Archive for March, 2015

The fight to reduce global economic losses from natural disasters “is next to impossible” as rising wealth, population and urbanisation levels drive the upward trend, according to leaders from AIR Worldwide and the UNISDR.

Fully collateralized reinsurance company Oxbridge Re has reported a good first year’s results thanks to zero losses and a surprisingly good investment return that perhaps hints at the non-traditional, or even hedge fund reinsurer like, nature of its investment strategy.

Rating agency Fitch Ratings said today that it approves of the UK governments plan to attract insurance-linked securities (ILS) business to its shores, as it seeks to grow the reinsurance sector, but says the scale of the impact it will have is uncertain.

ABR Reinsurance Capital Holdings Ltd., the much discussed joint venture reinsurer from insurer ACE Limited and investment bank Blackrock, has filed a securities offering which suggests that the reinsurer will look to raise between $800m and $1.3 billion of capital for launch.

State National Companies, a provider of program services and fronting for insurance, reinsurance and ILS capital, expects the growing role of alternative capital markets in reinsurance to drive further demand for its fronting services.

Japanese primary insurance group Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co. Ltd. will be delighted with its latest visit to the catastrophe bond market after sources said that its Kizuna Re II Ltd. (Series 2015-1) deal is set to increase in size to JPY 35 billion, approximately $290m.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has assigned an investment grade rating to a catastrophe bond for the first time since 2008, as the remote risk nature of the underlying Japanese earthquake risk helped the Kizuna Re II 2015-1 cat bond to a ‘BBB- (sf)’ preliminary rating assessment.

John Charman, the sometimes outspoken, often insightful CEO of Bermudian insurance and reinsurance firm Endurance Specialty Holdings, said that he believes that we will see an increasing convergence between the traditional and alternative sides of the market.

Four years after the huge earthquake and tsunami devastated Tohoku, Japan, a new study has identified over 20 global subduction zones with the potential to produce an event of similar scale.

A new ILS and reinsurance linked interval fund is launching under the watch of ex-Anchor Risk Advisors and experienced ILS exec Pete Vloedman. The Redmond Reinsurance Investment Interval Fund is being launched with Vloedman as its portfolio manager.