Hiscox

Marlon Williams will focus on the placement of reinsurance and retro business.

The unit’s premium reduced by 4% for the first quarter. 

The executive joins from IG Group.

The cost of reinstatement was included in $170mn wildfire net loss figure.

The carrier previously raised $125mn via an Ocelot Re cat bond in 2023.

Allocators are waiting for 2024 to pan out, according to Hiscox CEO Aki Hussain.

Sources said that Japanese big-three carrier Sompo and Italian insurance giant Generali are circling.

Curtis Dickinson will help to oversee the strategy and vision of Hiscox Re & ILS.

The consortium will offer up to $50mn of per-program capacity.

The pension fund handed an ILS mandate to Hiscox in September 2023.

CEO Hussain said third-party capital in 2023 remained flat.

The bond will provide index-based, annual aggregate coverage in the US and Canada.

The ILS sector grew in the context of 0% interest rates historically.

Hiscox and Aeolus are looking to capitalise on strong investor appetite for cat bonds this year with their respective fund launches.

Prabis does not envisage market softening at this stage, for reasons including wider macroeconomic impacts.

The reinsurer lifted net reinsurance premiums by 38%, although, on a gross basis, growth was lower at 5%.

He joins the division during a period of growth, with GWP surpassing $1bn for the first time in 2022.

The sub-syndicate will complement Hiscox’s existing portfolio, offering additional capacity to qualifying clients.

The division is deploying its own capital to make up for the lack of wider reinsurance and ILS capacity.

Hiscox is approaching the January 1 reinsurance renewals “with excitement”, and is ready to deploy extra capital if pricing proves sufficiently attractive, the CEO said.

Hurricane Ian could present a challenge for ILS fundraising conversations this autumn if ILS firms do not find more financing solutions to manage trapped capital, according to panellists at Trading Risk New York 2022 last week.

The loss portfolio transfer reinsures around $116mn of the group’s share of Syndicate 33 reserves from between 1993 and 2018.

Inflows allowed the unit to step up to the distressed Florida market.

The portfolio covers distressed Florida, Louisiana and US nationwide deals.

The firm generated total fees of $40mn including quota share commissions.

The former MS Amlin head of reinsurance takes up the CUO role next week.

The insurer’s reinsurance and ILS business is “performing strongly,” said outgoing CEO Bronek Masojada.

The reinsurer had previously signalled it would grow its net reinsurance portfolio after deploying less third-party capital.

Masojada will retire at the end of this year after 21 years and be replaced by Hussain at the beginning of 2022.

He worked for eight years at the French firm, where he oversaw the strategic direction of its ILS business.

The reinsurer’s net exposure was up 36% as it retained more risk in retro and North American cat.

Mary Margaret von Herberstein will work on relationships with quota-share capacity providers.

The executive had previously worked on Montpelier’s Blue Capital before his four-year stint at Hiscox Re.

The firm reported a $100mn drop in ILS AuM to $1.4bn, although previously had said deployable capital was lower.

The court’s decision was the final step in a protracted legal battle stretching back to May last year.

But Barclays warns the judgment could result in more substantial loss creep for major European reinsurers.

The start-up's reinsurance division will target cat and retro business as well as a selection of specialty lines.

Significant start-up moves this month included Kathleen Faries and Julia Henderson joining Lavant and Piers Cantlay signing up to join McGill.

The move comes as Markel Re closes down its independent cat reinsurance underwriting.

The former Hamilton Re leader replaces Mike Krefta, who announced he was stepping down in August.

The estimate fell below the midpoint of Hiscox's prior modelled BI loss range.

Nephila’s fall in AuM contributed to the trend of specialist firms shrinking, as reinsurer-backed assets were up modestly.

The reinsurer wants to take more net risk after raising £400mn new equity earlier this year, but is facing a steep drop in ILS support.

The firm's ILS AuM remains at $1.5bn nominally, but reserves pulled deployable capital to $1bn.

A Hiscox group is seeking £52mn while lawyers for a QBE group action have secured funding.

The late July High Court hearing will also involve Arch, Argenta and QBE.

The scheme could see claimants in different sectors offered pence per pound of limit purchased.

An analyst said the fundraise offered investors “a secure balance sheet” at an attractive valuation.

The carrier says it has sufficient capital to meet expected liabilities from Covid-19.

The insurer highlighted its reinsurance cover in place as it downplayed the scope of BI exposure.

The insurer is currently facing threats of legal action from business owners unhappy about Covid-19 claim denials.

UK clients have formed an action group and are seeking a legal opinion on their BI claims.

The reinsurer said its worst-case cancellation losses would run to the mid-triple-digit millions, with a 15 percent market share.

Hiscox sold the parametric cyber cover to an as-yet-undisclosed buyer.

Hurricane Dorian and Typhoon Faxai losses have hit (re)insurers following a relatively benign first half of the year for catastrophe activity.

Gross written premiums (GWP) for the reinsurance and ILS division increased by 6.1 percent for the first nine months of the year to reach $823.6mn.

Joanne Musselle will take over from retiring CUO Richard Watson at year-end.

Megan McConnell is moving to become CUO for Hiscox USA, with her London role replaced by Andrew Dolphin.

The growth contrasted with a 2 percent slide in collective assets among the top tier of ILS players.

The ILS fund, which contains insurance and reinsurance risk, continues to attract investors.