Archive for December, 2012

Insurance group Zurich is returning to the catastrophe bond market with the third deal in the Lakeside cat bond series. Lakeside Re III Ltd. see’s Zurich looking to replace and also expand the cover that their last cat bond Lakeside Re II, which matures at the end of 2012, provided. Once completed Lakeside Re III will […]

CATCo Investment Management, the specialist Bermuda based reinsurance-linked investment manager who manage around $2 billion of retrocessional reinsurance portfolios for their clients, has announced that it is establishing a retrocessional reinsurance loss reserve for the expected impact of hurricane Sandy.

As we move towards the end of the year and the ever important January reinsurance renewals, it’s no surprise to see a new reinsurance-linked investment fund launch or for more cat bonds to come to market. As always, you can read every market news story and article on the Artemis news blog, subscribe to our […]

A report from rating agency A.M. Best on the Bermuda reinsurance market singles out hedge fund backed reinsurers as a niche within the sector which could face challenges. Referring to their strategy of focusing on underwriting or investments depending on how hard or soft the reinsurance market is, Best said it could be challenging depending […]

According to sources, Towers Watson Capital Markets (TWCM) are in the process of marketing and placing another private catastrophe bond transaction on behalf of a U.S. primary insurer. The private placement is looking to secure at least $50m of multi-peril cover for the sponsor, with covered perils being New Madrid earthquake, severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. […]

The ongoing struggle to estimate losses from hurricane Sandy continues to cause consternation among insurers and reinsurers. The complex and unprecedented nature of the storm means assessment has been difficult, particularly claims resulting from business interruption, infrastructure damage and flood claims. It’s hard to assess how much of an impact they will have on the […]

Japan has suffered another major earthquake off the coast of Honshu island and a tsunami warning has been issued for the coast of Tohoku region. The same region that saw such immense damage from the March 2011 quake and tsunami is now under a tsunami warning. The first tsunami waves of 20cm struck minutes ago […]

Bermuda headquartered global insurer and reinsurer XL Group has announced a new senior hire into their reinsurance operations today. Craig Wenzel will join XL in a newly created Senior Vice President, Capital Markets role. In this role Wenzel will be responsible for growing XL’s relationships with third-party capital providers in support of XL’s global underwriting […]

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) expects to pass on over $1 billion worth of damages caused by hurricane Sandy to insurers and reinsurers, according to a presentation from their latest board meeting. The MTA expects to suffer a loss of around $5 billion thanks to the damage caused by Sandy to New York’s […]

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., one of the larger insurance brokerage firms in the world, has acquired a team with capabilities in the capital markets and convergence sector through buying London-based reinsurance broker Execution Re. Execution Re is part of the Execution Noble group of companies and was owned by Portuguese investment bank Espirito Santo.