Alea Share Discussion Threads

[m.t.glass] 13/4/2006 15:25

R&M - damn, they promised they wouldn't publish ;-o

[tigrebone] 13/4/2006 14:32

ME TOO.
FLUSH OUT BUYER AT 79 AND WE'LL BE ON OUR WAY.

[randolph and mortime] 13/4/2006 13:30

Not by almost thirty grand a point, I hope.

[m.t.glass] 13/4/2006 09:07

Increased my short

[paddyfool] 09/4/2006 14:28

An interesting part of the results announcement was the appointment of Mark Cloutier to expedite the run-off and his pedigree at Overseas Partners Re (OP re) where $1.2 billion was returned to shareholder during that run-off.

Well a little bit of research shows that Op re were very asset rich and at no point were financialy challenged. OP re were a captive in Bermuda for UPS. They then became a provider of capacity in the open market but retained their UPS contract. This under pinned the business. They also ran a property business which was very asset rich. It was UPSs withdrawal of the business which caused OP re to decide to call it a day and go into run-off in 2002. It was the liquidation of the property business which provided the bulk of the funds not the run-off.

But more interestingly it took four years to free up funds. So though it reads like Mark Cloutier brings magic the truth is he doesnt and he hasnt had to run-off a distressed insurer/reinsurer.

[m.t.glass] 07/4/2006 16:52

Specialty Risk Services Names Stephen DiCenso Vice President and Actuary
Friday April 7, 8:00 am ET


HARTFORD, Conn., April 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Specialty Risk Services (SRS), one of the nation's largest property casualty third party administrators for workers' compensation and general liability claims, announces the appointment of Stephen R. DiCenso, FCAS, MAAA as vice president and actuary for SRS' Benchmarking division.
(Photo:

Based in SRS' headquarters in Hartford, Conn., DiCenso will be responsible for overseeing the actuarial services of SRS providing statistical analysis and consulting services to more than 150 clients nationwide. He and his team will analyze claim data and identify trends for external clients, as well as monitor the internal performance of SRS Regional Offices on a quarterly basis.

Prior to accepting his new role, DiCenso served as assistant vice president and actuary for The Hartford Bond department. Prior to that he has held actuarial positions of increasing responsibility at Aetna Life & Casualty, Coregis Insurance Group, Deloitte & Touche and Alea Alternative Risk, where he was in charge of pricing and reserving practices for a book of business comprised primarily of workers' compensation handled by third party administrators.

"We are pleased to welcome Steve DiCenso to Specialty Risk Services," states Joe Boures, president of SRS. "He is a performance-driven executive with strong leadership and actuarial management skills, and is a great addition to our senior leadership team."

DiCenso is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Northwestern University and has completed The Hartford's Business Mastery Certificate Program.

About Specialty Risk Services

Based in Hartford, CT, Specialty Risk Services, LLC (SRS) is one of the largest Third Party Administrators in the industry. Founded in 1990, the company provides workers' compensation, auto, general and product liability, integrated disability, claim administration and risk management services nationwide. Approved by more than 18 insurance carriers, SRS offers bundled and unbundled services to both self-insured and insured clients, including many Fortune 1000 companies.


Contact: Specialty Risk Services
April Staley
860/520-2585
[e-mail]




I checked. The AAR from where he is moving on seems to be part of same Alea Group.
Incidentally, I can't help noticing that in all their recent press releases, Alea argue that their demise is due to downgrades of their status, which in turn are brought about by weakness of reserves, which again were just unfortunate to be hit by a bunch of hurricanes. No recent reference to them ever having merely mispriced or miscalculated anything themselves ;-o

[m.t.glass] 07/4/2006 12:26

I heard that!
You just concentrate on your lot beating Brum please. I've got 3 bets with Spindex on that game. (Wigan to win; to do so by more than 0.6 goals; and for 2nd goal (by whichever team) to be sooner than 61st minute)

[wiganer] 07/4/2006 11:32

I imagine being an ALEA employee must feel a lot like being a Baggies fan right now... ;-)

[m.t.glass] 05/4/2006 13:51

Can't be much fun for the 200+ employees that haven't left yet - working for a firm that is effectively preparing its own funeral. No matter what incentives they've been offered to see the job through, and no matter how committed they pretend to be, there must be quite a few about to walk. I presume the incentives must be time and task related (ie you lose it if you go early or before completing whatever).

[paddyfool] 05/4/2006 12:42

A friend of a friend told me that some of the run-off companies were interested but at a price significantly below curent market value and most of that as a loan note......tells you a lot about the real under lying value...

[shanksaj] 05/4/2006 10:09

MTG

Many thanks

[m.t.glass] 05/4/2006 09:05

Also the price they get for selling remaining rights is sure to progressively worsen - so anyone extrapolating from deals already done is kidding themselves. Ditto with commutation terms, as those yet to agree will presumably find out what's been agreed so far and demand something meaner.

Edit: Shanks - Cantor. Alea online quotes available for Sept, June, or daily.

[shanksaj] 05/4/2006 08:58

M.T.G.,

Please could you say which company did you add to your short with?

Thanks

[paddyfool] 05/4/2006 08:42

Lets face it if they had $2.78 a share they would be underwriting new business. Its all fantasy but it will take a little time for this to emerge. The key thing to note is that they are not saying they will distribute that much per share in fact they go out of their way to say that they do not know how much or when.

[achilles] 04/4/2006 17:51

closed short. ouch..

[m.t.glass] 04/4/2006 14:53

Minus £3.53 stamp duty ;o)

Reappeared again I see.

[adeyberry] 04/4/2006 13:45

Even so, for £23, was it worth it!!

[wiganer] 04/4/2006 13:33

Unless they're on a free trading special.

[m.t.glass] 04/4/2006 13:32

If that was someone buying 918 at 77p and selling at 79.5p half hour later, they only achieved breakeven..

[wiganer] 04/4/2006 13:19

e.g. Shanks- see post 580

[adeyberry] 04/4/2006 13:18

Yes, an interesting day in the life of ALEA it has to be said!

IMO, it's simply shorters closing, and as the price creeps up, more shorters panicking and closing.....a vicious circle as such!!

I find it amusing that they have decided to let the staff offload their shares early, as from next Tuesday! Little faith there I'd say!!

Lets hope they all do it through the order book....

[m.t.glass] 04/4/2006 12:56

Absolutely nothing in this company or its results to actually inspire anyone to buy as an investment. So I assume the buyers are mostly (a) closers of shorts cashing in for the tax year end, and (b) traders taking quick advantage of the upkick predictably generated by those closers buying, and (c) a handful of gormless folk who think they've spotted a cheap recovery stock.

But then, I would say that wouldn't I ;-)

[shanksaj] 04/4/2006 12:10

Closed remainder of short this am as I saw the share beginning to rise. They aren't going to tell analysts all bad news are they? So analysts will come out saying they expect some cash to be returned to shareholders.

[paddyfool] 04/4/2006 10:07

Well we know that the run-off companies have turned their noses up at it. Also we are absolutely nowhere near any kind of finality. The reserve position is clearly being understated.