Best of Artemis, week ending 19th August 2012

It’s been another busy week for news in the markets we cover. Many of our readers have been taking vacations over the summer period so we hope these recaps are proving useful. Visit this page where you can read all of our previous Monday morning catch-ups to find any stories you may have missed. Of course you can also use our keyword searchbox on the right to find anything of importance to you. Here are the ten most popular articles from the last seven days on Artemis.

Top ten most viewed articles on Artemis.bm, week ending 19th August 2012:

1. NOAA raises 2012 Atlantic hurricane season forecast
   It’s no surprise at this time of the year that our readers are particularly interested in any news on the Atlantic hurricane season.
2. Collateralized reinsurance capacity is disrupting the traditional market
   It’s earnings season in the insurance and reinsurance markets and many companies have been holding half-year earnings calls during which their senior executives answer questions from analysts on company performance and the market itself. That means it’s a good time to see what reinsurance company execs are saying about the collateralized and capital market backed reinsurance sectors.
3. Bryan Bumsted and Chris Conway join Third Point Re in Bermuda
   Bermuda based, hedge fund backed, reinsurer Third Point Reinsurance Company has made two new appointments of well-respected figures from the Bermuda reinsurance market, we revealed.
4. Non-specialist investors increasing allocations to insurance-linked securities (ILS): A.M. Best
   Participation in the insurance-linked security (ILS) and catastrophe bond markets is on the increase from a segment of the investment world which rating agency A.M. Best terms ‘non-specialist investors’.
5. Investors must get involved in longevity risk transfer as insurance capacity insufficient
   Pension plans and schemes are increasingly looking at their ability to fund their obligations to pensioners as their returns fall due to the wider economic and financial market issues and their pensioners live longer meaning they are on the hook for more payments than expected.
6. One tranche of Combine Re Ltd. catastrophe bond notes downgraded on estimated losses
   The Combine Re Ltd. (Series 2012-1) catastrophe bond, which was sponsored by Swiss Re America but provides cover for two reinsured parties Country Mutual Insurance Company and the North Carolina Farm Bureau’s mutual insurance arm, has become the latest cat bond to suffer from qualifying losses.
7. U.S. drought crop insurance losses to reach into billions, hit reinsurers
   Just two or three weeks ago many insurance publications were suggesting that crop insurance losses resulting from the severe drought in the U.S. would not be large enough to hit the global reinsurance market. We’ve been cautious on this point, as we could see the increasing severity of the drought…
8. Catastrophe bonds are one of the few clearly attractive asset classes
   Our readers are well aware that catastrophe bonds are a hot asset class at the moment, with growing interest being shown from an expanding spectrum of investors, and a growing market thanks to high levels of issuance in 2012.
9. Secondary market catastrophe bond prices rise more slowly in July
   July saw activity in the secondary market for catastrophe bonds and insurance-linked securities slow down somewhat compared to the prior few months which had seen heightened activity and strong, if somewhat unseasonal price rises.
10. Loss faced by Ballantyne Re life securitization investors becomes clearer
    Scottish Re’s 2006 Ballantyne Re life insurance securitization transaction has been heading for what seems like an inevitable default for some time now. The Regulation XXX type life insurance linked transaction saw huge mark-to-market losses on the assets in the underlying collateral accounts.

If you’ve missed any of our weekly catch-ups due to being on vacation you can find them all here.