Best of Artemis, week ending 30th April 2017

Here are the ten most popular news articles, week ending 30th April 2017, 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.

Ten most viewed articles on Artemis.bm, week ending 30th April 2017:

1. NMI Holdings to launch mortgage insurance-linked securities (ILS)
   NMI Holdings, Inc. has announced today that it is to launch a new mortgage insurance-linked securities (ILS) transaction, as it looks to secure reinsurance by transferring some of the risks associated with a portfolio of mortgage insurance policies to the capital markets. The transaction, which we now know to be issued through Oaktown Re Ltd., has also been priced.

2. Nephila backs Marsh / Schinnerer commercial property insurance facility
   Nephila Capital, the largest reinsurance linked investment manager, is backing Alternus a new commercial property insurance facility underwritten by the Schinnerer Group and brokered by Marsh, bringing alternative reinsurance capacity to a retail solution for U.S. company property portfolios.

3. Gator Re losses rise again, eroding full $35m of retained principal
   It now appears that the full $35 million of investor principal retained from the triggered Gator Re Ltd. catastrophe bond will be paid out to sponsoring insurer American Strategic Insurance Corp., as the latest estimate of qualifying losses has moved more than that amount above the attachment point now.

4. Q1 insured catastrophe losses approach $10 billion: Aon Benfield
   The insurance and reinsurance industry loss from global catastrophe events in the first-quarter of 2017 has increased further to $9.6 billion, and the final Q1 toll could creep higher in the coming weeks, according to reinsurance broker Aon Benfield.

5. Risk of Skyline Re cat bond loss reflected in broker pricing
   After primary insurer The Cincinnati Insurance Companies (Cincinnati) reported Q1 2017 catastrophe losses of around $106 million (pre-tax), which will have eroded some of the buffering layers and retention beneath its $180 million Skyline Re Ltd. (Series 2017-1) catastrophe bond, broker pricing sheets are now reflecting an increased risk of loss for the bond.

6. Reinsurance rates expected to drop further at June & July renewals: Aon
   Broker Aon Benfield has said that it expects that ceding companies will be able to capitalise on the strong levels of capacity and competition in the reinsurance market to secure further improvements in pricing, terms and conditions at the upcoming mid-year 2017 renewal season.

7. W.R. Berkley “developing strategies” to take advantage of capital evolution
   Insurance and reinsurance firm W.R. Berkley Corporation is paying “close attention” to the alternative capital trend, as it sees pools of capital with lower hurdle rates that might sit well alongside its balance-sheet and is “developing strategies” to take advantage of this evolution, according to CEO and President Robert Berkley.

8. $500m Ursa Re 2017-1 cat bond launches for California Earthquake Authority
   A new catastrophe bond has launched for the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) and it’s one of the largest deals at launch from this regular sponsor of insurance-linked securities (ILS), a $500 million Ursa Re Ltd. (Series 2017-1) transaction.

9. Endurance CFO McGuire named CEO of ILS manager Blue Capital Management
   Michael J. McGuire has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of insurance-linked securities (ILS) and third-party reinsurance capital manager Blue Capital Management Ltd. after Adam Szakmary resigned from all his executive positions and directorships with the company.

10. Florida Citizens board approves $1.33bn reinsurance renewal for 2017
    The board of governors of Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corporation has approved the purchase of $1.33 billion of reinsurance coverage in its upcoming 2017 renewal, with a combination of traditional reinsurance and capital markets coverage provided by the Everglades Re II Ltd. (Series 2017-1) catastrophe bond deal.

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 26 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.

Get listed in our MarketView directory of professionals.

View the current breakdown of the market in our range of charts, allowing you to analyse the cat bond market.

Join Artemis in Singapore on July 13th 2017 for ILS Asia. Tickets available here.