Reinsurance companies are known for their striking and unusual names. So Backchat was amused, but hardly surprised, to read about Gollum Re and Mocha Re.
Suspicions were raised, however, when Backchat discovered Burl Juggernaut III, Gollum Re's chief executive's views on underwriting: "In my day, it was all about the size of your premium income. Nowadays, people are too focused on modelling, analysis, and understanding the risk."
Well quite.
And Mocha Re's top man Sir Nobby Johnson has some interesting views on finite reinsurance. "We used to have a thriving finite re business here at Mocha Re until certain regulators gave it a bad name. From now on, we here at Mocha Re will call any multi-year contract with limited risk, 'Alright Reinsurance'.
"These supervisor chaps cry foul if they so much as hear the F-word. So we're going to throw them off the scent by giving the business a more acceptable name."
It could almost be true.