Archive for October, 2016

Haiti will receive a payout of a little over $20 million from the CCRIF SPC (formerly the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility), after hurricane Matthew triggered the parametric insurance policy the country has in force.

The risk of a major insurance and reinsurance industry loss seems to have decreased with the last few forecast updates for hurricane Matthew, as the path looks more likely to remain offshore of the Florida and southeast U.S. coastline.

According to rating agency Standard & Poor’s there are 15 catastrophe bonds it has given ratings to that are most exposed to hurricane Matthews impact on the Florida and U.S. eastern coastline. We also highlight a few which are not S&P rated and that we believe to be among the more exposed.

Hurricane Matthew could drag down returns for insurance and reinsurance firms, as well as ILS investors, but not offer the sector any solace from the soft market by increasing rates and pricing, according to analysts at Peel Hunt.

The acquisition of specialist Bermuda-headquartered insurance and reinsurance firm Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. by Japanese insurance giant Sompo Holdings is not expected to result in any changes to the management of collateralized reinsurance and ILS specialist Blue Capital Re.

Hurricane Matthew has the potential to trigger outstanding catastrophe bonds and other ILS structures, based on latest forecasts, but significant uncertainty remains and exactly how close the storm gets to making landfall could wildly sway the eventual insurance and reinsurance industry loss.

Barbados is set to receive a $975,000 payout thanks to its parametric tropical cyclone insurance policy from the CCRIF SPC (formerly the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility), after hurricane Matthew triggered the facility.

The Insurance Development Forum (IDF) has expressed its support of the G7 InsuResilience target and proposed the formation of a Technical Assistance Facility (TAF), which, aims to support increased insurance penetration in emerging regions and that could be supported by the insurance-linked securities (ILS) space.

Hurricane Matthew is battering the central Bahamas, with sustained winds of 115mph, higher gusts, torrential rain and a storm surge estimated at anything up to 15 feet. Matthew is then forecast to intensify again and head for Florida, where the outlook is worsening for the state.

Despite lower returns across the reinsurance industry, in today’s market environment there’s more interest from third-party capital than less, as large or unmodelled losses remain benign and cedents continue to be attracted to diversified pools of capital, according to Willis Re.