Best of Artemis, week ending 5th July 2015

Here are the ten most popular news articles, week ending 5th July 2015, 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.

Top ten most viewed articles on Artemis.bm, week ending 5th July 2015:

1. Q2 2015 Cat Bond & ILS Market Report: Keeping up with demand
   We’ve published our latest quarterly report looking at issuance in the catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) market. The report titled ‘Q2 2015 Catastrophe Bond & ILS Market Report – Keeping up with demand‘ shows that while not setting records, Q2 issuance kept up with investor demand at $3.162 billion.

2. Panda Re Ltd. 2015-1, the first cat bond covering Chinese perils
   Another milestone has been reached for the catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) market, with the introduction of the first cat bond covering Chinese perils. The Panda Re Ltd. (Series 2015-1) deal covers Chinese quake risks on an indemnity basis. Later in the week it emerged that the Panda Re cat bond raised $50m for China Re. China Re said the transaction was an ‘important breakthrough’ for its use of capital markets risk transfer capacity.

3. ACE buying Chubb for $28.3bn, will impact reinsurance and ILS demand
   In a move that will have significant ramifications for the global reinsurance market re/insurer ACE Group has announced that it is to acquire competitor Chubb Group to create the world’s largest property and casualty firm.

4. More threat, more opportunities, more disruption: Re/insurance 2020
   The insurance and reinsurance industry face more disruption over the coming five years than any other commercial sector, according to CEO’s surveyed by PwC in a recent report, which will result in both threats and opportunities.

5. Swiss Re in first-of-its-kind index-based wind farm weather hedge
   Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, a division of the global reinsurance firm, has provided Infigen Energy with a pioneering wind farm hedge, protecting it across areas of Southern Australia, New South Wales and Western Australia from low-wind weather cycles.

6. London has to fight its corner on ILS: Michael Wade, Cabinet Office
   The London insurance and reinsurance market has to fight its corner if it is to remain the leading center for risk and that includes fighting to attract ILS business to its shores, according to the UK’s Crown Representative for Insurance Michael Wade.

7. Willis & Towers Watson to merge creating $18bn broking giant
   Consolidation is once again in the news as it is announced that insurance and reinsurance broker Willis Group is to merge with global professional services firm Towers Watson, to create an $18 billion broking, advisory and professional services giant.

8. Collateralized note helps Aus / NZ insurer Youi access ILS investors
   A new Australia and New Zealand focused insurer named Youi has tapped the ILS market for protection, thanks to the transformation of a collateralized reinsurance contract into note form, enabling Youi’s risk to be broadly syndicated to ILS investors.

9. Alternative reinsurance capital hits $66bn, outpaces traditional: Aon Benfield
   Alternative reinsurance capital, so third-party investor funding allocated to catastrophe bonds, collateralized reinsurance, sidecars and other insurance-linked securities (ILS), grew by more than 3% in the first-quarter to $66 billion, outpacing total reinsurance capital growth.

10. Reinsurance rates stabilising at renewal, ILS discipline contributes: Willis Re
    Discipline in the insurance-linked securities (ILS) and collateralized reinsurance market at the recent June and July 1st renewals has helped reinsurance rates begin to stabilise, as supply and demand equalises in peak property catastrophe zones, according to Willis Re.

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 30 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.

Artemis’ Q2 2015 Catastrophe Bond & ILS Market Report – Keeping up with demand

We’ve now published our Q2 2015 catastrophe bond & ILS market report.

This report reviews the catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) market at the end of the second-quarter of 2015, looking at the $3.162 billion of new risk capital issued and the composition of the cat bond & ILS transactions completed during Q2 2015.

Download your copy here.