January 2012/1

Bermudian reinsurer Arch expects to take a $13.7mn-$15.7mn loss from its share in collateralised writer Aeolus's results from the second half of 2011.

The cat bond market missed a chance to grow in 2011 as it failed to compete sufficiently on pricing, Willis Capital Markets & Advisory (WCMA) argues in its latest quarterly update on the market.

RenaissanceRe has confirmed that it has launched a new sidecar Upsilon Re, which will target collateralised retrocession business.

Validus investment vehicle AlphaCat Re 2011 wrote $76.1mn of collateralised property reinsurance and retro premium in 2011, writing almost all of the limit available to the special purpose vehicle.

Insurance-specialist private equity investor Aquiline Capital Partners has bought out the existing shareholders of Bermuda-based catastrophe investment manager Juniperus Capital Ltd (JCL), Trading Risk can reveal.

European exposure and loss collator, Perils AG, has estimated an initial industry loss of EUR300mn for December's windstorm Joachim, which swept through France, Germany and Switzerland.

The California Earthquake Authority (CEA) has launched a sequel to its August debut cat bond, seeking $150mn from the latest Embarcadero Re transaction.

Swiss-based alternative investor Twelve Capital has expanded its partnership with Bank Sarasin to sell a new ILS fund

Major cat fund manager Clariden Leu has re-opened its flagship Cat Bond Fund to new capital inflows, seven months after closing its doors in May last year in the face of weak ILS issuance

The ILS market continues to grow its investor base, drawing in a wider, more geographically balanced pool of investors, Swiss Re says in its annual review of the market

Collateralised reinsurer Catco deployed $1.25bn of retrocession capacity in the 1 January renewals through its Master Fund, according to a stock exchange announcement

Leading ILS fund manager Nephila Capital won a $100mn mandate from an Oregon state pension fund, taking it near the $5bn assets under management mark

Credit Suisse Asset Management (CSAM) has reached $4.4bn insurance-linked assets under management and launched a number of new funds targeting less liquid investments, Trading Risk can reveal

Leadenhall Capital Partners CEO Luca Albertini says winning a new £200mn life insurance-linked mandate will move the firm up a league in the ILS fund manager world

ILW volumes will rise 25% in 2012, predicts Willis Re's Henry Kingham. He looks at the factors that put the wind in his sails...

Reinsurance buyers are taking more interest in capital market solutions after a fragmented and difficult January renewal season, according to the two largest reinsurance brokers

2011 is the second most expensive year for cat losses that the (re)insurance industry has ever endured with between $100bn and $106bn of claims. But the geographical distribution of losses was still more striking than the quantum

Thailand is looking to establish a 50bn baht ($1.62bn) catastrophe fund that could seek to buy a giant reinsurance programme up to a limit of 500bn baht ($16.2bn) from international carriers

The new RMS hurricane model may not have moved cat bond pricing, but its release has taken a toll on the modelling agency's market share in the new issuance market

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) traded 1,500 seasonal hurricane options representing $15mn of notional limit in January, according to information from the exchange

Swiss-based ILS fund manager Clariden Leu has transformed a further $50mn industry loss warranty (ILW) into note form, taking the total cat bond "lites" issued by the firm to $120mn

Callahan joins award panel; Hinshelwood to head revamped Kane; Fitch knocks Signum down a notch; BSX surges past $3bn of cat bonds

Two recent billion-dollar transactions completed a stellar year for the longevity swap market, which posted volumes of more than £6bn insuring against the risk of pensioners living longer than expected

The Swiss Re global cat bond price return index has gradually been shedding value over the final quarter of 2011 to start 2012 at a similar level to that recorded after the March earthquake in Japan

Defunct reinsurer and cat bond sponsor Glacier Re is heading to arbitration after a prolonged dispute with the administrator of the firm's $76.5mn Nelson Re Class G notes

A host of diversifying offers have kicked off a rapid start to 2012 for the ILS market, including a renewal of Japanese mutual Zenkyoren's earthquake bond

Two natural catastrophe bonds closed at the end of December at hefty spreads to take 2011 issuance to $4.7bn, according to Trading Risk calculations

It's a bright forecast for 2012 as the annual Trading Risk Market Survey showed the convergence industry expects to continue to benefit from new investor inflows, rising pressure on property catastrophe rates and regulatory change.

A handful of new cat funds made their mark on the 1 January renewal season, deploying significant capacity into the collateralised reinsurance and retro, industry loss warranty (ILW) and cat bond markets

Each month as we send Trading Risk out into the convergence world, I'll spend a few moments wondering what all our readers will make of the new edition - and then the post-deadline surge of relief will take over

Cat bond brokers are expecting 2012 sales to reach at least $5bn as interest in buying alternative reinsurance solutions grows amid a hardening property catastrophe market

Pricing up, retentions up, unmodelled perils debated - but generally reinsurers completed placements