The week's winners

Kiln up 13%
SVB up 10.6%

The week's losers

Royal & SunAlliance down 9.7%
Aviva down 8%

Weeks of uncertainty ended when Trenwick Managing Agents announced on Monday that it had secured funding to support its capacity at Lloyd's next year.

Capacity on its Syndicate 839 will be £315m, with £215m supported by its parent group and up to £100m of aviation business supported by National Indemnity Company, an affiliate of Berkshire Hathaway.

The total premium capacity for Syndicate 839 in 2002 is £341m.

The Lloyd's managing agent had been negotiating for weeks with its creditors to extend the letter of credit it needed to continue its involvement at Lloyd's.

The news initially sent the share price up, with a gain of nearly 15% on the day of the announcement, but this fell away the following day as it dropped by nearly 18% to $1.15.

The quoted Lloyd's operator, Amlin, increased its letter of credit by £10m.

Amlin's Syndicate 2001 will be able increase its gross written premium by 22% for the 2003 year of account.

Its wholly-owned capacity will increase by 49% to £861m, up from £678m, with the total at £1bn, including an extra £100m from quota share facilities.

Royal & SunAlliance (R&SA) continued its downward trend despite considerable media interest in its restructuring plans.

Prospective buyers are also being given the lowdown on its private medical insurance and Merrill Lynch put a bullish valuation on its Australasian operations. It is rumoured that R&SA's estate agency Fox & Sons is up for sale.

If the antipodean unit fetches the £746m the broker thinks possible, it would certainly bring the beleaguered insurer some much needed encouragement.

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