Archive for September, 2013

Artemis currently finds itself in Monte Carlo at the annual reinsurance Rendezvous event. In its 57th year, the Rendez-vous de Septembre brings an estimated 3,500 executives from insurers, reinsurers and associated service companies to the Mediterranean resort to discuss reinsurance renewals and the industry issues of the day.

Industry-loss based reinsurance contracts, catastrophe bonds and industry-loss warranties (ILW’s) could be coming to the South Korean reinsurance market if Property Claim Services (PCS) has its way, having reached an agreement in principle to work with the KFPA to bring its catastrophe loss index to South Korea.

Shareholders in Lancashire Holdings, a global provider of specialty insurance and reinsurance products and a third-party reinsurance capital management firm, have approved its proposed acquisition of Cathedral Capital Limited, a privately owned Lloyd’s insurer.

Brit Group, the global specialty insurer and reinsurer with a large presence at Lloyd’s, is aiming to increase its penetration into the global reinsurance market with the opening of an office in Bermuda, targeting expansion for its distribution network and focusing on catastrophe risks.

French reinsurer SCOR, one of the world’s largest reinsurance companies, plans to strengthen and expand its operations to leverage the increasing convergence between reinsurance and capital markets, according to the reinsurers newly released strategic plan for the next three years.

Investors demand for insurance-linked securities (ILS) and other alternative reinsurance instruments is set to continue, according to a report released by Fitch Ratings today. The strong demand will continue, and likely grow, as alternative reinsurance capital assets continue to produce attractive returns.

The DCG Iris insurance-linked securities (ILS) fund, marketed and operated by Dexion Capital with Credit Suisse providing ILS investment management services via the master-fund CS Iris, will move forwards after its shareholders voted in favour of a continuation resolution.

Alternative capital is having such a dramatic effect on the reinsurance market that the result will be a change to the reinsurer business model and a major impact on typical reinsurance pricing dynamics, according to ratings agency Moody’s in its latest report on the global reinsurance market.

The seventh named tropical storm of the 2013 Atlantic Hurricane Season has formed in the Caribbean. Yesterday a tropical depression intensified into tropical storm Gabrielle, which currently sits close to Puerto Rico and is forecast to pass between it and the Dominican Republic.

Chairman of the Lloyd’s market, John Nelson, raised the issue of alternative reinsurance capital, the often third-party backed non-traditional capital which has been flooding into the reinsurance market, in a speech yesterday evening and warned against systemic problems this capital could bring to the sector.