E&S/Specialty

Ace Ltd. says it reversed a third-quarter loss a year ago by turning a profit of $640 million during the same period this year, despite booking a $97 million after-tax loss in its crop insurance segment.

William R. Berkley says reserve deficiencies are driving the need for the marketplace to increase rates, but the abilities of some companies to take corrective actions will lessen.

Total policy limits for transactional-risk insurance have increased by 35 percent to $2.3 billion in the 12 months preceding June 2012, reports Marsh, showing that businesses are turning to the insurance market for protection from the risks of mergers and acquisitions.

A convective storm front on Wednesday caused six tornado touchdowns in Alabama and Arkansas and hail and wind damage in several other states, reports EQECAT, but 2012 has seen fewer of these storm systems than last year, forecasters say.

OneBeacon is selling its runoff business to Armour Group and its subsidiary dedicated to the collector car and boat market to Markel Corp.

Specialty program manager Meadowbrook Insurance Group Inc. says it expects to add more than $31 million to its reserves to handle higher-than-expected loss activity from accident years 2009, 2010 and 2011.