Bermuda:Re
Bermuda Re/insurance . September 2008
Editorial
Bermuda Re/insurance is published
by Newton Media Limited.
Newton Lodge
15-17 Newton Way
Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth
NG33 5NR, United Kingdom
Consulting editor: Roger Crombie
Email: editorial@newtonmedia.co.uk
Deputy editor: Samantha Birch
For a dozen years, the phrase “ACE and XL” has been
Email: sbirch@newtonmedia.co.uk
Sub-editor: Susan Gault
shorthand for the entire insurance sector in Bermuda. Now,
Editorial advisors:
suddenly, ACE is a Swiss company and XL has stumbled
Bradley Kading
David Fox
badly and requires surgery. The rest of the industry is pretty
Publishers: John Eddington
Nicholas Lipinski
buoyant in Bermuda, but change of a kind not experienced in
Advertising: John Eddington
Telephone: +44 1476 861 737
20 years has come to the top end of the market.
Email: john@newtonmedia.co.uk
Advertising: Nicholas Lipinski
Telephone: +44 020 8290 4943
—Roger Crombie, FCA
Email: nlipinski@newtonmedia.co.uk
Production and design:
Strano and Pettigrew Design Associates Inc.
67 Mowat Avenue
Suite 239
Toronto, Ontario
M6K 3E3 Canada
Telephone: +1 416 533 7171
Evan Greenberg took ACE to Switzerland to The staff lay-offs were understandable. It’s
Fax: +1 416 535 7526
Email: info@stranoandpettigrew.com
escape the clutches of Uncle Sam. Greenberg the right time to make the hard decisions. XL
www.stranoandpettigrew.com never liked Bermuda, unlike his father, who had grown from one man with a briefcase
©Newton Media Limited 2008.
has been seen lately at the Southampton and a telephone booth to 325 employees at XL
All rights reserved.
Princess, no longer able to enjoy his traditional House alone. With staff reductions around
No part of this publication may be reproduced, accommodation at Richmond Road. ACE’s the world, Bermuda, one might argue, got off
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any
departure could have been worse: Bermuda still lightly. That will come as no consolation to
form or by any means, electrical, mechanical,
has its insurance and reinsurance businesses. the 50 or so displaced Bermuda staff, many
photocopying, recording or otherwise without the
prior written permission of the publisher.
For XL, however, things could not have been
of whom will reappear in another team’s
The views expressed in Bermuda Re/insurance
much worse. After 20 years of extraordinary
colours soon.
are not necessarily those shared by the publisher, growth, the giant took a tumble over Security The question remains: can McGavick right
Newton Media Limited. Wishing to reflect the
Capital Assurance (now called Syncora), the the ship? He’s done it before. The market
true nature of Bermuda, the editor has included
financial guarantee subsidiary of which it had certainly thinks he’s got it in him. He asked for
articles from a number of sources, and the views
spun off 54 percent. $2.0 billion—95 percent of it for Syncora. One
expressed are those of the individual contributors.
No responsibility or liability is accepted by Mike McGavick, XL’s likeable new chief
way and another, XL raised $3.4 billion. Hey
Newton Media Limited for any loss to any person,
executive officer, said he planned to deal first with
presto, Syncora is solved (one hopes) and XL has
legal or physical, as a result of any statement, fact
Security Capital and then focus on containing
$1.5 billion in new capital for its core insurance
or figure contained in Bermuda Re/insurance.
surprise fourth-quarter billion-dollar losses,
and reinsurance businesses.
This publication is not a substitute for advice on a
specific transaction.
which had become something of a pattern in the XL back on its feet, half a dozen competitors
The publication of advertisements does not
last few years. McGavick then eased the pressure jostling to join it at the top of the tables:
represent endorsement by the publisher. on XL by recapitalising Syncora, producing what
nothing wrong with the Bermuda market, as
Bermuda Re/insurance—ISSN 1749-4508
will be a surprise third-quarter loss for XL of usual, heading into the height of the Atlantic
Cover image: ©iStockphoto.com/ Karl Dolenc
about $1.4 billion. The plan is: it’ll be the last. hurricane season.
Bermuda Re/insurance . September 2008 3
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