David Lewin, Managing Director
Contact

When problems in the subprime mortgage market erupted into a full financial catastrophe last year, conventional wisdom suggested that property and casualty (P&C) insurance companies would suffer. The culprit, many believed, would not be investments in mortgage-backed securities (MBS) like the life insurers. Rather, it would be the possibility of slipped bond ratings because of problems with bond insurers, ultimately lowering the value of the bonds held in P&C investment portfolios. The increase in insured losses as a direct result of subprime and the ensuing credit crunch would certainly drive P&C companies to have poor returns, the thinking continued. Even at the mid-point of 2008, talk of a turn in the market began to percolate.

Continue reading…

A briefing published today by Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC looks ahead to the possible effects of inflation on long-tail reinsurance, as well as the impact of the credit crunch on reinsurers in the wake of the subprime mortgage crisis. The briefing, Casualty Specialty Update, examines the twin pressures that inflation and the global credit crunch are exerting on the global casualty reinsurance industry.

Click here to download the briefing >>

Continue reading…

Credit, Bond and Political Risk Team Honored;
Third Consecutive Year Guy Carpenter Has Won Accolade

Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC’s Credit, Bond and Political Risk Team won the “Reinsurance Broking Team of the Year” award at The Review magazine’s Worldwide Reinsurance Awards 2009, presented last night at The Dorchester Hotel in London. This year’s victory represents the third consecutive year — and the fifth time in six years — that Guy Carpenter has been awarded the “Reinsurance Broking Team of the Year” honor.

Guy Carpenter’s Credit, Bond, and Political Risk Team was hailed by the judging panel “for leading the market with new-thinking solutions.”

Continue reading…

John Orchard, Managing Director and Practice Leader, Credit, Bond, and Political Risk
Contact

Credit and Bond

Buyers’ market conditions and a very late renewal characterized the January 1, 2009 renewal for Credit and Bond (surety) reinsurance, which is dominated by proportional placements. Buyers gained no advantage from submitting cases early for quoting, as reinsurers waited for a bigger suite of submissions before offering terms.

Continue reading…