Retrocession

Aggregate retro capacity has “reduced enormously” but rate increases were less severe than some had feared, the Willis Re international chairman said.

Capacity was constrained but some ILS funds were able to grow, while cat bonds also propped up supply.

New capacity and fewer problems with trapping contributed to a smoother renewal than some had expected.

This is the carrier’s first public cat bond after a private deal done through Guy Carp’s Cerulean platform in 2019.

The executive will lead the retrocession and property specialty segments.

If the fundraise closes, the business will operate as a “permanent capital” monoline retrocessionaire.

Pessimism around trapped capital is growing, but low reported losses may mitigate the issue.

Scor sought higher-priced agg cover, but Munich Re achieved below-average uplift on its occurrence treaty.

Retro deals make up a third of this year's volumes, versus a quarter in 2019.

Investors from the ILS boom era are also those who've had the least luck, so fundraising remains a slog.

Covid-19 may have been the biggest talking point in the (re)insurance markets this year but arguably, the pandemic is being overtaken by several other factors – ILS market dynamics amongst them.

RenRe thinks the major cat losses of Q3 will cause the property cat market to harden throughout 2021.