Best of Artemis, week ending 6th March 2016

Here are the ten most popular news articles, week ending 6th March 2016, 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 6th March 2016:

1. The four commandments of reinsurance, according to Warren Buffett
   There are four commandments that any company operating in the insurance and reinsurance industry should follow, according to Berkshire Hathaway’s Sage of Omaha Warren Buffett, and interestingly they reflect the discipline of the ILS market.

2. UK government launches consultation on cat bonds and ILS framework
   The UK Treasury has launched a consultation document detailing guidelines and required regulatory framework necessary for a catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) market to be established in Britain later this year.

3. For optimal protection, mix cat bonds & reinsurance
   A recent academic research paper has highlighted the benefits of utilising catastrophe bonds alongside traditional reinsurance to optimise firms’ catastrophe insurance programmes, creating efficient protection that expands underwriting capacity and provides greater value to shareholders.

4. Blackstone to be anchor investor in Millette’s Hudson Structured funds
   Ex-Goldman Sachs structured products head Michael Millette has lined up one of the world’s leading asset management groups as an anchor investor in the funds to be launched by his new venture Hudson Structured Capital Management.

5. Protection gap is the industry’s “terrible failure” and “great opportunity”
   The global insurance protection gap in both developed and emerging markets, is the industry’s “terrible failure, but at the same time it’s a great opportunity,” according to reinsurance giant Swiss Re’s Chairman of Global Partnerships, Martyn Parker.

6. Hedge fund reinsurer investment returns continue to diverge in 2016
   The hedge fund reinsurance strategy continues to demonstrate its volatility in 2016, as the two main proponents of the strategy, backed by leading hedge fund managers, see their performance diverge as Greenlight Re outperforms Third Point Re again in February.

7. ILS funds start 2016 with below average 0.23% return in January
   Insurance-linked securities (ILS) investment funds started 2016 with a below average 0.23% average return for January, as pressure on catastrophe bond prices affected some funds, while price declines across reinsurance markets continue to weigh on performance.

8. Reinsurance prices declined, but terms more stable at 1/1 renewal: Morgan Stanley
   Pricing in the global reinsurance market declined for the third year in a row at the recent January renewals, with any slowdown in property catastrophe decreases offset by further pressures on other business lines, according to analysts at Morgan Stanley.

9. Hiscox expects $1bn+ of ILS assets for Kiskadee in 2016
   Specialist global insurance and reinsurance group Hiscox expects assets under management at its insurance-linked securities (ILS) fund and reinsurance linked investment strategies unit Kiskadee Investment Managers will pass $1 billion in 2016.

10. Loeb, Einhorn reinsurers highlight uncertainty over U.S. taxation rules
    The two highest profile hedge fund reinsurance firms, operated by leading investment managers Daniel Loeb and David Einhorn, have both highlighted the risks and uncertainty that potential changes to U.S. taxation rules pose to their businesses.

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 25 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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Artemis’ Q4 2015 Catastrophe Bond & ILS Market Report – Outright market growth continues

We’ve now published our Q4 2015 catastrophe bond & ILS market report.

This report reviews the catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) market at the end of the fourth-quarter of 2015, looking at the $1.525 billion of new risk capital issued and the composition of the cat bond & ILS transactions completed during Q4 2015. The report also includes a review of the full year 2015 issuance and commentary from co-editor GC Securities.

Download your copy here.