The week's winners
Goshawk up 7.7%
Brit up 5.3%

The week's losers
Allianz down 4.1%
SVB down 3%

Munich Re chairman Hans-Jürgen Schinzler is to step down after 11 years, the latest victim of the turmoil in German financial services.

He will make way for board member Nikolaus von Bomhard, 16 years his junior, at the end of the year.

The changes come just before fellow German insurer Allianz was due to make parallel changes of its own.

Its chairman Henning Schulte-Noelle handed over to Michael Diekmann on Tuesday.

Both companies were rewarded by investors.

Munich Re gained 5.7% to E90.1 while Allianz gained 7.2% to E65.27.

XL revealed a combined ratio of 86.1% on its first quarter results. Net income was $250m against $89.5m in the first quarter of last year but market reaction was muted - the stock slipped 1.5% to $81.58.

Over in the brokers' camp, Willis shareholders launched a secondary offering of 17,400,000 shares.

The shares were being sold by Profit Sharing (Overseas), an affiliate of Willis backers Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co, and Fisher Capital.

Willis would not issue any shares itself, it said. Its stock slipped 1.6% to $30.29.

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