Archive for September, 2017

In recent days a handful of secondary market trades have been seen for catastrophe bonds that provide retrocessional reinsurance on an aggregate basis, as investors try to understand the potential for losses due to hurricanes Harvey and Irma’s combined impacts.

Aon has hired Steve Bale from Legal & General to join its Risk Settlement team, the area of the brokerage that focuses on life and pension risk transfer, including longevity swaps and reinsurance.

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has already reported almost $2 billion of insurance claims filed from hurricane Irma, with more than 335,000 claims filed and just 4.5% closed to date. The FLOIR data shows that claims have been quickest to come in from the eastern coast of the state.

Hurricane Maria has intensified into the second devastating storm to pass through the Caribbean in less than a fortnight, as the hurricane reached 160 mph sustained winds before making striking Dominica. Hurricane Maria’s winds had intensified to Cat 5 at 175 mph, now down to 155 mph again, but it could maintain this strength as […]

Florida focused primary insurance group HCI (Homeowners Choice) has revealed that it expects its losses from hurricane Irma will run into the hundreds of millions, but the firms reinsurance arrangements will take the bulk of its exposure from the storm.

A number of outstanding catastrophe bonds have had their secondary market values marked down, as losses could be expected due to the impact of recent hurricanes Harvey and Irma. But the brokers do not currently seem to have a clear view of cat bond losses and prices in some cases diverge dramatically.

Following the impacts and losses from hurricanes Harvey and Irma some reinsurance firms may find their earnings depleted and shares trading below book-value, but rather than looking to equity raising to help them through, reinsurers should tap into alternative capital, according to analysts at Morgan Stanley.

Insurance claims filed in both personal and commercial business lines that will fall to the private market for payment after the 14th November 2016 Kaikoura earthquake have now risen to NZ $2 billion (US $1.46 billion) according to the Insurance Council of New Zealand.

Swiss headquartered insurance and reinsurance linked asset management firm Twelve Capital has appointed Aaron Coates, previously of Barbican Insurance, to an Executive Director role that will see him focused on sourcing ILS transactions and private debt deals.

Risk modelling firm AIR Worldwide has reduced its estimate of insurance and reinsurance industry losses caused by hurricane Irma, narrowing the range and dropping the upper end to now forecast somewhere between $32 billion and $50 billion of losses across the U.S. and Caribbean.