Archive for June, 2011

The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association reform bill was passed by the local legislature yesterday and now moves on to be signed by the governor of the state. The bill strengthens the TWIA with improved claims and administrative operations and also allows the TWIA to issue pre-event bonds to help with financing.

We wrote the other day that reinsurance rates were expected to increase by as much as three times at the 1st July renewals due to the extent of claims caused by the recent earthquakes and the perceived increase in catastrophe risk in the region. Reports are emerging that some have been paying more than twice […]

Risk Management Solutions (RMS) have launched a new risk model covering both mainland China and Hong kong typhoon risks. Flood is one of the key loss drivers of typhoon events and China is a country that suffers particularly badly. The RMS® China Typhoon Model is said to deliver significant advancements in quantifying flood risk from […]

Since the February 2010 earthquake, the Chilean government has been actively looking for ways to improve their disaster risk financing both for the financial management of catastrophe risks and for their ability to recover post disaster. Last week the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) responded by holding a roundtable meeting on the Financial […]

The 2011 Atlantic tropical storm and hurricane season is now underway with the first tropical storm of the season forming in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico. Tropical storm Arlene formed around 450km east-southeast of Tampico, Mexico after an area of showers and thunderstorms developed sufficiently to be classified as a tropical storm straight away (skipping […]

Leadenhall Capital Partners are really on a capital raising push lately. Earlier this month we reported that they’d raised an additional $50m for their Leadenhall Value Insurance Linked Investments Fund to take advantage of the 1st June renewals. Now an email from their CEO Luca Albertini tells us they’ve raised another $50m.

Pensionskassernes Administration A/S (PKA), the largest administration company for occupational pension funds in Denmark (€16.4 billion under management) is making a strategic move into the insurance-linked securities space with a $150m investment. The firm decided earlier this year to include insurance-linked securities as part of its alternative investment diversification strategy.

A study by the Insurance Information Institute has found that it’s not just tornadoes and hail which are capable of causing billion dollar insured losses in the U.S. during severe thunderstorm season. The study found that lightning strikes are responsible for a large amount of losses, with over $1 billion attributed to lightning during 2010.

Hurricanes are capable of inflicting extremely large amounts of damage when they make landfall on highly populated, urbanised regions of the U.S. coastline. Reinsurers have long had a fear of a direct hit on Miami from a major hurricane, an event which could cause over $100 billion worth of damage. The uncertain nature of the […]

As insured loss estimates from the record-setting U.S. tornado season are reported, the potential impact to exposed catastrophe bonds become clearer. The latest update on the cat bond fallout was reported today as Standard & Poor’s announced that they have downgraded the ratings of Mariah Re Ltd.’s Series 2010-1 notes.