February 2016/1

ILS investor demand will be tested by two unusual transactions this month.

Two cat bond deals from XL Catlin and Aetna last month highlighted divergent pricing conditions at the extreme ends of the ILS risk spectrum.

Aon Benfield estimated that the indemnity retro market would expand by 6 percent in 2016 based on growth in the January renewals.

ILS investors are expecting a less active pipeline in the second quarter, with uncertainty over whether EDF and the Turkish Catastrophe Insurance Pool will join the carriers that have decided not to renew their cat bonds.

This week the sharing economy arrived in the insurance sector, with the news that Berkshire Hathaway was among the reinsurance partners backing the imminent launch of peer-to-peer (P2P) carrier Lemonade.

The start-up from Validus Re co-founder George Reeth announced this week highlights an increased focus on the opportunities in sourcing and delivering risk rather than bearing it.

The private equity backers of Kane are close to completing a sale of the firm's insurance services and captive operations to Guernsey-based Artex Risk Solutions, sources told Trading Risk.