What’s New: In brief (September 29, 2006)

The board of directors of Transatlantic Reinsurance Co., a subsidiary of Transatlantic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: TRH), recently elected new officers. The appointments in the New York office include: Timothy Butts, vice president; Richard Boivin, assistant vice president; Tonya Davies, assistant vice president, and Vincent Eng, secretary. In the Tokyo office, Yasunori Murase has been appointed to the position of assistant vice president.

The combined ratios for “all five major European reinsurance groups” for the first half of 2006 are below 100% as a result of low natural catastrophe losses and strong mid-year renewals, according to a recent European Quarterly Report released by Benfield. According to Lewis Phillips, a member of Benfield’s industry analysis & research team says the reinsurers took advantage of the favorable environment and tightened their risk management procedures. “Strong underwriting results were boosted by higher investment income, driven by rising bond yields,” the report, entitled “Hoping for the Best,” claims. “Significant capital gains helped earnings growth for most, generating a marked improvement in net profits.” Benfield says: “Swiss Re’s shareholders’ funds rose 17% as it raised equity to finance the acquisition of GE Insurance Solutions. Elsewhere, capitalization was broadly unchanged as positive net income was offset by the effects of higher bond yields and adverse currency translation impacts.”