Insurance broker Arthur J. Gallagher's chief executive is upbeat about the firms third-quarter performance, and told analysts that rate increases are necessary for the industrys health.

ACE Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Evan Greenberg says September was the best month for pricing this year, and a statement by Fitch says it is seeing positive rate increases, but as Greenberg says, whether the trend continues remains to be seen.

ACE Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Evan Greenberg says September was the best month for pricing this year, and a statement by Fitch says it is seeing positive rate increases, but as Greenberg says, whether the trend continues remains to be seen.

W. R. Berkley Corp. says its third-quarter net income was down 18.1 percent to $77 million, from $94 million during the same period a year ago.

Transatlantic Holdings Inc. says third-quarter net income was down nearly 50 percent due to $71 million in catastrophe losses and $57 million in costs mostly related to the termination of its merger agreement with Allied World Assurance Co. Holdings.

Many of the factors that need to be in place for a property and casualty market turn are notat least not to cause the type of sharp turn toward a robust hard market, says economist Robert Hartwig.

Hurricane Rina has weakened to a Category 1 storm and is expected to weaken further over the next two days, contrary to earlier forecasts that had the storm strengthening to a Category 3 storm.

Catastrophe modeler AIR Worldwide puts estimated insured losses from the magnitude 7.2 earthquake in eastern Turkey at between $55 million and $170 million, lower than the $100 million to $200 million estimate released yesterday by Eqecat.