Best of Artemis, week ending 4th June 2017

Here are the ten most popular news articles, week ending 4th June 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 4th June 2017:

1. Cat bond issuance reaches $8.15bn in 2017, market hits $29bn record
   The catastrophe bond and insurance-linked security (ILS) market has reached another milestone as of the 1st June 2017, with issuance for the year now at $8.15 billion which takes the size of the outstanding cat bond market to a new record at over $29 billion.

2. Hurricane losses manageable for re/insurers, renewal pricing may not be
   The 2017 Atlantic tropical storm and hurricane season officially begins today and, as ever, insurance and reinsurance companies enter the season as well-prepared as can be expected, in this market awash with capital and capacity, but the real threat, according to Fitch Ratings, continues to be pricing.

3. U.S. convective storm re/insurance losses hit $11bn in 2017 YTD
   Insurance and reinsurance industry losses from severe convective storms, thunderstorms, tornadoes, large hail and associated damaging winds, are now seen at around $11 billion for the year so far in 2017, the tenth consecutive year where severe thunderstorm insured losses have passed $10 billion.

4. New York MTA uses ILS to create “tension” between reinsurance markets
   Executives from New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and its captive insurance subsidiary, First Mutual Transportation Assurance Co. (FMTAC), have discussed how the entity utilises the capital markets to create tension and competition between markets when placing its reinsurance program.

5. Hurricane season forecasts continue to suggest more risk in 2017
   The latest forecast to be released for the 2017 Atlantic Tropical Storm & Hurricane Season joins others in suggesting a more active season, with a greater number of hurricanes likely to form over the coming months, as Colorado State University forecasters also increase their predictions for landfalling storms on the U.S. coastline.

6. China to pilot agricultural disaster insurance in 200 counties
   The Chinese government has announced that 200 of the major grain producing counties in the country will participate in a pilot of a new agricultural disaster insurance program, as it looks to leverage risk transfer to help its farmers increase their incomes.

7. $250m Spectrum Capital cat bond launched for Tokio Millennium Re
   A new $250 million Spectrum Capital Ltd. (Series 2017-1) catastrophe bond has been launched to the ILS investor community, we understand, with the issuance set to provide a collateralized source of multi-peril risk transfer protection to sponsoring reinsurer Tokio Millennium Re (Bermuda).

8. Greater transparency would increase efficiency, help ILS asset class: PGGM
   Investment Director, Credit & Insurance-Linked Investments at PGGM, Eveline Takken-Somers, has underlined the importance of greater transparency in the insurance-linked securities (ILS) space, in a recent interview.

9. Brisk cat bond issuance helps some ILS managers open gates on funds
   The brisk pace of catastrophe bond issuance in recent months, which looks set to help the market achieve new records in terms of activity and scale by the end of this quarter, has helped some ILS fund managers to open the gates on cat bond strategies a little, as a number offer new subscription opportunities.

10. Blue Capital an important component of Sompo’s strategic future
    Insurance-linked securities (ILS) and reinsurance asset management unit Blue Capital Management Ltd. is seen as an “important component” of re/insurer Sompo International’s strategic future, according to the company.

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.

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