Stocks

The announcement spurred a quick spike in stock market valuations.

Markets have taken a battering across the globe following the “Liberation Day” announcement.

Insurance share prices were more resilient than the US stock market.

Indirect exposure to cat risk through long-term investors gives Markel optionality.

Both carriers have extensive reinsurance coverage.

The UK listed investment manager has almost doubled its ILS allocation since April last year.

The role will focus on international treaty, specialty lines and strategic advisory.

The firm ceded $417mn of premiums to the sidecar in 2024.

The investors are led by PE firm NMS Capital Group.

A higher loss quantum will put a greater burden on retro programmes.

Wildfire is rarely singled out as an exposure that can shift portfolio outcomes.

The carrier is “extremely well capitalised” to achieve its strategic ambitions.

The company will ‘aggressively pursue subrogation’ for the Eaton Fire.

Liquid alternative strategies accounted for around $1.4bn of the total.

The LA-based firm estimated gross cat losses in the range of $1.6bn-$2bn.

The carrier’s reinsurance premiums ceded rose by 32% to $3.4bn in 2024.

The carrier disclosed it will book $1.1bn in net losses from the California fires.

The group ceded 55% more premium to Nephila over the year at $1.3bn.

The carrier has been reducing its presence in the state since 2007.

Programs did not offer adequate risk-adjusted return.

A negative January return will be unprecedented for ILS industry.

The company’s reinsurance business also has some exposure, the executive said.

The carrier has around $2.5bn-$4bn of reinsurance cover specifically for California risk.

The bond went on watch after Mercury said it would exceed its $150mn retention.

The reinsurer reported total fee income of $77.1mn.

Secondary pricing on the carrier’s Topanga Re bond partly recovered following the guidance.

The carrier also has a $500mn excess $2.4bn aggregate protection.

The fund returned 15.69% in calendar year 2024.

A $30bn industry loss would use one-third of Big Four’s 2025 cat budgets.

ILS managers expect the losses to have some impact on future cat bond spreads.

The carrier is the largest writer of homeowners’ multi-peril in the state.

As fires still rage, many fear early $10bn-$20bn estimates were too optimistic.

Compressed cat bond spreads could drive some rebalancing, as M&A remains a prospect.

The number of structures damaged may put the event on par with the fires of 2017 and 2018.

The company’s stock price has plummeted in the wake of the LA wildfires.

Total economic and insured losses are “virtually certain” to reach into the billions.

The vehicle is smaller by 8% as White Mountains’ participation grew.

The renewal marks the seventh issue of the retro vehicle.

The carrier said reinsurance was a key component of its “low-volatility strategy”.

The vehicle is yet to recover to 2021 levels of $235mn.

In June 2023, Hale Partnership got its license from the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority for HP Re.

The manager’s Interval Fund returned 28.25% over the financial year.

The broker estimated ILS capital has reached $107bn.

The company no longer has any exposure to reinsurance contracts.

The Class A and C notes increased in size, while the Class B note remained unchanged.

Former ILS investors who left the space have looked again and re-allocated.

The facility will also provide a dividend to clients for the first time.

Lloyd’s has taken around 6% of aggregate US hurricane losses in recent years, and disclosed estimated net losses from Helene and Milton of $1.8bn to $3.4bn.

The bond is split into three tranches of notes.

Helene losses were spread wider than initially suggested, in contrast to Milton claims.

Shareholders are voting to approve being wound up on 18 December.

The reinsurer took $743mn of nat-cat losses in the quarter.

The capital being returned to shareholders is part of a compulsory partial redemption.

Only around EUR70mn-EUR140mn will fall to private insurers.

The estimate implies a roughly $15bn homeowners’ industry loss from the hurricane.

The figures imply first-layer reinsurance recoveries for Helene.

Reserve risk specialist Enstar has struck its first deals in the ILS space this year.

Assuming Munich Re takes roughly a 3% market share of hurricane losses suggests a ~$20bn industry loss for Helene.

Many in the ILS sector are bullish on Milton losses falling at the lower end of earnings impacts.

Earlier this week, RMS estimated insured losses for Helene and Milton at $35bn-$55bn.

A $40bn Milton loss should barely dent many ILS returns but will trap some capital.

Milton made landfall south of Tampa Bay at Category 3 on Wednesday night.

The manager is hopeful of closing all contracts by the end of 2024.

A storm surge warning is in effect from Flamingo to Indian Pass.

The denial followed this publication’s report that Covéa had renewed its intentions to buy the reinsurer.

The mutual’s approach comes as Scor continues efforts to fight back from performance issues including a flare-up in L&H.

Demand for peak peril retro increased significantly in Q2 2024.

Cat bond funds continue to draw interest as private ILS more challenged.

The deal will boost the investment consultancy’s ILS capabilities.

White Rock claims CCB was responsible for the “lion’s share” of fraudulent letters of credit.

The executive has worked for Scor, RMS, Aon and SiriusPoint, among others.

Reinsurers continued to diversify into primary and specialty business.

Peter Shen started his insurance career at TigerRisk.

Aon set up the facility in 2020.

The deal takes year-to-date cat bond lite issuance to $367.6mn

The CEO cited ‘no change’ in appetite from a shift in the capital mix.

Total pre-tax cat losses for the quarter grew sixfold YoY to $135mn.

Over 75% of insured losses attributable to severe thunderstorms, flooding and forest fires.

Two Eclipse Re notes totaling $34.8mn were issued last week.

The deal announced in its Q2 results came as the carrier agreed a take-private deal.

