Archive for June, 2017

Bermuda-headquartered specialty insurance and reinsurance firm AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd. has returned to the catastrophe bond market for its second transaction, with a $250 million Northshore Re II Ltd. (Series 2017-1) transaction, as it looks to the capital markets to boost its reinsurance and retrocession coverage.

Specialist insurance and reinsurance linked investment manager Leadenhall Capital Partners has grown its ILS assets under management to a new high at $4.2 billion, a considerable 20% increase from the end of last year.

Recently launched commercial property insurance facility Alternus, which is backed by Nephila Capital, underwritten by the Schinnerer Group and brokered by Marsh, already boasts a “fantastic” take-up rate, according to John Doyle, President, Marsh.

The CEO of the Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX) Greg Wojciechowski, a well-known figure in the ILS market given the dominance of the BSX in playing host to catastrophe bond and other insurance-linked security (ILS) listings, has been appointed to the Bermuda Business Development Agency (BDA) Board of Directors.

The June 1st reinsurance renewals saw pricing fall at a faster rate than expected, as pricing for Florida and U.S. property catastrophe business declined by as much as 10% in some cases. ILS specialists Blue Capital Management report that despite steeper than expected declines, the manager achieved “strong portfolio execution.”

Online lottery provider Lottoland has launched a new business to business offering, enabling other brands to integrate its range of lotteries within their own client experiences, but with jackpot payouts continuing to be covered by Lottoland’s risk transfer, including its insurance-linked securities (ILS) coverage.

U.S. primary insurer Allstate has reported another heavy monthly toll for catastrophe losses in May 2017, reporting estimated pre-tax impacts from severe weather and cat events of $403 million for the month, with the Colorado hail storm event driving more than half of the total.

Florida has been facing an insurance claims abuse epidemic, more widely known as the assignment of benefits (AOB) issue which has driven up claims totals and means reinsurance and ILS players could face outsized impacts from smaller storms in the state.

Property and casualty insurance company United Insurance Holdings (UPC Insurance) estimates that it has eaten all the way through its retention for its aggregate catastrophe reinsurance coverage, which means future losses will eat into a reinsurance program that features considerable ILS and collateralized market participation.

Specialist insurance and reinsurance linked investment manager Leadenhall Capital Partners has invested in the launch of what is being called an “insurance challenger” start-up, a new initiative to launch an insurer that will leverage InsurTech and a fresh approach to protect more UK families.