ILS managers

Hiscox said that assets under management in its Kiskadee funds management division have grown to more than $400mn at 1 January, from $110mn at the start of 2014.

XL Group CEO Mike McGavick said that the company's £2.79bn ($4.20bn) deal to acquire Catlin will create a top 10 reinsurer with expanded alternative capital capabilities.

Retro writer CatCo recorded 14 percent growth in net asset value (NAV) last year for its London-listed fund.

Pioneer Investment Management has established its ILS Interval fund with $50mn of capital, and now has total assets under management of $1.6bn in the ILS sector.

This month's edition of Trading Risk has involved a fair bit of bean counting to try to sum up the year ahead for the ILS market.

Growth at the top 10 specialist ILS fund managers slowed in the second half of 2014, as the group started 2015 with a combined $40bn asset base.

The ILS market could break its newly set annual record for ILS volumes in 2015 with $9bn of transactions, Willis Capital Markets & Advisory (WCMA) said in its latest quarterly report on the market.

Bermudian retro writer CatCo has made a 14 percent return over 2014 despite having reserved for a small loss due to US storm events in the second half of the year

XL CEO Mike McGavick said that capital providers interested in moving into reinsurance have put an increased focus on underwriting in the past year, speaking on a conference call today to discuss the company's takeover of Catlin.

Validus subsidiary AlphaCat Managers has raised $409mn of new capital into its ILS Funds and renewed its sidecar, AlphaCat 2015, at $155mn.

Aspen's capital markets division has renewed the Silverton Re sidecar with $85mn of capital for 2015, up from $65mn this year, the company announced today (19 December).

The largest specialist ILS fund managers began foraging for new types of risk in 2014 as they gained more ground in the property cat reinsurance market.