Hannover Re's cyber bond pays on a parametric basis for each hour after an agreed waiting period.

The current guidance is that Beazley will publish an undiscounted CoR in the low-80s at full year.

The negative L&H result was driven by reserve updates.

The fund follows an earlier climate change-focused ILS initiative from the firm.

Sources said that Japanese big-three carrier Sompo and Italian insurance giant Generali are circling.

The manager’s ILS allocation has grown by 16% since 31 October 2023.

The groups highlighted technical hurdles to implementation at a Wednesday hearing.

Riots erupted in the Pacific Island territory last month over electoral reforms.

The hires represent a reunion of colleagues from Horseshoe/ Artex.

CEO Wagstaff said the LMG must "compete with other markets".

Traditional reinsurers such as Berkshire Hathaway and Arch pushed for more share, our annual study of Florida cessions shows.

The management’s buyback acquisition brings an end to the two-year relationship.

Cession ratios declined at three of the four publicly listed Floridians.

The company plans to reduce its quota share to 20% from 40%.

The firm’s AuM was down 17% on $1.8bn as of 31 December.

The parametric bond provides coverage for named storms.

The awards event will be held on 27 June at The HAC, London.

The fund has nine open contracts it is actively trying to run-off, four years after its failure.

Aspen said reduced reinsurance appetite made it a good time to seek alternative capacity.

The reinsurer said it hopes to grow the size of the $13.75mn deal over time.

The High Yield Fund’s AuM stood at $2.8bn as of 10 April.

The coverage will be parametric based on the central pressure of the storm.

The multi-peril coverage was due to expire in June 2026.

The rise comes as competition has increased for ILS between jurisdictions.

The Cayman Islands entity raised $2.4mn last June.

The initiative will focus on fostering innovation through the Lloyd’s Lab.

Some $415mn of capacity entered the market last year.

The company proposed a dividend of EUR1.8 per share for 2023.

The firm’s assets under management dropped to $1.6bn, as a capital return more than offset new inflows.

Head of alternatives Gareth Abley believes the asset class remains attractive following a 16% return in 2023.

The carrier announced a capital repatriation plan of EUR3.5bn.

The vehicle is 52% larger than it was at launch 3 years ago

Its property cat aggregate cover renewed with improved coverage.

The carrier booked a reserve charge of $392mn for casualty insurance.

The Bermudian said its third-party vehicles were “sufficiently capitalised”.

Suncorp reported A$568mn in natural-hazard event costs for the H1 2024 reporting period, resulting from six significant events.

The investment comes in exchange for a $49mn surplus note from HOA and the acquisition of HOA’s rights to potential claims stemming from the Vesttoo fraud.

The transformer vehicle issued $209mn worth of cat bond lites in 2023.

Phoenix Re renewal ‘shows commitment to doing Asia ILS, for Asia in Asia’, according to MS Amlin Asia Pacific CEO Will Ho.

The Seaside Re placement is the first cat bond lite deal of 2024.

The asset manager’s largest ILS allocation across two multi-strategy funds is to a Leadenhall fund.

The executive joins the company as it looks to bolster its reinsurance capabilities.

In total nearly $139mn worth of bonds have been extended.

The independent manager’s post-Ian growth has helped it more than double from prior estimated assets under management.

The Class A notes were sized at $28.5mn and the Class B notes at $121.5mn.

CFO William McDonnell said reinsurance market stabilisation in 2023 allowed the firm to buy more protection than expected.

The asset manager’s flagship ILS funds posted stellar returns for its 2023 fiscal year.

Tsunami warnings were initially issued following the earthquake but were subsequently downgraded.

Projected 2024 ILS returns remain historically high, but signs of increased appetite for top-layer cat risk and top-end retro raise questions over how long this will last.

The renewal included $130mn from White Mountains, considerably less than the $205mn Ark’s parent kicked in for 2023.

Munich Re has renewed the first tranche of its Eden Re sidecar for 2024, listing $28.5mn of Class A notes on the Bermuda Stock Exchange, a roughly 62% increase on last year.

The firm said it would cut its K-cession ‘significantly below 2023 levels’ and buy ‘broadly similar towers of non-proportional retro’ at 1 January.

HCI is offering one million common stock shares priced at $78 per share.

The sponsor is seeking coverage for named storms, winter storms, wildfire, earthquake and severe thunderstorms in the US.

The ratings agency said premium rate increases for specialty lines would be most pronounced in political risk, terrorism and political violence lines because of heightened geopolitical tensions.

CatX said it is already working with institutional investors, including pension funds.

The forecast reflects property damage and BI losses to residential, commercial, industrial and automobile lines.

The group’s ceded large losses reached 17% of gross losses, up from 11% a year ago.

Hiscox said outflows from the ILS unit were offset by "record returns" in Q3.

Commercial insurance pricing remained flat, increasing by 3% globally over the period, the same as the prior quarter.

Asagao VI is fourth largest private cat bond deal this year.

Mortgage ILS issuance has totalled $787.2mn so far this year.

The partnership aims to provide ILS strategies to institutional investors in Australia and New Zealand.

These figures mark an improvement from August, which was impacted by losses from Hurricane Idalia.

Experts at the Trading Risk New York conference emphasised in-built cyber risk protections from defences to exclusions, as ILS managers grapple with understanding the peril.

Hannover Re’s Bermuda-based reinsurance transformer Kaith Re has issued a new $15mn private cat bond, a Bermuda Stock Exchange filing confirms.

