Archive for May, 2014

Specialist financial services and re/insurance focused private equity investment firm Capital Z Partners Management LLC is buying into insurance and reinsurance broking and underwriting group BMS Associates.

Fitch Ratings said that its outlook remains negative for the reinsurance sector in a report published yesterday, saying that the reinsurance market fundamentals continue to be pressured by pricing declines and weakening of terms and conditions.

French reinsurance company SCOR has created a new business unit, called Alternative Solutions, to centralise and house its activities in insurance-linked securities (ILS), structured risk transfer and alternative risk financing.

Till Capital Ltd., the parent company of hedge fund style reinsurance firm Resource Re, has increased its investment capabilities and options by purchasing 10% of alternative asset manager Courant Capital Management LLC.

Just how much capital is there in the insurance-linked securities, alternative reinsurance capital and associated markets? Estimates tend to range from $40 billion to $50 billion, but a feature we’re launching today suggests it is higher than that.

Premium growth in reinsurance lines of business is expected to lag behind primary insurance premium growth over the next few years, according to the world’s largest reinsurance firm Munich Re in its latest insurance market outlook report.

The insurance and reinsurance industry is coping with the increasing number and frequency of extreme weather events and has processes in place to monitor the impact of climate change on weather losses, says rating agency Standard & Poor’s.

Despite the well (or perhaps over) capitalised, highly competitive catastrophe reinsurance market, resulting in continued softening of prices and poor industry fundamentals, Bermudian reinsurers appear to have coped well with this difficult environment.

The Aozora Re Ltd. (Series 2014-1) catastrophe bond transaction, which sees Japanese insurer Sompo Japan Nipponkoa (SJNK) Insurance seeking reinsurance cover for Japanese typhoon losses, has been cut down to a single tranche issue while pricing has dropped.

Another offshore domicile has thrown its hat into the ring to compete for catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) business. Puerto Rico is reportedly the latest domicile to amend its insurance legislation in an attempt to bring the ILS sector to its shores.