March 2017/1

The World Bank is set to complete a risk transfer later this year as part of its Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility (PEF), according to Michael Bennett, head of derivatives and structured finance at the organisation

Pressure from ratings agencies to strengthen capital positions could force some Florida insurers to retrench, potentially reducing reinsurance demand, UPC Insurance chief financial officer Brad Martz said at the Sifma IRLS conference

A reinsurance trading platform that is targeting up to a $1bn launch in 2018 begun its first simulation this month, with a group of 30-40 individuals from various ILS funds and reinsurance participants lined up to test the technology.

Reinsurers live and die by their claims-paying ability, and the ILS market is no different.

American Strategic Insurance has received its first payout from the Gator Re cat bond to help meet storm losses incurred last year, despite some investors suggesting that certain claims should not be covered by the transaction, Trading Risk understands.

Florida provides two-thirds of the exposure and margin in the reinsurance industry's US wind portfolio, according to data from Aon Benfield

The outlook for reinsurance demand growth in Florida is more subdued than in past years, although the environment remains changeable several months from the 1 June renewal.

Liberty Mutual's new Limestone Re sidecar could pave the way for further disintermediation in the (re)insurance sector, a Standard & Poor's (S&P) insurance analyst said at the Sifma IRLS conference in Miami last month

Electronic trading in the secondary cat bond market may still be a distant prospect, according to panellists at the Sifma IRLS 2017 conference in Miami

Demotech said it would not downgrade any of the Florida insurers it rates below an A level after carriers committed to recapitalise and review loss reserves.