Zurich Financial Services AG, Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Group Plc and other European insurers will ask investors for at least $5 billion as investment losses mount and their shares plunge.
Zurich Financial last week said it plans to raise as much as $2.5 billion by selling shares after posting its biggest-ever loss.
Royal & Sun, which has said it will decide by Nov. 7 whether to sell shares, needs to raise 750 million pounds ($1.2 billion), according to Merrill Lynch & Co.
British insurer Legal & General Group Plc and FranceÂ's Scor SA have said they will tap investors too.
The 27-member Bloomberg Europe 500 Insurance Index has fallen about 46 percent this year.
(source: Bloomberg)
