Stocks

Blue Capital said that its New York-listed reinsurance vehicle is expecting loss-affected and quota share business to benefit from 15-25 percent rate increases in 2018.

Reinsurers remain optimistic about the prospects for rate increases in 1 January renewals, but UBS analyst Jonny Urwin said he sensed less “gusto” following a conference call with Hiscox, Beazley, Lancashire and Validus representatives.

Swiss Re is the leading reinsurer for the main Californian primary P&C writers, some of which may draw on their reinsurance policies following wildfires in the state last month, analysis from sister publication The Insurance Insider shows

Markel Catco has said it will raise gross proceeds of $543mn by issuing new shares in its London-listed Catco Reinsurance Opportunities Fund.

Floridian insurer Heritage has received regulatory approval to close its acquisition of north-east carrier NBIC Holdings, the parent company of Narragansett Bay Insurance Company.

A small number of personal lines insurers are among those most exposed to the Californian wildfires that occurred last month.

The London-listed Blue Capital Alternative Income Fund said it expects its median return for 2018 to be around 15 percent, with a return of 10 percent for a mean loss scenario.

Allstate projected it will take $516mn of pre-tax catastrophe losses in October, with five Californian wildfires accounting for about 90 percent of the monthly total.

The ILS market will pick up about a quarter of the $80bn-$100bn of Q3 catastrophe claims, said AM Best's chief rating officer Stefan Holzberger at the rating agency's London market conference.

Markel Catco said it would offer investors in its London-listed Reinsurance Opportunities Fund the chance for larger annual dividend payouts in response to their feedback.

Hannover Re said that more than EUR350mn of losses it reported in the third quarter was taken in the form of risk fronted for ILS managers.

Markel Catco's October return was up 2.2 percent during the past month, according to a London Stock Exchange Listing.