Archive for July, 2014

Net capital inflow into insurance-linked securities (ILS) hit $3.1 billion in Q2 2014, as the brisk issuance and the largest single catastrophe bond issuance in the market’s history pushed outstanding cat bond capacity to a record high, said reinsurer Munich Re.

There have been many claims that alternative reinsurance capital, or capital from insurance-linked securities (ILS), is less rational than traditional reinsurers when it comes to underwriting. Recently though, it is beginning to look the other way around.

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P), the most active credit rating agency in the insurance-linked securities (ILS) space, has affirmed its rating for 4 tranches of natural peril catastrophe bonds, from four issuers, after their annual resets.

Demonstrating the need to increase financial protection against weather, climate and water related disasters, a new report from the WMO shows that between 1970 and 2012 the global economy suffered a huge $2.4 trillion of losses as a result of these events.

Here are the ten most popular news articles, week ending 20th July 2014, on catastrophe bonds, reinsurance capital and related risk transfer topics, from the last seven days on Artemis. To ensure you never miss a thing  subscribe to the weekly Artemis email newsletter updates.

The influence of alternative forms of reinsurance capital are beginning to be felt much more broadly across both the insurance and reinsurance market, with one area of note being the market for power industry property insurance risks.

Private Japanese pension funds are increasingly shifting their investment strategy towards riskier assets and this includes a growing interest in insurance-linked securities (ILS), catastrophe bonds and reinsurance linked investments.

Risk modelling firm RMS said this morning that it estimates that the insured losses from recent hurricane Arthur, the first of the U.S. season, will not exceed $250m from wind damage and coastal flooding, so this storm will not concern the reinsurance sector.

Typhoon Rammasun is quickly approaching southern China and northern Vietnam with rapid intensification occurring meaning that the typhoon could reach category 4 status, one short of super typhoon, before it makes landfall.

In its second quarter 2014 earnings Platinum Underwriters Holdings showed one way that reinsurance firms can adapt to the pressures of the softening reinsurance market, as it focuses on core profitable business and pulls back across all business lines.