Buyers Club
AIG, Allstate Corp. and Travelers Cos. are among insurers that could look to make a big purchase. Their smaller property- and-casualty peers surged on speculation they could be targets.
W.R. Berkley and Arch Capital Group Ltd. both rose the most since 2012 on an intraday basis, while XL Group Plc surged the most since last July and Cincinnati Financial Corp. climbed the most since December. All are valued at less than $15 billion.
Hartford Financial with a market capitalization of $18 billion, surged as much as 5.9 percent.
“There is now literally no deal that cannot be contemplated in P&C,” Todd Bault, an analyst at Citigroup Inc., wrote in a report on Wednesday.