AIG – buyback comeback
Occasionally, when the government gives you a huge mountain of money, good things can happen. Shares of AIG, which received a bigger government bailout ($180bn) than any other company, have…
Generali sells Migdal stake for €705m
©Bloomberg Generali, Italy’s largest insurance company by premiums, is to sell its controlling stake in Israeli insurance company Migdal for €705m, 16 per cent less than a sale price agreed…
AIG to sell AIA stock as lock-up expires
AIG is selling about $2bn worth of its remaining stake in Asian insurer AIA in Hong Kong as it builds funds to buy back $5bn of its own stock still…
Direct Line to cut 900 jobs
Royal Bank of Scotland’s insurance arm Direct Line has warned it plans to make almost 900 people redundant as part of a move to cut costs ahead of a planned…
Insurer plans scalpel-shaped skyscraper
The US insurer planning to build London’s newest skyscraper has said the 35-storey tower is a symbol of its ambitious plans for European expansion. WR Berkley, which has commissioned architects…
Quindell looks to a maiden dividend
Quindell Portfolio is considering paying a maiden dividend next year, the latest sign of confidence from the insurance outsourcer that its plan to mop up the industry’s claims management supply…
Talanx plans IPO after a decade of waiting
Talanx, the German insurance group, has announced plans to sell shares in coming weeks in what would be one of Germany’s largest initial public offerings in recent years. Testing market…
Clock ticks for RBS in Direct Line disposal
Four and a half years after RBS put Direct Line up for sale, with a price tag of £7bn, the bank is finally within sight of divesting the insurance business.…
Fallen Phoenix
The motives of perpetrators are frequently the most interesting aspect of any accounting scandal, even when we can only guess at them. Balances were misstated for 18 months at Servo,…
Direct Line boosts operating profit
Direct Line Group reported a jump in first-half operating profit as the UK insurance group gears up for an initial public offering. The 7 per cent increase in operating profit…
Delisting Chinese groups worry insurers
The growing wave of Chinese companies looking to delist from US stock markets is rattling insurers that have sold them millions of dollars worth of cover for defence costs in…
Charity steps up for vulnerable runaways
The girl outside the train station hunches her shoulders as commuters ebb and flow around her. She fiddles with her phone. She does not see Peter Middleton watching her from…
Axa joins SuMi Trust in Tokyo fund
Axa, one of Europe’s largest insurers, has teamed up with Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank to invest Y50bn ($640m) in buying up Tokyo office buildings, providing the latest evidence that…
Insurers face pain, Admiral chief says
Aggressive pricing and rising customer claims are likely to weigh on UK motor insurers for at least another six months, the founder of Admiral has warned. Speaking after the car…
Ryan health plan would boost insurers
©Bloomberg Paul Ryan and family on stage at the Republican convention in Tampa, Florida Paul Ryan’s plan to overhaul Medicare would be a boon for health insurers, driving the elderly…