Stockwatch: SiriusPoint surges on Loeb standstill deal
The selected insurance stocks outperformed the wider equity markets overall, rising 0.9% on average
Hedge fund investor to postpone takeover attempt; insurance stocks outperform
Shares in SiriusPoint leapt 12.1% in the week to August 9 as the Bermudian firm struck a "standstill deal" with fund manager shareholder Daniel Loeb following his aborted takeover bid earlier this year.
Loeb has agreed not to attempt to acquire the company for at least two years, and his shareholding has been capped at 9.5%.
The latest dramatic hike in the share price means SiriusPoint has delivered a 78.1% gain for investors so far in 2023, and an incredible 130% in the past 12 months.
Elsewhere on the New York Stock Exchange, shares in Greenlight Capital Re (+10.2%) also surged, taking its year-to-date performance to +40.1%.
Insurance Day’s selected insurance stocks outperformed the wider equity markets overall, rising 0.9% on average, and with every sub-group except brokers (-2.4%) beating their regional indexes.
Lloyd’s (+2%) comfortably bettered the FTSE 100 (+0.3%) as Lancashire (+3.2%) and Beazley (+4.8%) fared strongly.
Shares in Lancashire rose as the firm reported an increase in first-half profits and a surge in gross written premiums, and embattled Beazley (+4.8%) bounced back even more strongly after announcing it performance was on track for 2023 – and the departure of long-term chief financial officer, Sally Lake.
Hiscox, however, fell 2% and plummeted a further 6% on August 10 after its first-half results fell short of expectations.
Among the brokers, WTW (-5.1%) endured another poor week. Having slipped 17.3% in the year-to-date while its two main competitors have gained value, BMO downgraded the stock to “underperform” from “market perform”.