Interest income also boosted the results, with net assets of $9mn rising to $10.8mn by the half-year point.

The business specialises in space and terror risks.

The InsurTech claims five former staff, including the CEO and CFO, forged signatures and impersonated bank staff.

A total of $386mn has been issued in private cat bond deals this year.

Total cat bond lite issuance this year has reached $370mn, according to Trading Risk’s tracker

The additional funding brings Kin’s series D total to $142mn, and its overall equity funding total to $265mn.

The broker studied the impact of 14 major cyber events in its attempt to dispel ILS manager fears of a ‘double whammy’ cyber event that would also impact financial markets.

The SPAC has undergone a dramatic shift in strategy since it first listed on the London Stock Exchange.

The insurance company had set out plans last summer to expand its market share in Florida.

Mosaic syndicated capital programme hits $250mn GWP across seven lines.

The National Flood Insurance Programme could face a loss of around $500mn from the hurricane, according to the estimate.

Moody’s said most losses from Idalia are likely to arise from homeowners and commercial property lines.

The storm battered large areas of the Southeast, leaving homes without power, flooding roads and damaging properties.

The hurricane, now a Category 1, is tracking around 100 miles west of Savannah, Georgia and is expected to pass through the Charleston area of South Carolina.

An EGM will be held later this month to propose the issuance of a convertible bond.

The estimate includes privately insured damage to residential, commercial and industrial property, as well as automobiles. Boats, offshore properties and NFIP losses were excluded.

If the assets of the cell form part of the Vesttoo estate, this may impact the priority of returning associated capital to cedants.

More than half of the top 20 global reinsurers maintained or reduced their natural catastrophe exposures during the January 2023 renewals.

Investors will have to wait an additional three years for collateral to be returned.

Large carriers with geographic spread across the continental US will have the capital and reinsurance coverage to absorb losses related to the wildfires, according to AM Best.

The agency put insured property values in the burn footprint at $2.5bn to $4bn, which marks an uptick compared to Moody’s estimate from last week, when the agency pegged insured losses at around $1bn.

The carrier’s net natural perils cost of A$1.2bn overshot its allowance by A$290mn in a "significant" loss year ending 30 June.

Primary writers of homeowners and commercial property are exposed, while reinsurers could face wildfire losses.

As part of a restructuring, Vesttoo is liquidating its collateralized insurer in Bermuda, but continues to operate its branches in New York, London and other territories.

The firm earned higher fees off the back of growth in insurance premiums ceded to reinsurers, as premiums ceded to third-party capital partners declined.

The reinsurer recorded net income of $1.9mn, helped by a reduction in losses and loss adjustment expenses.

The firm has moved to defend its plans against a rival strategy supported by a small group of investors.

Some sources have called for more transparency on secondary trades, though others note the buy-and-hold nature of the market limits trading appetite.

The cat bond fund posted returns of around 10.75% for the first six months of Stone Ridge’s financial year.

The Australian carrier has also renewed a five-year whole-account quota share with Hannover Re.

The CEO received $3.9mn in shares alongside his salary and bonus.

The aim was to provide proof of concept for the securitised tokens.

Chris Parish was previously portfolio management and funds team leader at Nephila Capital.

The programme was "oversubscribed on all dimensions”, the company said.

The broker has published research identifying transformative trends in the insurance industry.

The European Commission suggested that its review should include looking at the risks for retail investors of access to instruments including cat bonds and other niche alternatives.

The new SPA will write cyber reinsurance initially and could progress to writing insurance.

Financials Acquisitions Corp is looking to extend its merger deadline and raise “substantial” extra funds.

Compelling rates are on offer for markets willing to write wildfire risk in the sunshine state.

The carrier is increasing underlying rates to counter increased reinsurance costs and inflation.

Previously, Shaw was lead underwriter at MS Reinsurance and lead underwriter at MS Amlin’s Bermuda office.

ACIC’s program offers sufficient coverage for approximately a one-in-167-year event and a one-in-100-year event followed by a one-in-50-year event in the same season, the company said.

Howden Tiger worked on the structure of the deal with the unnamed syndicate.

The company wrote the most California homeowners multi-peril insurance, at $2.56bn, and fire lines and home multi-peril insurance, at $2.66bn, in 2022, according to AM Best data.

The Bermudian reinsurer launched a public offering of 6,300,000 common shares and anticipates raising around $1.15bn to finance the transaction.

The deal includes AIG's AlphaCat platform.

The reinsurer has cat capacity available at 1.6 and 1.7 where pricing meets its margin targets.

This comes as the reinsurer is preparing a major equity raise to attack the harder reinsurance market.

Net proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, which may include expanding its existing business lines and operations.

The company is also nearing completion of Interboro Insurance Company’s program renewal.

Five counterparties account for almost half of all premiums ceded by a sample of major Floridian carriers, analysis shows.

Remaining ILS staff will now report into the group’s CFO.

The non-catastrophe ILS platform hit a valuation of $1bn after a Series C funding round.

HCI is modelling a decrease in claim frequency of about 15%-20% and in litigation frequency of about 3% owing to Florida legal reforms.

Nephila Syndicate CEO Adam Beatty said that the firm hopes to grow its new specialty syndicate to $500mn of premium within the next few years.

Capital has begun to flow again after a challenging time for ILS fundraising in 2022 – but there is a clear shift underway.

The carrier’s combined ratio totaled 100%, up 2.1 points from Q1 2022, reflecting a higher net loss ratio, partially offset by a lower net expense ratio.

