Best of Artemis, week ending 7th September 2014

Here are the ten most popular news articles, week ending 7th September 2014, on catastrophe bonds, reinsurance capital and related risk transfer topics, from the last seven days on Artemis. To ensure you never miss a thing  subscribe to the weekly Artemis email newsletter updates.

Top ten most viewed articles on Artemis.bm, week ending 7th September 2014:

1. Structural change, lower margins, a deeper reinsurance convergence
   The global reinsurance industry is looking at a period of structural change and reduced margins, as the industry comes to terms with the new environment of excess capacity, both traditional and alternative, higher competition and lower rates.

2. A.M. Best explains its negative rating outlook for reinsurance sector
   Rating agency A.M. Best changed its outlook on the reinsurance sector to negative recently, becoming the fourth of the major rating agencies to do so. In a video published this week senior A.M. Best rating executives explained the rational behind the shift.

3. Illinois Teachers’ pension fund to pull back from reinsurance: Reports
   Given the recent decline in pricing and therefore returns on investments in reinsurance linked assets and insurance-linked securities (ILS) such as catastrophe bonds, it is no surprise to hear that some large, institutional investors are pulling back.

4. Reinsurers appetite for catastrophe risk remains, despite lower profit: S&P
   Softening prices, resulting in reduced margins and lower profits, as well as a slight uptick in exposure to smaller catastrophes haven’t dented global reinsurers appetites for underwriting catastrophe risk reinsurance, according to Standard & Poor’s.

5. Expanding terms, competing with selves: A.M. Best on London re/insurers
   In a report on London insurance and reinsurance market conditions, A.M. Best warns that expansion of terms and conditions will adversely affect results, while firms managing third-party capital are effectively competing with their own products.

6. Reinsurers (and ILS) may underestimate climate change exposure: S&P
   Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s performed some analysis on the global reinsurance sectors exposure to climate change and found that, under a scenario it tested for, reinsurers may be underestimating their exposure to catastrophe losses by around 50%.

7. Hailstorm frequency, severity, insured losses increase since 2007: Verisk
   Verisk Insurance Solutions – Underwriting, the property casualty underwriting data unit of Verisk Analytics, has released a detailed analysis report looking at the impact and severity of hailstorms events across the U.S. over the past 14 years.

8. PGA Sompo launches parametric typhoon insurance for Philippines
   PGA Sompo Japan Insurance Inc, the Philippines based subsidiary of Sompo Japan Insurance Inc., has launched a parametric typhoon insurance product designed to mitigate against agricultural damage from major storms.

9. A leaderboard of catastrophe bond and ILS issuance banks & brokers
   Key activities during issuance of a catastrophe bond or insurance-linked security (ILS) fall to the capital markets divisions of global reinsurance brokers, reinsurers and specialist investment bank units in arranging, structuring and marketing ILS deals.

10. Rewire aims to originate, structure & place ILS deals using technology
    Insurance-linked securities (ILS) industry veterans Stefano Sola and Richard Pennay have launched a new technology focused ILS firm, Rewire Holdings LLC, seeking to increase efficiency in the syndication of catastrophe risk to reinsurance and capital markets.

This is by no means every article published on Artemis during the last week, just the most popular, some of which were published over a week ago. There were 20 new articles published in the last week. To ensure you always stay up to date with Artemis and never miss a story subscribe to our weekly email newsletter which is delivered every Wednesday.

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Q2 2014 Catastrophe Bond & ILS Market Report – The Biggest Quarter, The Biggest Catastrophe Bond

We’ve now published our Q2 2014 catastrophe bond & ILS market report.

This report reviews the catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) market at the end of the record second-quarter of 2014, looking at the new risk capital issued and the composition of the transactions completed during Q1 2014.
Download your copy here.