Archive for October, 2015

Bermuda headquartered CATCo Investment Management, the reinsurance and retrocession linked investment fund manager, has successfully raised $88.44 million for its flagship listed CATCo Reinsurance Opportunities Fund Ltd.

Excess capital and the resulting soft prices, in the global insurance and reinsurance market, gives buyers in the sector additional leverage, but established relationships continue to show benefits, according to AmWINS.

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (FLOIR) has completed its third annual catastrophe stress test of Florida-based property insurers, looking at their reinsurance adequacy, including any insurance-linked securities (ILS), as well as capital and surplus, in the face of major loss scenarios.

The establishment of a captive insurance entity for longevity swap transactions in an offshore domicile presents significant cost reductions and a beneficial operating environment for market participants, according to industry experts.

Bermudian reinsurance firm Everest Re is back in the catastrophe bond market seeking a $300m, or greater, source of collateralized reinsurance protection for U.S. named storm and earthquake risks with a Kilimanjaro Re Ltd. (Series 2015-1) issuance.

The work being undertaken in London, with the aim of making the city and its insurance and reinsurance hub a centre of excellence for insurance-linked securities (ILS), includes looking at developing ILS structures that would provide certainty in terms of equal credit for reinsurance and recovery.

Rates across the majority of the property/casualty and commercial insurance sector will experience further, significant softening in 2016, with property catastrophe exposed lines potentially falling by as much as 15%, according to Willis Group Holdings.

Life settlements seemingly belong to the insurance-linked investment landscape, meaning that ILS fund managers should be major players in the market, but research into the asset class shows that there are hurdles to overcome before ILS managers invest meaningfully.

Bermudian reinsurance firm PartnerRe recognised the full costs of terminating the merger deal with fellow-Bermudian AXIS Capital in  the third-quarter, leading it to report a net loss of $243.3 million, or $5.08 per share for the third quarter of 2015.

Reinsurance broker and capital agnostic strategic risk advisory TigerRisk Partners LLC has added a new Senior Advisor to its ranks, with the hire of Steven J. Bensinger, previously the CFO of AIG.