Governments could encourage cat bond issuance by lowering costs, a policy paper said.

The facility will support quota share capacity with Anchor Re on behalf of SageSure carrier partners.

The bond, which was renewed in January in its fourth deal, provides the bank with coverage for operational tail risks.

The Canadian pension fund will retain 9.4% of the carrier’s voting shares.

ILS managers have pioneered externally managed rated carriers, but have done so with cost-consciousness in mind.

The MGA is seeking to double premium from $1.5bn over the next four to five years.

The WR Berkley vehicle takes a 30% share of its reinsurance placements.

The biggest increases came from North American hurricane and earthquake coverage, where retentions rose from $350mn to $600mn.

The insured losses include those to private insurers as well as to the Turkish Catastrophe Insurance Pool.

Should reinsurers retain the option of playing in ILS, or take a ‘go hard or go home’ approach?

The carrier has increased its full-year perils cost estimate to A$1.15bn.

The reinsurer’s combined ratio fell to 87.8% in Q4 2022, improving 4 points against the prior-year quarter.

The Bermudian reported $15mn in catastrophe losses for the quarter, down from $125mn in the same period last year.

The reinsurer’s overall retro programme increased by 56% as its whole-account and cat swaps also grew.

The carrier said it achieved average risk-adjusted price increases of 30% on cat business.

Early evidence is leading the (re)insurance market to hope the storm can avoid the development curve of its 2017 predecessor Hurricane Irma.

Excluding agriculture, Chubb’s P&C CoR rose to 85.9% in Q4 from 85.4% the prior-year quarter.

More rain is forecast for Auckland, with three 'heavy rain warning – red' notices issued today.

The decisive move to replace Laurent Rousseau early in his CEO tenure was about “timely decisions”, the Scor chairman said.

The carrier estimated losing less than $10mn of desired renewals due to exits from property and property cat reinsurance.

Chairman Kessler remains in place until the 2024 General Meeting when he will stand down on hitting the age limit of 72.

The world’s largest investment company has assets under management of more than $10tn.

The company's portion of net written premiums from Fidelis is expected to be around $550mn to $600mn for the full year.

Beazley’s bond was hailed as a “great first step” but challenges remain, although others are already working on narrower cloud outage transactions.

The transaction is the first proportional deal for cyber risk in the capital markets.  

The sidecar has been taking on more cyber risks in recent years, sources said.

The sidecar takes a 25% quota share of CCR’s worldwide property cat book.

The firm missed its earning per share target for the quarter.

The vehicle was upsized by 20% from 2022.

The executive chairman has sold around half of his holding back to the company.

The ending of an exclusivity arrangement also allows Berkshire Hathaway to offer reinsurance to Australian rivals.

The bonds replace last year’s issuance and are bigger by 35%.

The renewal equates to 20% of its total 32.5% quota share agreement, with another 10% having recently been renewed by Munich Re and Swiss Re.

The sidecar has stepped down in size over the past three years.

The carrier has renewed two of its quota shares with continental reinsurers with final negotiations underway.

The notes covering a four-year period were listed on the Bermuda Stock Exchange.

The Californian insurer secured approximately $50mn of additional excess reinsurance limit for residential and commercial earthquake insurance markets.

The asset manager’s reinsurance funds shrank 17% in its fiscal year to end October to reach $2.6bn.

The full size of the sidecar for 2023 will be known when Class B notes are issued in January.

The update to the October figure implies the ultimate number will comfortably breach the $50bn mark.

TigerRisk Capital Markets & Advisory acted as exclusive structuring and placement agent for the reinsurance sidecar.

The company was recently licensed to expand into non-life insurance lines and now plans to expand into direct P&C insurance business in the US through partnerships with MGAs.

The deal protects the carrier’s capital in the event of large nat-cat or mortality losses.

The exit highlights increasingly difficult conditions in the retro and reinsurance markets.

Quota shares, collateralised re, ILWs and event-linked swaps will also form part of the offer.

The Bermuda Monetary Authority expects carriers on the island to take a 25% share of the total industry loss.

Analysts said attachment points are now far behind the rate of inflation over the period.

The Canadian investment fund now owns almost 3.8 million shares of the personal lines insurer, compared to 281,773 in Q2.

Ludlow Re will grow “opportunistically” where there is confidence of producing attractive returns.

The reinsurer is ready to “walk away from business” where it feels pricing and terms and conditions are not good enough.

William Mills was most recently group head of ceded reinsurance and third-party capital at Allianz.

The partial redemption values Ordinary Shares at $3.33 and C Shares at $17.50.

The market share for the storm of 3%-5% is below syndicates’ historical average for US wind events.

Outrigger Re will write a quota share of Ark’s Bermuda property treaty book.

The municipal bond insurer first raised collateralised reinsurance cover in 2018 in a smaller $100mn deal.

The London-listed carrier said that market dislocation could last for years and had created a strategic opportunity for the carrier.

The new loss pick takes into account litigation and inflation costs, as well as claims activity to date.

The manager received a mandate from a new investor who had taken the call to come in ahead of Hurricane Ian.

Hurricane Ian losses at United Insurance Holdings (UPC) Insurance have nearly reached the top of its personal lines reinsurance tower, company executives said on its earnings call.

The reinsurer flagged changes will be made to its retro programme in 2023 after cutting its cat book and as the retro market has hardened.

The Floridian's net loss ratio jumped nearly 18 points to 97.6%, driven by a $40mn retention from Ian and slightly lower net earned premium than the prior-year quarter.

