Brokers

Nephila Capital's equity investment in new managing general agency (MGA) Volante Global will not see its ILS funds taking on any underwriting risk sourced by the start-up, but the catastrophe specialist has not ruled this out in the future

Cat bond volumes reached $11.1bn in 2017, according to Trading Risk records, as new sponsors Validus Re and Covea wrapped up fourth quarter deals in a record year for issuance

ILS broker-dealers are expecting another $10bn issuance year for the cat bond market, as (re)insurance buyers seek to manage post-loss pricing adjustments

Allianz Risk Transfer (ART) has closed a second private cat bond covering weather at $14.5mn

Australia, the Netherlands and Canada have been tipped as countries where longevity swaps are likely to take off in future due to improved data and regulatory conditions, market participants have said

Canadian institutional investors strengthened their ties with the reinsurance sector in Q4, with CPPIB funding a Bermuda-based reinsurance platform for Ascot and CDPQ investing $400mn in Hyperion

Guy Carpenter chairman and reinsurance industry heavyweight Britt Newhouse is set to retire at the end of the year, sister publication The Insurance Insider revealed.

Retro market sources said that capacity shortages would not be a factor in the January renewals after ILS managers reloaded lost capital, but that uncertainty over underlying reinsurance repricing was contributing to a stand-off

Canadian institutional investor Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) will invest $400mn in Hyperion to take a significant minority stake in the firm, in its second major insurance broking investment of the year.

Ascot is launching a Bermuda-based reinsurer with $1bn of funding from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) that will be led by John Berger

US property insurers are pushing for base case rate increases of 10-20 percent on catastrophe-exposed business, even for loss-free accounts, according to a client advisory from broker Lockton

Brokers are pressuring ILS managers to stump up capital well ahead of the 1 January reinsurance renewal date following the string of third quarter catastrophe events, according to sources