Best of Artemis, week ending 14th May 2017

Here are the ten most popular news articles, week ending 14th May 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 14th May 2017:

1. Munich Re sees bottom of the reinsurance market cycle approaching
   Global reinsurer Munich Re believes that the bottom of the market cycle is approaching and that only one more quarter similar to Q1 2017, with many smaller loss events is required for pricing to hit the bottom. The reinsurer also said today that the profitability of its reinsurance book is still “way above cost-of-capital.”

2. Twelve Capital hires new cat bond portfolio manager
   Zurich and London based insurance and reinsurance linked investment manager Twelve Capital has hired a new member to its portfolio management team to take responsibility for the firm’s catastrophe bond investment strategies.

3. April weather a multi-billion dollar insured loss, cyclone Debbie $970m: Aon
   Insurance and reinsurance firms around the world can expect to face multi-billion dollar losses due to catastrophe and severe weather events that occurred in April 2017, according to Aon Benfield, a bill that will also hit some insurance-linked securities (ILS) funds.

4. Markel CATCo promotes Fredricks to CRO, Moore to Co-CUO
   Markel CATCo Investment Management Ltd., the retrocessional and reinsurance focused investment manager and part of the Markel group of companies, has announced two underwriting promotions within its executive team.

5. London needs ILS innovation, as reinsurance market challenged: LMG
   The London market is increasingly challenged and under pressure, according to a new report from the London Market Group (LMG) and Boston Consulting, with reinsurance a particular area of concern and the higher cost-of-capital of London re/insurers proving detrimental to their success.

6. Palomar “thrilled” with completion of first cat bond Torrey Pines Re
   Palomar Specialty Insurance Company said today that it is thrilled with the successful execution of its first catastrophe bond transaction, the $166 million Torrey Pines Re Ltd. (Series 2017-1) which will provide the insurer with a capital markets source of earthquake, named storms and severe thunderstorm reinsurance protection.

7. IRDAI’s new Reinsurance Committee to explore alternative risk transfer
   The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has established a Reinsurance Expert Committee to review the region’s reinsurance framework, including the study of alternative risk transfer mechanisms and solutions, suggesting an opportunity for insurance-linked securities (ILS) and the capital markets.

8. Casablanca Re cat bond launched at $100m for Avatar P&C Insurance
   Floridian primary insurer Avatar Property and Casualty Insurance Company is coming to market with its first catastrophe bond issue, a $100 million Casablanca Re Ltd. (Series 2017-1) transaction, as it seeks a capital market backed source of Florida named storm reinsurance coverage.

9. Ursa Re 2017-1 cat bond to reach $925m in size for the CEA
   The California Earthquake Authority’s (CEA) Ursa Re Ltd. (Series 2017-1) catastrophe bond issue now looks set to grow even further than anticipated, with the latest reports stating that the deal is likely to now complete to offer $925 million of reinsurance coverage to the insurer.

10. Riverfront Re 2017-1 cat bond launched for Great American Insurance
    Great American Insurance Group is seeking to renew, extend and double in size its catastrophe bond backed reinsurance coverage, with the launch of a $190 million Riverfront Re Ltd. (Series 2017-1) transaction that covers more perils and is twice the size of its 2014 cat bond.

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 27 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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