A 3.9-point decline in the casualty and specialty segment offset a 2.5-point deterioration in the company’s property business.

The Gulf Coast state is keen to distance itself from Florida’s insurance woes but is resistant to some underlying changes.

The Floridian's loss ratio increased 42.8 points, reflecting $111mn of retained Hurricane Ian losses and a higher attritional initial accident year loss pick.

CEO Andrade said the hardening property cat market was a “tremendous opportunity” for the Bermudian.

The Bermudian’s operating loss per share, however, grew nearly four times from the prior-year quarter to $5.28 per share.

The two Lloyd’s players are the first to bring sidecars to market as they seek to capitalise on surging projected returns.

The charge included the carrier’s $80mn retention and $35mn of reinstatement premiums.

The insurer took $28mn in net Hurricane Ian losses and warned inflationary pressures surpassed expectations in general in Q3.

The reinsurer is working to find the right inflation indicators for individual client portfolios.

The firm’s capital and risk solutions segment has been growing its reinsurance business this year.

UPC’s closing price hit the bottom of $0.99 per share on Sept 6 and has remained below the $1.00-threshold ever since.

The analysts said market pricing indicators suggested a hard market was going to set in, requiring increases of 20%-30%.

The reinsurance segment is heading for a hard market regardless of whether the loss is $40bn or $60bn, but the swing will exacerbate trapital and influence the reload, Convergence conference panellists suggested.

The reinsurer said it will look to double rates and retentions and halve the amount of override on casualty quota shares.

The company estimates its overall gross loss to be approximately $1bn, below its $3bn overall reinsurance tower.

Fidelis and MS Reinsurance are among the ceding companies that have support from Ajit Jain’s unit.

The Florida carrier suggested that Ian will not exhaust the state’s reinsurance Cat Fund.

The carrier has under 3% market share in Florida homeowners’ business in 2021.

The broker’s global head of catastrophe management Dan Dick said that a realistic view on Ian’s loss suggests it would remain an earnings event for (re)insurers.

Amid a wide range of industry loss estimates, it is clear that ILS trapped capital will be a major issue for 2023 with back-of-the-envelope calculations suggesting at least double-digit billions held.

The insurer-of-last-resort does not expect the hurricane to attach its reinsurance at this stage.

Storm surge may be felt in Tampa even if Ian does not land in the city.

Research by sister title Inside P&C shows the top three homeowners carrier exposures by county for forecast highest impact areas.

A landfall at Category 3 or 4 along the west coast of Florida later this week would be one of the more damaging scenarios for Ian.

Following Typhoon Odette in 2021, the Philippines received a $52.5mn payout, leaving $97.5mn for future storms.

With investor fundraising prospects challenged due to macro factors, there are questions over how much US demand growth the ILS market can absorb.

The Category 1 storm will likely cause “life-threatening flash and urban flooding” in eastern portions of the Dominican Republic through early Tuesday, according to the NHC.

The implications for the Abu Dhabi investor’s billion-dollar ILS portfolio are not yet known.

The HSCM co-founder said the cat reinsurance market was going through a profound shift that would open ILS opportunities for growth.

The broker found reinsurers’ underlying RoE had improved during the period but still fell short of the cost of capital.

ILS risk-sharing should stick to peak risks, the reinsurer argued.

Nat cat losses added 11.8 points to the combined ratio at 101.5% over five years on average, S&P has found.

The carrier said its commercial business gave the company a platform to build on.

Through a quota share deal, FlyWheel will enable investors to support Accelerant’s portfolio of low-limit, low volatility commercial SME primary risks.

Cyber risk ILS will grow slowly in the short-to-medium term, S&P Global Ratings has predicted.

The Sompo International company was placed into run-off in June 2019.

The loss portfolio transfer reinsures around $116mn of the group’s share of Syndicate 33 reserves from between 1993 and 2018.

Berkley also increased its position in Global Indemnity and now owns around 8.5% of the firm.

The company ceded 75% of gross premiums in 2020.

Evanston Insurance Company, a subsidiary of Markel, backed the move.

The carrier posted losses from various flooding and hail events hitting Australia in the past year.

The company sees and opportunity to grow market share in the state.

The carrier said pricing on property quota share, particularly in the US, was not keeping pace with inflation.

On August 1, Demotech downgraded UPC's financial stability rating by two notches to M from A.

The former executive is looking for $40mn to $80mn of new capital, sources suggested.

The carrier had improved its combined ratio by 6 points to 99.4%.

It is unclear if policies transferred by UPC to other entities through quota shares and renewal rights deals are covered by federal mortgage institutions.

The move would enable the Lloyd’s ILS platform to access investors with lower risk-return appetites after launching with quota share options only.

Axa also announced the launch of a group EUR1bn share buy-back scheme.

HSCM has had a majority stake in the company since 2020.

Louisiana policyholders have filed 460,709 claims of all types, of which 65% were closed with payment.

The Australian investor made 5.0% on its ILS investments in the 12 months to 31 March.

The carrier said that it intends to defend the proceeding.

South African flood losses, Canadian and European storms and second-quarter events in the US were cited as contributors to the deterioration.

The investor will manage a portion of the Bermudian’s assets.

The company’s property segment booked a combined ratio of 57.6%, 13.8 points higher compared to Q2 2021 due to a higher attritional loss ratio.

The executive will rejoin as EVP, reinsurance purchasing and risk capital optimization.

This publication broke the news in March that the Richard Brindle-led underwriting business was working on the radical company separation.

