Archive for March, 2015

The World Bank supported Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Pilot has paid Vanuatu $1.9m after the risk pooling facility was triggered by Category 5 Cyclone Pam which struck the Pacific island nation on March 13th.

The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) is collaborating with HWind Scientific, LLC, a provider of real-time, objective, observation-based hurricane data, in order to better understand how hurricane winds affect building structures.

Florida takeout insurer Heritage Property and Casualty Insurance Co. could see its Citrus Re Ltd. (Series 2015-1) catastrophe bond hit as much as $327.5m in size thanks to demand from investors, while pricing has moved to the mid and lower ends of guidance.

Here are the ten most popular news articles, week ending 29th March 2015, covering catastrophe bonds, ILS, reinsurance capital and related risk transfer topics. To ensure you never miss a thing  subscribe to the weekly Artemis email newsletter updates.

JLT Re, a global reinsurance broking and capital solutions provider, has appointed Ed Hochberg as CEO of JLT Re in North America. Hochberg remains CEO of Jardine Lloyd Thompson Capital Markets (JLTCM) Inc. as well.

This year has seen a dearth of reported tornado events across the United States. Currently the run-rate for tornado reports is significantly below average and in fact less than half the 25th percentile and not far off the minimum ever seen by this time in March.

Richard Brindle, ex-CEO of Lancashire Holdings, is set to return to re/insurance with Fidelis Insurance, employing a hybrid model looking to extract the best from both the underwriting side of the market and the hedge fund reinsurance model.

The fact insurance-linked securities (ILS) and catastrophe bond issuance follows the traditional reinsurance renewal cycle might hinder the development of the market, as some investors would prefer a steady stream of issuance throughout the year.

In a report discussing the leading European reinsurance firms, analysts from Deutsche Bank conclude that valuations are too high, having been driven up by a hunt for dependable yield from investors and a market that has tended to avoid the fundamentals.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, the authority that looks after Boston’s mass transit systems, may look to the catastrophe bond market as a potential solution to hedge the risks of another winter like the one it has just experienced.