Archive for April, 2016

Despite a reported slowdown Willis Towers Watson has predicted a continuation of rate declines in 2016 for the majority of business lines in the global P&C sector, with natural catastrophe exposed lines experiencing the steepest reductions of up to 12.5%.

The U.S. NOAA has officially issued a La Niña watch, saying that “conditions were favorable for La Niña to develop within the next six months.” Meanwhile the Colorado State University hurricane forecast team predict an average season, with a 50% probability that the U.S. faces a landfall in 2016.

A strong magnitude 6.4 earthquake (subsequently revised down to M6 by the USGS) has struck the Kumamoto region of Kyushu, the southern of the main islands of Japan. Some damage reports are emerging, but the impact is currently largely unknown although not expected to be too significant.

Catastrophe reinsurance broker and risk/capital management advisor TigerRisk, has successfully transacted the first ever electronic secondary reinsurance trade. A move that could help develop a more liquid secondary market for to benefit reinsurance linked investors.

Persistent challenges in the investment markets has created a need among reinsurers to rely more on their underwriting results, however, a continuation of price declines and reinsurance market structural change suggests a new reality of less impressive returns, according to A.M. Best.

The global insurance and reinsurance industry, so including the ILS and catastrophe bond market along with providers of capital, needs to do more to help counter the threat of climate catastrophes, according to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.

Harneys, a legal and fiduciary services firm with offices in twelve countries, has added an insurance-linked securities (ILS) and reinsurance experienced lawyer to its Bermuda team, hiring Michael Skribic to its ranks.

The alternative risk transfer techniques adopted by the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market, as well as the depth of capacity that can be provided by the capital markets, are both needed to help to tackle the “Too big to insure” world of cyber risk, according to a study.

Property casualty insurance holding company United Insurance Holdings Corp. (also known as UPC Insurance) said today that it expects that catastrophe losses suffered during the first-quarter of 2016 will exhaust the retention layer on its aggregate catastrophe reinsurance layer.

2016 Atlantic hurricane season forecasts so far suggest more activity in the Atlantic tropics than seen in recent years and a greater chance of U.S. hurricane landfalls, as the transition to La Niña and warmer sea surface temperatures near the U.S. coast and in the Gulf may influence hurricane activity.