As ILS players such as Vesttoo seek to grow beyond cat risk, Trading Risk looks at some of the questions surrounding how casualty ILS deals will operate and the amount of risk transfer undertaken to date.

Markel effected its buyout of Catco investors in April 2022.

Howie was a principal in Mercer’s hedge fund boutique where his areas of coverage included ILS.

Kiln and UPC partnered to form the insurer in 2018, but it was merged into American Coastal earlier this year

The company has extended its Munich Re quota share for three years.

Private ILS strategies boosted overall sector performance as cat bonds continued to lag.

Marsh McLennan’s Bermuda platform issued $68.3mn in private deals last year.

Sources say investor capacity may be returning to the market, but hurricane season could “make or break” the market.

Australia and Florida buyers faced capacity problems as inflation drives up pricing.

The Australian group could hive off its banking unit to concentrate efforts on its larger insurance segment.

The new issuances will add to the carrier’s existing $900mn cat bond cover.

Kevin Rehnberg, who has been out on leave for health reasons since March 2022, is stepping down from the top role and the board of directors.

The insurer reclassified some Hurricane Ida claims as storm Nicholas losses, producing an overweight loss for the second event.

The agency said casualty risk was attractive to investors for its low-to-moderate correlation.

Investors, fund managers and service providers are adapting in the face of potential large losses from secondary perils.

The cover changed from cascading aggregate to an occurrence-based structure.

CEO Kathleen Reardon said recent legislative changes are a ‘band aid’ but will help to calm the stressed Florida market.

This is UPC’s latest attempt to downsize after offloading part of its personal lines business to HCI.

Markel Catco reported a small gain for its February result on 2019 side pocket releases, ahead of its early buyout of investors.

It is also Core Specialty’s first entry to the cat bond market.

The issuance is seeking US named storm cover for Core Specialty companies.

The specialty P&C carrier is offering high single-digit rates for the cover.

Global reinsurance capital grew by 3.8% last year, according to Aon’s analysis of 22 reinsurers.

The executive has worked for Beazley for almost 16 years.

Lee Shavel, the current CFO, was made CEO, Mark Anquillare was made president and three new members were appointed to the board.

This is the second cat bond lite from Ocorian this year.

The commercial insurance CEO said that the industry should act now before the cat market reached a point of implosion.

Major ILS providers active in Florida including Nephila and Aeolus lifted assumed premiums.

Several firm-orders have been released, but there are widespread expectations of a much-delayed renewal as low-layer capacity remains elusive.

The company previously had its Demotech rating downgraded from 'A' to 'S'.

The carrier has shared insurance and reinsurance risk with ILS partners in the past, but the ILS team reports to Axis Re CEO Steve Arora.

The specialty P&C carrier is offering high single-digit rates for the cover.

The Florida carrier has yet to finalise its programs as it awaits potential reforms.

The firm reserved $40mn for Ukraine, citing ‘small net losses’ in Re & ILS.

Higher interest rates drove investment write-downs that offset a turnaround in underwriting performance after last year’s first quarter was hit by Uri losses.

The carrier has already secured 85% of all-states, first-event cover for the June renewal.

Florida-based Universal sees 6.1% drop in policies in force; challenging claims environment pressures underwriting profit.

The carrier posted 6% growth in reinsurance, with primary insurance premiums rising 15%.

Lloyd’s CFO and COO Burkhard Keese told delegates at the London ILS 2022 Conference that the platform’s scope will widen beyond quota share structures.

The fund’s prospectus showed 2017 was its only negative year since 2014.

The company cited its continued Q1 2022 underwriting losses and recent rating downgrade.

The ILS platform was transferred to Gallagher Re when it bought Willis Re last year.

The former AlphaCat and Aspen executives have teamed up to bring an ESG focus to a new independent ILS platform.

Experts say cyber ILS offerings including cat bonds could be near, but concerns over structures, modelling and correlation persist.

Political violence and aviation coverages had been thrown into marine composites as the market softened.

Swiss Re’s recent underwriting actions, model updates and risk repricing have prepared it to take on more secondary perils, according to its top team.

The retro fund has redeemed 99% of share capital, returning around $106mn to public fund investors.

Fontana investors will face a short lock-up period in the sidecar’s ramp-up phase, but thereafter there will be some “embedded liquidity.”

The deal will also provide $100mn in new equity funding to the legacy carrier.

The agency highlighted potential aviation losses from the war ranging from $6bn to $15bn.

There is a tension between securing payback and negotiating higher retentions.

Wind excess-of-loss treaties renew with gains between 2% and 5% in “underwhelming” renewal.

The issuance takes total cat bond lite issuance to $155.3mn

Executive pay at RenaissanceRe fell for the second year in a row in 2021 after a “disappointing” return for shareholders in a year of elevated natural catastrophes.

Markel CatCo’s buyout transaction closed 28 March, as the firm prepares to pay out $106mn of remaining value to shareholders in its public fund.

The transaction will create a reinsurance entity roughly on a par with Scor in terms of net reinsurance premium.

The deal values the TransRe owner at 1.26 times book value as of 31 December 2021, and represents a 29% premium on its stock price.

Even though underlying ILS market conditions are improving, getting a hearing from investors could become harder.

The investment firm said that pivoting to a pure-play insurance data business would unlock up to $20bn of value.

The home and auto carrier has received around 5,000 claims so far.

The earthquake was 250 times less strong than the 2011 Tohoku disaster.

The industry has moved on from an initial focus on the nat-cat element of ESG.

A tsunami advisory is in place in the Fukushima area.

