Trading Risk September 2017

Swiss Re Capital Markets has hired Edward Johnson from Leadenhall Capital Partners to join its London ILS team.

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 latest acquisition by Heritage continues the trend for the larger Florida-based insurers to look to grow beyond their roots into "super-regional" carriers, a dynamic that is not necessarily favourable to their reinsurers.

Can savings on insurance in the future somehow be leveraged to invest in resilience today?

Schroders has appointed Alan Cauberghs as head of private assets to oversee its activities in various sectors, including its ILS division Secquaero.

Willis Re broker Henry Kingham has resigned and is expected to join ILS manager Aeolus, sources told sister publication The Insurance Insider.

The four leading modelling agencies - RMS, Air Worldwide, Karen Clark and CoreLogic - broadly agree wind-driven insured losses from Hurricane Harvey will fall in the low billions of dollars.

Underwriting agencies and fronting carriers continued to see demand from insurance sector investors looking for fee-driven businesses, rather than risk-taking entities, as two more M&A deals in this sector were revealed over the summer.

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.

The major Australian insurers disclosed further information on their reinsurance claims this year following several major storms and a New Zealand earthquake.

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.

Rhodri Lane has been appointed London head of capital markets at Aon Securities. He will replace Darren Bailey, who recently left the firm, sources said.