What’s New: In Brief (December 05, 2006)

The Co-Operators has formed a cross-company committee to address concerns about insurance availability, affordability, volatility and accessibility facing the country’s non-profit and voluntary sectors.
It created the committee following a 2004 advisory panel in Moncton, NB, in which community leaders raised the question of insurance for volunteer groups with company representatives, The Co-Operators says in a press release.
“In response to their concerns, The Co-Operators established a cross-country committee to examine the issues and develop solutions,” the release says.
“We are committed to helping build safer, stronger communities,” said Kathy Bardswick, the president and CEO of The Co-operators. “We need to better support our volunteers by addressing their unique insurance needs, so they can continue to strengthen the social fabric of our country.
“Our goal is to become the insurer of choice for volunteers and the non-profit sector.”
While the company develops long-term solutions, in the meantime it has clarified the coverage currently offered to people acting in volunteer capacities through home and auto policies.
For example, homeowner’s insurance policies automatically provide some coverage for volunteers, and there is automatic coverage, subject to the limits and conditions of the policy purchased, for those who use their vehicles to carry out normal volunteer activities.

Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited has announced the price of an underwritten public offering of 9 million shares of Odyssey Re Holdings Corp.
The common stock has been priced at US$34.60 per share, resulting in net profits to Fairfax of approximately US$300 million.
The underwriters have the option to purchase up to 1.350 million additional shares of common stock to cover over-allotments, if any, says a company release.
The offering was jointly led by Citigroup Corporate and Investment Banking and Wachovia Capital Markets, LLC.
In a press release, Fairfax said it “intends to use the proceeds it receives from the offering for general corporate purposes, which may include opportunistically effecting open market or privately negotiated repurchases of its outstanding debt or shares.”
Odyssey Re will not receive any proceeds from the sale of the shares.