Archive for October, 2014

According to Reuters, French insurance group AXA is marketing a new 144A mortality catastrophe bond transaction, as it seeks to secure capital markets reinsurance protection for large increases in mortality experience under its life insurance portfolio.

The continuing benign nature of U.S. catastrophe insured losses, which remain below average, combined with the increased capital allocation to catastrophe insurance and reinsurance, will continue to drive rates down, according to the COO of RLI Corp.

The two largest reinsurance companies in the world foresee difficult times ahead as reinsurance prices continue to soften, competition continues to rise and pressure from alternative capital and ILS continues, as the key January renewal season approaches.

Swiss headquartered specialist insurance-linked securities (ILS) and reinsurance-linked investment manager Twelve Capital has announced the completion of a €20m private debt transaction for Alpha Insurance A/S of Denmark.

Executives from the reinsurance industry discussed the changing market and the future impact of recent trends, concluding that the market is facing unavoidable trend but that reinsurance remains a practice in matching risk with the most suitable capital.

The trend towards greater frequency and severity of weather risk events in Europe, resulting in a higher risk of losses to insurers and reinsurers, requires an adjustment to the perception of risk as well as bespoke reinsurance solutions, Munich Re said this morning.

Here are the ten most popular news articles, week ending 19th October 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 entry of new and alternative capital into the reinsurance market, as well as the growth of new instruments such as catastrophe bonds and other insurance-linked securities (ILS), provide an opportunity to policymakers as well as re/insurers.

One of the topics that has been heavily debated over the last few years is exactly what the increasing amount of pension fund investments in ILS and alternative reinsurance capital means for the traditional reinsurance market cycle.

Hurricane Gonzalo, a major Category 4 storm, continues to head for Bermuda and looks set to impact the island heavily over the coming day or so. Here are some of the latest updates, tracking maps and forecast model information.