Archive for October, 2016

Insurance-linked securities (ILS), pure catastrophe bond and reinsurance linked investment funds have seen another strong month of performance in September 2016, as seasonal premiums helped to boost the Eurekahedge ILS Advisers Index return to an above average 1.03%.

Both tranches of notes from the Calypso Capital II Ltd. (Series 2013-1) catastrophe bond issuance, which was sponsored by insurance and reinsurance firm AXA Global P&C in October 2013, have been upgraded by rating agency Standard & Poor’s.

The impact of hurricane Matthew and the insurance and reinsurance industry losses the hurricane caused when it struck the Florida and Southeast U.S. coastline could “test the functioning of various collateral mechanisms,” according to John Doucette of Everest Re.

Continued rate declines and reduced pricing in the global reinsurance market has enabled U.S. homeowners insurers to take advantage of both traditional and non-traditional reinsurance capacity, and pursue growth opportunities in spite of market headwinds, according to Aon Benfield.

It will take roughly $810 million of new catastrophe bond issuance in the final quarter of 2016 to see the market grow from the end of the third-quarter, while just a slightly above-average level of Q4 issuance would see the outstanding cat bond market end 2016 at its largest ever size.

Public entities are expected to utilise an increasing volume of capital markets features and capacity, as the insurance-linked securities (ILS) space continues to innovate and expand. However, growth in this area is currently limited due to price competition, according to Mark Goode of Willis Towers Watson (WTW).

The size and geographical reach of U.S. property and casualty (P&C) insurers contributes to companies’ reinsurance utilisation as a means of reducing volatility in underwriting results, highlights Guy Carpenter (GC) in a new report.

U.S. military mutual primary insurer USAA is back with its latest catastrophe bond, targeting $280 million of multi-peril coverage from a Residential Reinsurance 2016 Ltd. (Series 2016-2) issuance.

Architas, the AXA Group owned specialist asset manager focused on multi-manager investment solutions for clients, has again increased its allocation to listed retrocessional reinsurance fund the CATCo Reinsurance Opportunities Fund Ltd.

Insurance claims from hurricane Matthew have now reached $549 million, according to data from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, but the rate of increase has slowed significantly, rising less than one hundred million dollars in the last week.