Alex Ferguson writes.....

The (re)insurance industry has never been slow to spot an opportunity.

When there's blood, limbs and bodies on the street, then the (re)insurance industry moves. Well, now carnage is everywhere with financial insitutions and commercial insurance business, everyone and his wife seems to be starting - or increasing - their casualty business.

In recent days we've seen WR Berkley start BerkleyPro, Torus appoint a new head for its global casualty business, and Lockton hire three brokers to head up its financial institutions business.

Add to this Ace deciding to offer commercial D&O from Lloyd's, and you've got an increasingly booming sector.

Wasn't this the same sector that Aon's head of America's Mike Bungert said that the only way it could be resurrected was for journalists to put out the headline: "Toothpaste causes cancer?"

And there was me thinking that all financial institutions had to do was to go to the US government if they needed a big insurance deal....