Ceded premiums earned were also up by 27.7% due to new quota share agreements.

The carrier lifted its estimated net natural hazard costs for the year by A$25mn to A$1.1bn.

Windstorm Nadia/Malik was one of several to strike the region this winter.

Exposure management is prevalent and underwriting profitability is patchy.

Wind XoL rate increases are tapering off, while cedants push for commission increases on quake quota-shares.

It noted that its aviation and marine books are covered by retro although its exposure is “not very material”.

Losses and loss adjusted expenses at the Florida-based firm rose to $63mn from $40mn in Q4 2020.

The insurer has used up about 40% of its aggregate reinsurance limit, after quota share impacts.

The Floridian insurer said the write-down reflected prevailing valuation multiples.

The company’s convertible notes now have $24mn outstanding.

Net income was impacted by $4.4mn of reserve strengthening, net of reinsurance recoveries.

The Floridian carrier recorded $8.1mn cat losses net of reinsurance compared with $27.9mn a year earlier.

The firm generated total fees of $40mn including quota share commissions.

The insurance trade body has called on governments to increase actions to mitigate risks.

The carrier will recognize a $6.8mn after-tax loss associated with the LPT agreement during the first quarter of 2022.

The firm’s 2020 edition cat bond has also lost $3.2mn.

CEO Mumenthaler emphasised cat as a “core competence” for the carrier.

The company deepened its overall net loss to $48.1mn, as it said non-cat losses and Hurricane Irma creep contributed to reserve deterioration.

The start-up Bermudian reinsurer has focused initially more on quota share.

The firm said reinsurance unit Axa XL was now operating in “business as usual mode” following an extensive re-underwriting of its portfolio.

The firm said its results reflect its aim to return to profitability in 2022.

Just under half of the $8mn cat losses stem from insurance books FedNat is running off, with reserve strengthening impacted by 2020 reinsurance gaps.

Munich Re’s P&C re unit reported a Q4 consolidated result of EUR648mn ($735mn), a sixfold increase year on year, as the carrier announced 14.5% premium growth at the 1.1 renewals.

Per occurrence coverage grew by $750mn.

The carrier said AIG Re cut US property reinsurance limits deployed by 10% at 1 January.

A Bermuda court has ordered scheme meetings be convened to vote on the deal.

Universal Insurance Holdings books $30.7mn reserve charge and sees $21.5mn in weather above plan for Q4, with shares plunging on the news.

Scor’s renewals update denotes a continued push to control volatility while Hannover Re is focused on growth.

A$209mn of its A$270mn agg reinsurance deductible remains eroded, in line with prior estimates.

The Cayman Islands reinsurer will source underwriting risk for a new feeder fund investing in non-cat securities.

Industry veteran argues that the culture of the UK regulator is stifling growth.

The 5%-7% uplift came in ahead of a smaller November gain connected to 2019 catastrophes.

RenaissanceRe had raised $470mn for the high-risk fund platform a year earlier.

As of December 31, 2021, policyholders have filed 434,633 claims of all types from Hurricane Ida, with 83% of them already closed.

CEO Albert Benchimol pledged to grow the company’s specialty business as the catastrophe portion of its 1.1 book shrank by 10 percentage points.

The supply-chain InsurTech is also broadening the scope of its Lloyd’s syndicate.

Axis did not share any insurance premium with capital partners in Q4, while reinsurance cessions continued.

The company lowered its full-year core loss ratio 2.6 points to 55.1% and posted a $266mn full-year underwriting gain.

Southern Fidelity is seeking to lift homeowner rates by 85%. 

The deal is expected to close in Q2.

The firm said its preference for single class exposures had constrained growth in specialty lines as brokers sought to push different classes together in combined programmes.

Both pricing and terms improved in most of its core market, with the firm's year-on-year renewal net rate change for 1.1 business estimated to be +5%

Greater participation of cat bond investors in the retro market has some advantages alongside the risks.

The December redemption was raised to 7.5% of the fund from the usual 5%.

The company reinstated the cover, having not renewed it for 2021.

The French reinsurer’s vehicle has renewed for the fourth consecutive year.

The reinsurer said the deals would enhance its abilities to provide innovative solutions for clients.

The year saw a substantial uptick in natural disaster losses compared with 2020 and 2019.

These follow the first cat bond lite deal of 2022.

The total has come in 19% below the $235mn vehicle listed in 2021.

The private ILS deal follows on from a lively year of issuance in 2021

The firm said that retro lines had shrunk more than expected after fundraising delays.

The Asia Pacific risk-focused vehicle was a little smaller than the first launch but both are ongoing.

The “squeezed middle” of the reinsurance sector is under pressure, but attritional risk aversion could drive ongoing changes.

The firm’s listed fund took a 2.5% gain for post-2017 class C shares.

The transaction provides reinsurance capital from four pension funds and marks the second use of the Lloyd’s ILS transformer vehicle.

The move follows an ongoing battle between board members and staff over investment tactics, according to local reports.

The listed mutual fund will be overseen by new recruit Niall MacGillivray.

The reinsurer typically renews the deal in two parts each year.

The shortage of sidecar capacity could have a knock-on impact to broader renewals.

The deal follows a similar transaction on northeast business in January.

The reincarnated $9bn deal is moving a step closer to completion.

Personnel turnover and ongoing redevelopment into new areas were the notable themes of the past 12 months.

The Markel Catco Reinsurance Fund and Markel Catco Reinsurance Opportunities Fund have already had provisional liquidators appointed for restructuring purposes.

