Archive for February, 2014

Kinesis Capital Management, the third-party capital management unit of global provider of specialty insurance and reinsurance products Lancashire Holdings, has executed its first ‘special draw’, raising capital from investors for collateralized underwriting.

The 2013 results posted by Greenlight Re, the Cayman Islands domiciled, hedge fund manager David Einhorn and Greenlight Capital, Inc. backed reinsurance firm, show just why the hedge fund reinsurer strategy is attractive for investors and managers.

The CATCo Reinsurance Opportunities Fund Ltd., a London stock exchange listed retrocessional reinsurance linked investment fund, achieved net asset value (NAV) growth of 21.9% in 2013 while its share price grew by 19.04%.

Institutional investors perception of hedge funds appears to be maturing, according to research from investment bank Deutsche Bank, with investors increasingly appreciating hedge funds as just one piece of a portfolio approach to asset management.

A catastrophe bond transaction, named Gator Re Ltd., has launched on behalf of sponsoring insurer American Strategic Insurance Group as it seeks to tap the capital markets for a source of reinsurance protection  through a cat bond for the first time.

Market sources said today that the latest catastrophe bond from reinsurance firm Munich Re, Queen Street IX Re Limited, will target up to $100m of retrocessional cover for the reinsurer. Pricing looks to be keen, as the guidance range has been lowered.

Bermuda headquartered insurance and reinsurance group AXIS Capital Holdings started raising capital for its new third-party reinsurance capital management unit, AXIS Re Ventures, last year but the unit began operating on 1st January 2014.

The influence of non-traditional or alternative reinsurance capital from third-parties such as pension funds is spreading, according to insurance broker Marsh which cites inflows of new capital as a cause of the softening rate environment in Australia.

We all know that reinsurance buying conditions are good at the moment, prices are down due to high levels of capital (both traditional reinsurance and alternative) as well as a low-level of catastrophe losses, with many saying it’s a reinsurance buyers market.

Japanese insurance group Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire is returning to the capital markets for reinsurance protection with the launch of Kizuna Re II Ltd. the latest catastrophe bond transaction to be sponsored by the firm.