Reinsurance

Yesterday, property-casualty (P&C) and life reinsurer PartnerRe Ltd. (PRE) announced the share repurchase of approximately 1.2834 million of common stock at a price of $77.50 per share, for $99.5 million. This represented about 1.7% of 74.6 million outstanding shares as of September 30. The...

On 11/17/10, Platinum Underwriters Holdings (NYSE: PTP) increased its estimated losses from the NZ earthquake by $40.0 mm ($0.97/sh) to a total estimate of $68.5 mm, an increase of 140%, KBW reports. “Based on the announcement, we are lowering 4Q10 and 2010 EPS estimates, but maintain our $48 price...

PartnerRe Ltd. (NYSE: PRE) today announced the repurchase of 1,283,336 common shares in a privately negotiated transaction with an institutional shareholder. The shares, totaling approximately 1.7% percent of total common shares outstanding as of September 30, 2010 were purchased at a price per...

PowerShares introduced four new ETFs based on KBW financial industry indexes on 12/02/2010.  This marks the first time that PowerShares and KBW (Keefe, Bruyette & Woods) have teamed up in the ETF space.  Seven other ETFs based on different KBW indexes are currently on the market under the SPDR...

The issuer credit ratings (ICR) and debt ratings of  Manulife Financial Corporation (MFC) have been lowered to “a-” from “a” by A.M. Best Co. The rating agency has also downgraded the ICR and debt ratings to “a-” from “a” of The Manufacturers Investment Corporation, a subsidiary of Manulife...

The issuer credit ratings (ICR) and debt ratings of  Manulife Financial Corporation (MFC) have been lowered to “a-” from “a” by A.M. Best Co. The rating agency has also downgraded the ICR and debt ratings to “a-” from “a” of The Manufacturers Investment Corporation, a subsidiary of Manulife...

The financial strength ratings (FSR) of A (Excellent) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “a” of Travelers Auto Insurance Co. of New Jersey and Travelers of New Jersey Group, wholly owned subsidiaries of The Travelers Companies Inc. (TRV), have been withdrawn by A.M. Best Co. The rating agency has...

The financial strength ratings (FSR) of A (Excellent) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “a” of Travelers Auto Insurance Co. of New Jersey and Travelers of New Jersey Group, wholly owned subsidiaries of The Travelers Companies Inc. (TRV), have been withdrawn by A.M. Best Co. The rating agency has...

We are upgrading our recommendation on the shares of Montpelier Re Holdings (MRH) to Outperform following favorable third quarter earnings, which were well ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate, driven by higher premiums written coupled with lower share count. Montpelier is experiencing growth...

We are upgrading our recommendation on the shares of Montpelier Re Holdings (MRH) to Outperform following favorable third quarter earnings, which were well ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate, driven by higher premiums written coupled with lower share count. Montpelier is experiencing growth...

RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (RNR) has agreed to sell its U.S. property and casualty business to an Australian insurer QBE Holdings, Inc. for about $275 million to get rid of its relatively small operation. RenaissanceRe's U.S. property and casualty business was underwritten through managing...

RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (RNR) has agreed to sell its U.S. property and casualty business to an Australian insurer QBE Holdings, Inc. for about $275 million to get rid of its relatively small operation. RenaissanceRe's U.S. property and casualty business was underwritten through managing...

Rating agency A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength ratings (FSR) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of theproperty and casualty (P&C) and life and health insurance subsidiariesof Assurant, Inc. (AIZ). Also, A.M. Best has affirmed the issuer credit ratings of “bbb” and debt ratings...

Flagstone Reinsurance Holdings, S.A. (NYSE: FSR) announced that its Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $ 0.04 per Common Share. The dividend is payable on December 15th, 2010 to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 1st, 2010.