Archive for September, 2015

The London insurance and reinsurance market needs “true innovation” as it seeks to cement its role at the centre of global re/insurance commerce. Purely repackaging what has been done well elsewhere, or making marginal gains, is not sufficient according to a report from DAC Beachcroft.

Rare but extreme natural disasters and catastrophes can cause sovereign ratings downgrades, with the biggest impacts seen from earthquake and tropical storm simulations, making sovereign risk transfer and catastrophe insurance key, according to S&P.

Alternative reinsurance capital, in structures ranging from catastrophe bonds and insurance-linked securities (ILS), to sidecars and collateralized reinsurance structures, is increasingly embedded within the market, with re/insurers increasingly relying on it, according to rating agency Moody’s.

In a further sign that the Lloyd’s of London insurance and reinsurance market is becoming increasingly accepting of alternative capital & insurance-linked securities (ILS), the Credit Suisse ILS team is capitalising a new Syndicate 1856 with £90m of capacity.

The CCRIF SPC (formerly known as the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility) has made a payout to the Government of Dominica under its excess rainfall policy for the torrential rains caused by recent tropical storm Erika.

During the current protracted soft reinsurance market the expectation is that greater scale and diversity will become increasingly important attributes of the reinsurers that succeed, however it remains to be seen what value the current round of M&A deals deliver.

Aon Securities, the investment banking and capital markets unit of insurance and reinsurance broker Aon plc, has recorded a new high in its annual insurance-linked securities (ILS) market report, seeing the market at $24 billion for the first time.

Following a surprise 1% rate increase across U.S. commercial property and casualty (P&C) lines during July, rate movements remained flat in August, in line with the trend witnessed from March through June, according to the latest industry commentary from MarketScout and KBW.

Sequant Re, a Bermudian ILS and collateralized reinsurance company that aims to lower the barriers to entry for investors seeking access to the returns of re/insurance risks, has hired experienced underwriter Victor Baillargeon as its CUO.

Vario Global Capital Ltd. has been launched with a goal of becoming the “leading ILS investment vehicle and fund focused on non-catastrophe insurance linked securities” by specialist insurance analysis and modelling firm Vario Partners LLP and reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter.