Trading Risk September 2017

Schroders-owned ILS manager Secquaero has won a significant $200mn+ mandate, according to sources, as a number of companies target growth in this sector.

Chaucer is working to establish a new sidecar for 2018 as other Lloyd's (re)insurers consider new third-party capital vehicles, sources said.

Hurricane Harvey's impact on Texas could potentially produce an underweight loss for the ILS market relative to the broader reinsurance sector.

Cat bond broker-dealers said the market had plenty of impetus left after a record-breaking first half of 2017.

The $430mn Spectrum Re cat bond issued in June this year by fronting carrier Tokio Millennium Re was ultimately for the benefit of Credit Suisse's ILS entities, sources told Trading Risk.

This is certainly not going to be a year where the reinsurance industry is twiddling its thumbs at the annual Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous.

Hurricane Harvey had much less of an impact on the cat bond market than last year's Matthew, but its quick intensification also left less time for livecat traders to manoeuvre ahead of the event.

Shrinking hedge fund Pine River Capital Management has shut its ILS desk, joining the ranks of generalist asset managers that have retrenched from the sector, Trading Risk revealed this month.

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) will support Lloyd's insurer Ascot's plans to grow its newly launched MGA platform, Ethos Specialty Insurance Services.

Average ILS fund returns reached 2.23 percent by the end of July, according to the Eurekahedge ILS Advisers Index.

Managers of Bermudian special purpose insurers (SPIs) are taking steps to upgrade their vehicles to Solvency II-equivalent structures, following the introduction of new German regulations last year that made it more difficult for non-European reinsurers to conduct business in the country.

The largest component of Harvey's damage will stem from flooding in the Houston area, so who is going to take those losses?