Bermuda Re/Insurance February / March 2009

Bermuda:Re
Bermuda Re/insurance . February/March 2009
Editorial
Bermuda Re/insurance is published
by Newton Media Limited.
Newton Lodge
15-17 Newton Way
Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth
NG33 5NR, United Kingdom
Editor: Delroy Alexander
Email: dalexander@newtonmedia.co.uk
Deputy editor: Samantha Birch
Email: sbirch@newtonmedia.co.uk Regulators are being pressured to add a new layer of rules
Sub-editor: Susan Gault
forcing companies to be more transparent, but they must
Editorial advisors:
Bradley Kading
first find a way to cut through the complexity and confusion
David Fox
Publishers: John Eddington inherent in the current approach.
Nicholas Lipinski
Advertising: John Eddington
Telephone: +44 1476 861 737
Email: john@newtonmedia.co.uk
Advertising: Nicholas Lipinski
Telephone: +44 020 8290 4943
Email: nlipinski@newtonmedia.co.uk
Production and design:
Strano and Pettigrew Design Associates Inc.
Amid the global capital market turmoil, to do that. However, the trend in the past decade
67 Mowat Avenue demands by investors, rating agencies, customers has been away from this. Increasingly, time-
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and employees for greater transparency consuming and costly accounting rules are forcing
Toronto, Ontario
are both warranted and necessary. When companies to detail and record often meaningless
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confidence is knocked, it’s only right that we
changes that benefit few, if any, people.
Fax: +1 416 535 7526 look to executives to provide a reassuring hand
What both the re/insurers and the market
Email: info@stranoandpettigrew.com
on the shoulder.
want, is a uniform, easy-to-apply system that
www.stranoandpettigrew.com
It is heartening to see the response from
allows a typical investor to see through the
©Newton Media Limited 2008.
Bermuda’s re/insurers. Evidence of the willingness
smoke and mirrors to relatively quickly take the
All rights reserved.
to detail more about what they do can be seen
No part of this publication may be reproduced,
pulse of a company’s performance.
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any
in our survey of leading chief financial officers.
Is it too much to ask that life is made easier,
form or by any means, electrical, mechanical, Their considered responses (page 14) give a
rather than harder, for those that work and play
photocopying, recording or otherwise without the
valuable insight into how they are approaching
prior written permission of the publisher.
in the markets.
some of the toughest financial times since
The views expressed in Bermuda Re/insurance
the Great Depression.
are not necessarily those shared by the publisher,
Growth lines
Newton Media Limited. Wishing to reflect the
As the people charged with delivering that
true nature of Bermuda, the editor has included greater transparency, CFOs are at the forefront
The fallout from the financial crisis will
articles from a number of sources, and the views
of reshaping the information we will see. But,
clearly have an impact on one of the fastest-
expressed are those of the individual contributors.
they are rightly concerned about how that
growing areas of the market, excess & surplus
No responsibility or liability is accepted by
process is being managed.
lines (page 24). With market leader American
Newton Media Limited for any loss to any person,
legal or physical, as a result of any statement, In the rush to force change, regulators around
International Group eating US Government cash
fact or figure contained in Bermuda Re/insurance.
the world are coming under increasing pressure
like a shredder, Bermuda re/insurers smell blood
This publication is not a substitute for advice on a
to be more prescriptive. Accounting bodies are
in the water. Many now are looking to and see
specific transaction.
racing to usher in new rules. CFOs are rightly
signs that prices are at last beginning to harden.
The publication of advertisements does not
represent endorsement by the publisher.
concerned about the value and adequacy of the While the full impact of the crisis is still to
Bermuda Re/insurance—ISSN 1749-4508
changes they are likely to be asked to make. be seen, all agree that the E&S market is one to
Cover image:
What we all want is a clearer picture of how watch. And, as actor Jimmy Stewart once said:
©iStockphoto.com/Sebastian Kaulitzki/Eraxion a company makes its money and the risks it takes “One man’s sunset is another man’s dawn.”
Bermuda Re/insurance . February/March 2009 3
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