July 2012/1

Munich Re has completed a longevity reinsurance transaction with Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) covering £300mn of liabilities.

The AlphaCat division at Validus contributed $12.1mn to the Bermudian reinsurer's profits in the second quarter but the firm took a $5mn quarterly loss from the new PaCRe start-up, according to the insurer's Q2 results.

It is unlikely any further Embarcadero Re California earthquake bonds will be issued this year following yesterday's closure of the latest bond in the series which raised $300mn of cover, Trading Risk understands.

Liz Frederick, global head of ILS at Kane and recently appointed managing director (MD) of Kane USA, has left the insurance manager, Trading Risk can reveal.

Willkie Farr & Gallagher associate Matthew Stern looks at the impact of US judicial decisions on the ILS market

US property catastrophe pricing showed further signs of abating at the 1 July renewals, with reinsurance rate rises cooling after a year of increases and evidence emerging of a less favourable retrocession market

Reinsurers are revising their view of the role they play in the convergence markets as they increasingly target third party funds management business, according to various commentators

The chances of an El Niño weather pattern developing and restricting hurricane activity in the Northern Hemisphere summer have increased, says the US Climate Prediction Center

Bermudian ILS manager Pillar Capital Management is set to launch a new lower risk fund as it fundraises for its first January renewal season under new management after recently rebranding from Juniperus Capital

Dexion Capital says it expects follow-on share issuances to be easier after raising just £40mn from the float of its ILS closed-ended fund DCG Iris

Second quarter gains have helped bolster performance among ILS fund managers but their first half returns are still lagging the Swiss Re Global Cat Bond Total Return index, according to results from a group of seven cat bond funds tracked by Trading Risk

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has missed the 4 July deadline for adopting a provision of the Jobs Act that lifts a general advertising ban for private securities offerings