The fund will focus on later-stage investment in companies already known to Eos.

The insurer said the European flooding loss did not qualify as a European windstorm for the purpose of the transaction.

The fund’s stake in Helios remains unchanged at 19.4%.

The aggregate risk deal is a renewal of a one-year 2020 ILS issuance.

The deal was struck in the wake of the collapse of Aon and Willis Towers Watson’s merger.

The award-winning Danish Red Cross-sponsored deal has made its stock exchange debut.

The topic of quota-share support is becoming all the more crucial because supply is shrinking at the same time as demand is rising.

The Bermudian fund bought £280,000 of shares in the Lloyd’s investment platform.

Fairfax has entered into an agreement with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (Omers), where each of them will acquire a 4.995% stake in Odyssey Group for an aggregate cash consideration of $900mn.

United Insurance holdings (UPC Insurance) reported net catastrophe losses of $37.0mn in Q3 2021, down from $140.0mn for the prior-year quarter, after action to significantly reduce gross and net catastrophe exposure during the past year led to a “materially reduced” hurricane loss.

FedNat transferred $562mn of its $599mn gross catastrophe losses to reinsurers in the third quarter, company executives said on an earnings call.

The Canadian pension plan Ontario Teachers’ will support three Lloyd’s syndicates – CFC, Beazley and Beat – via its initial deal.

Storm losses were down 30% to $13mn, but the prior-year result had benefitted from a one-off gain.

Munich Re CFO Christoph Jurecka reaffirmed the carrier’s commitment to cat business and revealed an expectation of further price increases in 2022.

The carrier will put its Maison Insurance operations into run-off.

Eclipse Re has issued a series of large private ILS issuances across four tranches totalling $277.2mn, significantly boosting year-to-date volumes, Bermuda Stock Exchange filings show.

AIG has disclosed that AlphaCat’s AuM was $3.5bn as of 30 September, down by $300mn from the $3.8bn reported for Q1 2021, and 17% from $4.2bn a year ago.

The investor cited legal releases bound up in the offer as an obstacle.

The carrier revised its cat bill following Ida and PG&E losses.

The start-up reinsurer wrote $291.2mn in gross premium during the nine-month period.

Financial authorities must ‘massively expand’ risk-sharing pools.

The fund’s high risk, high return strategy will aim to replicate performance of the cat bond market.

The company generated a $10mn underwriting gain in insurance, reversing last year’s $80mn loss, though the reinsurance division’s loss widened to $69mn.

The sale represents a 4% stake in the UK motor insurer, according to Jefferies.

The carrier launched a share buyback and announced portfolio rebalancing actions.

The CEO and president said he expects to shrink the portfolio for retro-focussed sidecar Upsilon.

The reinsurer grew GWP by 55% – to $1.77bn – helped by a surge in reinstatement premiums, but the company was weighed down by $727mn in net cat claims.

The insurer pegged its updated gross claims figure higher than the Elbe flood of 2002.

CEO Richard Brindle calls for pricing corrections to reflect climate change and exposure growth.

The deal marks a return for Spencer Re founder and Taussig CEO Joseph Taussig.

‘We are not shrinking to greatness,’ said Allianz Global Corporate & Speciality CEO Joachim Müller.

Analysis of financial data shows that the last decade has seen a marked increase in the proportion of premiums ceded by carriers in all sectors.

This comes after PIC said it would challenge the buyout offer last week.

The manager has faced a challenge to its buyout offer based on concerns over value.

The issuance is the platform’s second this year.

The issuance was the fourth for the Marsh platform this year.

The (re)insurer pegged industry losses from Ida at $30bn and increased its share buyback program to $1.5bn.

After the acquisition, the Beech team will continue to be led by Geoff Stilwell, Andrew Woodhams and Matt Gates.

From now on, per-event retentions for second and third events will lower to $55mn for hurricane and earthquake perils.

The lower-than-expected losses so far from Ida do not stack up against what is thought to be a $30bn+ cat event.

The broker forecast ‘continuing growth momentum’ in the ILS market.

Markel reported that investigations by the DoJ and SEC have concluded with no penalties or action taken against the company.

California wildfire loss notifications relating to 2017 and 2018 fell.

Surpassing the $30bn threshold will trigger more occurrence covers, as another painful year looms for aggregate writers.

Provinzial confirmed its claims had risen above EUR1bn and it now estimates they could reach EUR1.5bn.

Progressive books $341.9mn in cat losses from Hurricane Ida in August and sees the total rising to $510mn.

The fund’s post-Irma shareholders made a small loss in the same period.

Retro rates were in some cases falling by mid-year, ahead of the recent losses.

The flooding in the northeast increases scope for commercial lines and auto losses.

The carriers with the largest Louisiana market shares also ceded more than $100mn to Lloyd’s syndicates during 2020.

The company predicts that total insured and uninsured losses from the storm overall will amount to between $27bn and $40bn.

The further losses edge into the $20bn range, the more the loss will shift to the retro market, but high uncertainty remains.

It is currently expected to make landfall on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana in the early hours of Monday morning.

Proactive price action is enough to keep pace with inflation – for now.

The deal takes year-to-date private cat bond volumes up to $601.7mn, according to Trading Risk data.

The managing general agency is looking for new lines of business, having seen its cyber team and capacity provider depart ahead of renewals earlier this year.

The broker has explained the rationale for its $3.25bn acquisition of Willis Re on an investor call.

The 2017 start-up has previously focussed on quota share investing.