The Italian insurance Group GENERALI closed 1Q2014 with a solvency ratio of 152%, achieving approximately 160% at the end of April, "the highest results achieved by the Group since the introduction of IAS / IFRS in 2005," as mentioned by the group's press release.

PZU Group, the CEE's largest insurer, ended 1Q2014 with a net financial result of about EUR 182 million (PLN 760.4 million), declining by 9.2% y-o-y. The net result net of one-off events such as commencing the consolidation of mutual funds, the settlement with the Green Card reinsurer and the effect of converting long-term policies into yearly-renewable term insurance in type P group business, rose by 18.9% y-o-y. ROE for 1Q2014 was 22.5%, down 0.4 pp y-o-y.

ZURICH Insurance Group reported a business operating profit (BOP) of USD 1.38 billion (2% more y-o-y) and net income attributable to shareholders (NIAS) of USD 1.27 billion for the three months ended March 31, 2014, or 20% more y-o-y. "This is a solid start to the year," said Chief Financial Officer George QUINN.

The Italian group GENERALI has announced the appointment of Isabelle CONNER as the new Group Chief Marketing Officer. Mrs. CONNER is responsible for developing and coordinating the GENERALI brand and the customer relationship management strategy across the Group.

Helvetia takes over Basler Versicherungen in Austria for EUR 130 million, thereby becoming one of the Top 10 Austrian insurance companies. The Helvetia Group is set to purchase Basler Versicherungen in Austria, a subsidiary of Baloise Group. In 2013, the Vienna-based company generated a premium volume of EUR 135.3 million, of which non-life accounted for EUR 105.5 million and life for EUR 29.8 million.

Aegon delivered a strong set of first quarter results in 2014, maintaining the positive momentum of previous quarters. Pensions, variable annuities and asset management all drove strong sales.

"Aviva's overall performance in the first quarter was reassuringly calm and stable, in marked contrast to the weather and regulatory developments. The value of new business increased by 13% — the sixth consecutive quarter of year-on-year growth — and our book value grew by 6%." (Mark Wilson, Group Chief Executive Officer)

KBC ended the first quarter of 2014 with a net profit of 397 million euros,compared with a loss of 294 million euros in the last quarter of 2013 and a profit of 520 million euros in the first quarter of 2013.

SWISS Re reported a net income of USD 1.23 billion for the first quarter of 2014 (vs. USD 1.38 billion in 1Q2013), while the value of earned premiums and fee income increased by 11%, to USD 7.55 billion.

Germany's third largest insurance group - TALANX AG is now listed at the Warsaw Stock Exchange. The insurance group started trading there on April 23, 2014 at a price of PLN 120.00 (~EUR 28.5). The TALANX shares are already listed at the stock exchanges in Frankfurt and Hannover.

German reinsurer HANNOVER Re reported for the first-quarter a 0.7% increase in net income to EUR 233 million and a 3.6% contraction in gross written premium to EUR 3.6 billion (EUR 3.8 billion in 1Q2013), while after adjustment for exchange rate effects, net premium earned decreased 2.6% to EUR 2.9 billion. Further, HANNOVER Re reaffirmed its net income guidance in the order of EUR 850 million for the full financial year.

The risk and insurance brokerage services provider AON reported a net income attributable to shareholders of USD 325 million for the first three months of the year, up from USD 261 million in the first quarter of 2013. Total revenue increased by 1%, to USD 2.9 billion during the first quarter (over Q1 in 2013).

MARSH & McLENNAN Companies (MMC) reported for the first quarter 2014 consolidated revenues of USD 3.3 billion, representing an increase of 4% as compared with 1Q2013. At the same time, operating income rose by 11% to USD 673 million, while the net income attributable to the Company was USD 443 million (or USD 0.80 per share) compared with USD 413 million (or USD 0.74 per share), in the previous year.

The French reinsurer SCOR posted a net income of EUR 135 million during 1Q2014, 21.6% up y-o-y, while the reinsurance group's GWP stood at EUR 2,669 million, 14.8% up at constant exchange rates (+11.8% at current exchange rates). These results were "driven by healthy SCOR Global P&C renewals, major new contracts signed by SCOR Global Life and the GENERALI US contribution", the company stated in a press release.

ALLIANZ Group has released the 1Q2014 preliminary figures according to which the total revenues for the first quarter of 2014 reached around EUR 34 billion, the highest quarterly revenues in the company's history (6.25% up y-o-y).

Starting May 10th, 2014 Sanel VOLARIC will be the new CEO of CROATIA Osiguranje (CO), the Croatian insurance market's leader. The Croatian supervising authority has also approved the appointment of Andrej KOSTOMAJ and Nikola MISETIC as members of the CO Board. The new management team's task is to implement the CO's restructuring plan after the company's purchase by the ADRIS Group.

SWISS Re's Board of Directors announces that Patrick RAAFLAUB, the former CEO of Switzerland's financial market supervisory authority FINMA, will join SWISS Re and be appointed as member of the Group Executive Committee and new Group Chief Risk Officer (CRO) starting September 1st, 2014.

The GrECo Group was able to continue its long-term growth in the business year 2013. The consolidated group revenues increased by 6% to 76 million EUR. Especially the good performance of the subsidiaries in Poland and Serbia boosted this growth. The total premium volume serviced by the GrECo Group increased to 586 million EUR. Our clients are serviced by 820 employees. This is an increase of 9% in comparison to 2012 and can mainly be attributed to the foundation of new subsidiaries in Turkey and Estonia.

"ING Group made a strong start to 2014, posting a first-quarter underlying net result of EUR 988 million while demonstrating good commercial growth," said Ralph Hamers, CEO of ING Group. "At the same time, we reached significant milestones in our restructuring plan and sharpened the strategic priorities of our businesses to ensure they remain sustainable and competitive."

ACE Limited today reported net income for the quarter ended March 31, 2014, of USD 2.14 per share, compared with USD 2.77 per share for the same quarter last year. Operating income was USD 2.27 per share, compared with USD 2.17 per share for the same quarter last year. Book value and tangible book value per share increased 2.4% and 3.0%, respectively, from December 31, 2013. Book value and tangible book value per share now stand at USD 86.90 and USD 70.97, respectively. Operating return on equity for the quarter was 11.2%. The property and casualty (P&C) combined ratio for the quarter was 88.8%.