to assume $145 million of Hub debt.The nation's 12th-largest insurance brokerage,
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A mixture of weakness in the Shanghai market, poor durable-goods data, and increased uncertainty about Iran and Afghanistan led to a broad selloff as the Dow lost more than 500 points Tuesday before regaining some ground.
The shares of most large U.S. retail banks shed between 2% and 4%.
All of this follows former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warning Monday that the U.S.
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Sometimes you might feel that although it is easy to survive without the home but it is very tough to spend even a single moment without the contents and appliances of home. Home contents do the work of making your home in real sense a place to be lived peacefully. Hence home content insurance is indispensable for you to take if you want to secure your precious articles and quotes of home content insurance helps you in it. The contents of your home
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Many get confused often between the term called 'Insurance' and 'Assurance'. Person willing to avail any kind of insurance ought be well aware of such differences. Insurance is for something about which you are not sure of happening. On the other hand, assurance is for something which is definite, and will surely happen in future. Thus, simplifying the 'term assurance' better, it acts as an insurance, but you get the payment only within a fixed term.
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When looking for insurance South Africa offers plenty of options for you to choose from. There are some giant and well-established financial services companies in the country, all with insurance provision or administration divisions. These include a who's who of the Johannesburg Securities Exchange, like Old Mutual, RMB, Liberty, Investec, Momentum Sanlam and Nedcor. The one big advantage of having your insurance in South Africa taken care of by large
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