Stocks

Assets under management (AuM) controlled by the top 10 ILS firms reached $64bn at the start of 2018, as Markel said that Markel Catco's asset base reached $6.1bn and as Credit Suisse Asset Management posted $8.8bn of assets.

Baillie Gifford has lowered its stake in the ordinary shares on offer from the Catco Reinsurance Opportunities Fund, according to a London Stock Exchange filing.

ILS spreads have widened in the mid-to-high teens range after last year's losses, Swiss Re Capital Markets estimated in its latest quarterly market report.

Wildfire losses had a varying impact on some of the reinsurer-affiliated ILS platforms in the fourth quarter.

Bermuda-based (re)insurer XL Catlin placed more than $500mn of new catastrophe limit for 2018 and increased alternative market retro support to more than $3bn, as ceding strategies among major carriers diverged following last year's losses.

The sidecar market has expanded notably in 2018 as Sompo and Axis became the latest carriers to provide updates on new or expanded vehicles.

Swiss Re said it was in preliminary discussions with Japan's SoftBank Group that could lead to a significant minority investment in the big European reinsurer by the conglomerate.

XL Group shares jumped 12.5 percent yesterday after a Bloomberg report said the Bermuda-based (re)insurer was drawing takeover interest from Allianz and possibly others.

XL Catlin said it had upped the amount of retrocessional support it draws on from third-party capital providers to more than $3bn, after placing more than $500mn of new catastrophe limit for 2018.

Hannover Re's worldwide treaty reinsurance portfolio grew by 35 percent to EUR1.129bn ($1.4bn) in the 1 January renewals, led by growth in its proportional book after signing a new quota share with IAG.

State Farm has paid out more than $1.3bn in claims from the two wildfires which hit California last year.

Blue Capital said that its 2018 returns for its New York-listed Global Reinsurance Fund would benefit from rate increases in the January renewals, as well as reinvesting trapped collateral that it expects to be freed up later this year.