C'est le vie would probably sum up Andy Haste's week. Royal & SunAlliance's chief executive finally off-loaded the life book to Resolution Life for £850m. But instead of a slap on the back, the City gave Haste a swift one in the face by pushing the share price down from 73p to 71p.
It seems a little unfair for the chief executive who now controls a relatively healthy general insurer with tight underwriting. By Tuesday this may have sunk in as its shares rallied to 76p.
Converium became last week's comeback king after its shareholders approved its $420m rights issue. Analysts have decided to give the management a break and see whether the smaller group can take advantage of the hard reinsurance market post-hurricane season.
Rumours from the City this week indicate that Cox Insurance could be in play. Its share price is languishing at 69p and the gossip is that major backer Warburg Pincus is openly touting its holding.
Lloyd's third capacity auction last week saw Atrium and Hardy boost their chances of new business with an increase in capacity.
