Best of Artemis, week ending 25th May 2014

Here are the ten most popular news articles, week ending 25th May 2014, on catastrophe bonds, reinsurance capital and related risk transfer topics, from the last seven days on Artemis. To ensure you never miss a thing  subscribe to the weekly Artemis email newsletter updates.

Artemis reached 15 years of age this month. In that time we have recorded $60 billion of catastrophe bond and ILS issuance in the Artemis Deal Directory and in that time our readership has grown from 200 per month when we launched to now average 30,000 per month. Thank you to all our readers and supporters without whom this would not be possible!

Top ten most viewed articles on Artemis.bm, week ending 25th May 2014:

1. The ILS & alternative reinsurance market may be bigger than you think
   Last week we launched our new directory of insurance linked securities investment managers and funds, which contains 39 ILS managers who between them manage $48.95 billion of insurance linked assets.
2. SCOR creates Alternative Solutions unit, to include ILS business
   French reinsurance company SCOR has created a new business unit, called Alternative Solutions, to centralise and house its activities in insurance-linked securities (ILS), structured risk transfer and alternative risk financing.
3. Roundtable: What is the future for insurance-linked securities?
   The insurance-linked securities market continues to evolve and grow but what next and what issues may arise? This roundtable, titled ‘What is the future for ILS and is broader participation in new reinsurance areas appetising?’, discusses these questions and more.
4. Private equity investor Capital Z to buy into BMS Associates
   Specialist financial services and re/insurance focused private equity investment firm Capital Z Partners Management LLC is buying into insurance and reinsurance broking and underwriting group BMS Associates.
5. New York oversight of insurance acquisitions could have broader reach
   The New York Department of Financial Services has proposed stronger oversight and the need for increased transparency for certain acquisitions of life insurance (or reinsurance) businesses, particularly where the acquirer is an investor, such as a private equity firm.
6. Reinsurance premium growth to lag behind insurance: Munich Re
   Premium growth in reinsurance lines of business is expected to lag behind primary insurance premium growth over the next few years, according to the world’s largest reinsurance firm Munich Re in its latest insurance market outlook report.
7. TWIA targets $400m of protection from first catastrophe bond
   The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) is targeting $400m of fully-collateralized reinsurance protection on an annual aggregate basis from its first catastrophe bond, as part of a $1.35 billion layer of its reinsurance program.
8. BoE’s Mark Carney warns on re/insurer investment strategies
   Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney warned that insurers need to be accountable for their actions today and that the Bank of England is watchful of any risks from moves such as insurers or reinsurers adopting more aggressive investment strategies.
9. Amlin: Leadenhall Capital Partners strengthens our client proposition
   Amlin plc, the non-life insurance and reinsurance group, believes it has avoided the worst of the softening rate environment thanks to its relationship with insurance-linked securities (ILS) and reinsurance-linked investments manager Leadenhall Capital Partners LLP.
10. Reinsurance sidecars expected to proliferate and grow: Moody’s
    The collateralized reinsurance sidecar, as a vehicle for risk transfer backed by investor capital, is expected to proliferate as more reinsurers choose to sponsor sidecars and grow as more capital flows into these entities as the market continues to evolve.

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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Q1 2014 Catastrophe Bond & ILS Market Report – A Record Quarter

Don’t forget to download your copy of our Q1 2014 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 2014, looking at the new risk capital issued and the composition of the transactions completed during Q1 2014. Download your copy here.