January 2016/1

Sidecar returns remained in the mid-to-high teens on an annualised basis in 2015, although softening was still apparent.

The January reinsurance renewals saw diverging outcomes for the US and non-US markets, as Guy Carpenter's global property catastrophe rate-on-line index fell 8.8 percent from a year earlier.

The industry loss warranty (ILW) market witnessed rate reductions of about 5 percent in the January renewals, Guy Carpenter said in a client report obtained by Trading Risk.

Two major European reinsurance buyers purchased more limit at the January renewals, sister publication The Insurance Insider reported.

The retrocession market registered a significant softening of terms and conditions in the January renewals as specialty lines of business were increasingly covered alongside property catastrophe risk.

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Bermudian fund manager Aeolus is working with advisers as it considers bringing in new investors in early 2016, sources told Trading Risk.

Brit and Aspen have confirmed that they expanded their sidecar vehicles in the January renewals.

Two ILS fund managers are supporting new Lloyd's syndicate Probitas 1492, which has a focus on writing Latin American business.

Returns from a group of ILS funds tracked by Trading Risk were down by a third last year on 2014, as rates continued to stabilise in the ILS market.

The $57mn Resilience Re bond, completed on Willis Capital Markets & Advisory's private bond platform in December, was linked to collateralised reinsurance participation on the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) reinsurance programme, sources told Trading Risk.

Gross catastrophe bond yields ended 2015 up almost 10 percent from December 2014, according to RMS data.