Best of Artemis, week ending 10th May 2015

Here are the ten most popular news articles, week ending 10th May 2015, covering catastrophe bonds, ILS, reinsurance capital and related risk transfer topics. 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 10th May 2015:

1. Buffett bemoans reinsurance becoming a “fashionable asset class”
   Warren Buffett is none too happy that reinsurance has become what he termed a “fashionable asset class”, as the fact that investors are increasingly attracted to the space has damaged his insurance and reinsurance businesses returns.

2. Reinsurer returns on equity more realistic at 5.9%: Willis Re
   The return on equity figures that reinsurance firm’s have been reporting recently have been artificially boosted by low levels of catastrophe losses as well as positive prior year reserve releases, according to a new report from broker Willis Re.

3. Exor to consider increasing bid for PartnerRe, reports
   Reuters is reporting that sources have told the media firm that Italian investment holding company Exor is to consider increasing its bid for reinsurance firm PartnerRe at a board meeting this week.

4. USAA returns with $150m Residential Re 2015-1 multi-peril cat bond
   U.S. military mutual insurer USAA is back in the catastrophe bond market again with a $150m Residential Reinsurance 2015 Ltd. (Series 2015-1). The deal looks set to test ILS investor pricing limits, as one tranche seeks to push a new low compared to the insurers previous deals.

5. Reinsurance margins near pricing tipping point: John Charman
   Reinsurance renewal pricing is nearing a floor and the market for catastrophe risks in particular is approaching the point on pricing beyond which underwriters will not go, according to Endurance Specialty Holdings CEO John Charman.

6. Allstate secures 7-year Sanders in the traditional reinsurance market
   U.S. primary insurance group Allstate successfully turned to the traditional reinsurance market to purchase 7-year coverage that it failed to secure from the capital markets with its recently dropped Sanders Re 2015-1 catastrophe bond.

7. ILS funds return 0.2% in March, cat bond funds perform worst
   The average return across a group of 34 insurance-linked securities (ILS), reinsurance linked investment and pure catastrophe bond funds fell to 0.2% in March, the second lowest return for the month on record, as pure cat bond funds suffered from weak performance.

8. Losses from U.S. severe thunderstorms & tornadoes to hit $2bn: Aon Benfield
   Insured losses from outbreaks of severe thunderstorms in the U.S. in April are expected to reach $2 billion, according to an estimate from reinsurance broker Aon Benfield’s risk modelling unit Impact Forecasting.

9. Property cat reinsurance “not as much fun as it was”, says Aspen CEO
   With the current softened state of reinsurance rates and competitive pressures from well-capitalised reinsurers and growing insurance-linked securities players, the property catastrophe reinsurance market is “not as much fun as it was,” according to Aspen CEO Chris O’Kane.

10. Reinsurance profitability attracts capital, but damages prospects: FitchReinsurance companies are in a vicious circle. With losses remaining low reinsurers report profitable results, which has the effect of attracting more capital, which in turn deteriorates market conditions, but with no serious losses results continue to be attractive to investors.

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 31 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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Artemis’ Q1 2015 Catastrophe Bond & ILS Market Report – The biggest first quarter ever

We’ve now published our Q1 2015 catastrophe bond & ILS market report.

This report reviews the catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) market at the end of the first-quarter of 2015, looking at the new risk capital issued and the composition of the cat bond & ILS transactions completed during Q1 2015.

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