Trading Risk May 2018

Cat bond maturities influenced the dip in market share of Florida reinsurance cessions taken by the ILS market.

Swiss pension fund Basellandschaftliche Pensionskasse (BLPK) has reported that its ILS investments made a 5.51 percent loss in 2017, joining a number of other local funds that reported the impact of last year’s catastrophe events.

Oppenheimer Funds is looking to hire personnel for a new broader ILS offering to complement its existing cat bond strategy, according to sources.

Floridian insurer Heritage now expects to claim $151mn from its Citrus Re cat bonds as its Irma losses escalate, sources told Trading Risk.

Ever heard the underwriting joke about how to spot the actuary driving a car?

NCM Re's expansion will depend on how much business the insurer writes itself, said Mark Gibson, the company’s alternative capital director.

Zurich-based ILS manager Plenum has grown its assets under management (AuM) by almost 40 percent since the start of the year, to reach $355mn at the end of April.

Re(insurers) need to seize their “Uber moment” and regard ILS capital as “aligned capital” rather than “alternative” capital, according to Michael Wade, non-executive chair of TigerRisk Capital Markets UK.

(Re)insurers with established relationships within the ILS space are at an advantage in the current post-loss environment, according to Joe Ferraro, partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher.

Reinsurance rate increases fell short of expectations after hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria (HIM), but this could change if the market endures further major losses in 2018, panellists said at the Trading Risk London ILS conference.

The retro manager's Irma loss deterioration is on a higher scale than that reported by peers.

Rate increases have mostly been limited to low attaching Floridian wind cover.