The week's winners
Windsor up 9.6%
JLT up 4.6%
The week's losers
Goshawk down 10.2%
Royal & SunAlliance down 9.1%
Royal & SunAlliance (R&SA) saw its share price fall to a new low after analysts said it could be facing a huge deficit on its staff pension scheme.
Fitch, the ratings agency, reacted swiftly by downgrading the group to BBB+ from A minus - a possible trigger for meltdown, some brokers believe.
Experts at Morgan Stanley believe the UK insurance industry has a £2.8bn shortfall on its pension schemes as a result of stock market falls, with R&SA described as the worst affected.
They estimated the insurer's pension deficit could be up to £1.2bn and wiped £848m off their valuation of R&SA.
The stock fell to 73.25p, its lowest point in a decade.
A spokesman for R&SA said: "The assumptions they've used to make the figure of £1.2bn contradict actions, already announced, that we've taken.
"The pension fund scheme was closed in April 2002 and that will reduce the load on the scheme over time."
Elsewhere, it was intriguing to note the rise of Windsor's stock last week. That came despite the loss of a team of leisure specialist brokers to Opus, the independent group.
Opus, which plans to grow by 40% this year, said it was on the lookout for acquisitions.
Hosted by comedian and actor Tom Allen, 34 Gold, 23 Silver and 22 Bronze awards were handed out across an amazing 34 categories recognising brilliance and innovation right across the breadth of UK general insurance.
