...is on track to meet its previous forecasts for the full year, which included a year on year increase in profits, it said this week at a New York conference. The company predicted an insurance margin of between 16% and 18% for the full year, with gross written premiums up more than 15%.

US-based specialty p/c insurer HCC Insurance Holdings has agreed to sell London-based reinsurance broking affiliate Rattner MacKenzie Ltd to Marsh & McLennan's reinsurance broking subsidiary Guy Carpenter. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close this month. Rattner was formed in 1988 and became part of Texas-based HCC in 1999. The company specializes in accident/health, aviation trade credit and p/c insurance and reinsurance. In addition to servicing a number of third-party clients, Rattner Mackenzie Ltd places HCC's reinsurance programmes in the London market. "This transaction will enable HCC to focus on its core business while enabling RML to develop its business proposition in conjunction with Guy Carpenter, which we believe to be an ideal home for RML", said HCC president and chief executive John Molbeck. "The acquisition of RML is further demonstration of our strategy to build our capabilities in the specialty sector", said Guy Carpenter president and chief executive Peter Zaffino.

...said at the weekend that it closed a block purchase of 71% of the outstanding shares of Paris Re and that it would take possession of another 6% of its shares "in the coming days", giving PartnerRe 83% ownership of the French-listed, Swiss-based reinsurer.

General Re CEO Franklin Montross has said that more mergers of reinsurers in Bermuda could follow the tie-up between Validus Re and IPCRe. Speaking at a conference in Ottowa reported by Bloomberg. "There are a lot of companies down there; many of them are quite small". Mr Montross added that the economy was weighing on demand for cover. "If we could add some new clients, that would be great. But I think it's going to be a difficult year for that".