Investopedia: Flagstone A Multi-Year Rebuilding Story

Insurance is a mixed bag these days. Rates seem to be firming up, but many reinsurance companies have had to absorb losses tied to several disasters. Unfortunately, underwriting discipline has apparently become a problem at Flagstone Reinsurance (NYSE:FSR), and investors are looking at a multi-year rebuilding story with this insurer.

Fourth Quarter Results More of the Same, Only More so  
Flagstone ended the year on pretty weak footing. Gross written premiums dropped 3%, while net written premiums fell 18%. To a certain extent, this was not very surprising - not only have many reinsurers seen iffy premium growth, but Flagstone has been actively looking to cut its risk exposure.

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http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2012/Flagstone-A-Multi-Year-Rebuilding-Story-FSR-ACGL-AON-MMC0301.aspx

Investopedia: ACE And Arch Capital - Can Investors Look To These A-List Insurers?

Hardly anyone seems to have noticed, but 2012 has been a pretty good year for some of the large corporate insurers. True, there have been natural disasters this year and the rate environment isn't great, but many of the top players like ACE (NYSE:ACE), Arch Capital Group (Nasdaq:ACGL) and Renaissance RE (NYSE:RNR) have seen their stocks solidly beat the market this year. Of course, it's not all perfect in P&C and reinsurance - companies like XL Group (NYSE: XL) and PartnerRe (NYSE:PRE) have seen their stocks sell off this year. (For additional reading, see When Things Go Awry, Insurers Get Reinsured.)

The question for investors, though, is whether the recovery in 2011 has taken away the value in top-notch names like ACE and Arch Capital.


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http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/ACE-And-Arch-Capital---Can-Investors-Look-To-These-A-List-Insurers--ACGL-ACE-RNR-XL-PRE-WSH-AON1229.aspx

Investopedia: Berkshire Hathaway Makes An Unusual Bid For Transatlantic

These are strange days in the economy and the financial markets, so perhaps it is fitting that the Transatlantic Holdings (NYSE:TRH) merger saga just got a little stranger. After all, it was odd enough that Transatlantic was the subject of competing bids that both undervalued this rare U.S.-domiciled reinsurance company. Now, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A) is stepping in with a proposal when the company normally has preferred to act much more subtly in its acquisitions.


The Latest Bid
Berkshire Hathaway, famously led by Warren Buffett, does not traditionally do hostile deals nor engage in public auctions. Typically Buffett's deal terms are "here's our deal, we expect a quick response and discretion". In this case, however, Berkshire's bid for Transatlantic does not seem to be the normal sort of arrangement where the deal is signed, sealed and delivered before the public even gets wind of it.


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http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/Berkshire-Hathaway-Makes-An-Unusual-Bid-For-Transatlantic-TRH-BRK.A-AWH-VR-AIG-AON-MMC0809.aspx