October 2015/1

John Seo, founder and managing principal of ILS fund manager Fermat Capital Management, has been appointed to serve on a US advisory committee on terrorism risk

Early renewals down; Floridians expand; Axa wins mandate; Armored Wolf shuts; RMS buys HWind; Vario partners with GC; AIR cyber model; Berkshire pulls facilities

Kiskadee Investment Managers has made two senior hires in Bermuda, recruiting a chief compliance officer and portfolio manager.

Swiss Re has brought its capital markets staff into a new broader structured solutions division, appointing Philipp Rüede to head up the team's property and casualty section in a newly created role.

Proposed changes to AM Best's method of calculating capital adequacy for (re)insurers could boost demand for peak cat cover, particularly from regional US carriers.

Australian asset manager MLC and the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System both announced new ILS mandates this month.

Catco is preparing to expand its listed retro fund, the Catco Reinsurance Opportunities Fund, by up to $750mn ahead of its integration by Markel.

Reinsurers increased their share of the catastrophe bond market from 6 percent to 10 percent in the year to 30 June 2015, according to Aon Benfield's annual ILS report.

Seven cat bond funds tracked by Trading Risk have delivered average returns of less than 2 percent for the first nine months of 2015, putting them below their performance at the same mark last year.

The Swiss Re Cat Bond Price Return Index has almost reached the values recorded at the start of 2015 after posting a 1.7 percent upswing since mid-July.

How will climate change impact ILS?

Amtrak's captive insurer expanded its storm surge cat bond PennUnion Re from an initial target size of $200mn to $275mn after pricing settled at the lower end of initial guidance this month.