November 2013/1

Willis Re has predicted that European property cat rates will drop 5-10 percent on average for loss-free accounts at the 1 January 2014 renewals.

A crucial question for the convergence market over the next quarter is whether demand for cat bonds or collateralised reinsurance will take the lead as some investors retreat from "ruthless" pricing conditions on the ILS market, according to Willis Capital Markets & Advisory (WCMA).

Steven Cohen's hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors and several associated companies agreed to shut down their operations as investment advisers in a $1.8bn settlement with US prosecutors over insider trading charges.

Guy Carpenter has brought together a consortium of Bermudian and London reinsurers willing to offer broad cover to US mutual insurers, sister publication The Insurance Insider has reported.

Axa and AIG are seeking to place significant new aggregate catastrophe covers for 2014 as cedant demand for such "sideways" protection continues, sister publication The Insurance Insider reported last month.

London-listed ILS fund DCG Iris raised £7.7mn from a new issuance of shares at 100.54p per share, which will take the fund's market capitalisation to £68.7mn.

The RBS Group Pension Fund expanded its reinsurance-linked assets by more than a third in the year to 31 March 2013 to reach £527mn, according to its latest set of financial results.

UK-listed asset manager Schroders has launched a new cat bond fund on its UCITS platform.

Stone Ridge Asset Management has lifted its initial target for a new closed-ended reinsurance fund to $600mn from $500mn, thereby increasing the maximum size of the fund to $1.1bn, Securities and Exchange Commission filings show.

Scandinavian hedge fund executive Robert Lindblom is hoping to set up Sweden's first ILS fund by the second quarter of 2014.

Private equity firm Aquiline Capital Partners has sold its stake in Pillar Capital Management, although it retains an investment in funds managed by the Bermudian ILS fund manager.

Deutsche Bank hopes its new template for trading longevity options will be a "lightning rod" for bringing new capital into the market.