Archive for October, 2017

Both U.S. commercial and U.S. personal business lines saw rates increase, on average, during the third-quarter of 2017, which could have an increasing benefit for insurance-linked securities (ILS) funds that now participate in primary, largely catastrophe exposed, underwriting business.

Yulanda Francis has been promoted at Bermuda-headquartered ILS management, servicing, transformation and fronting specialist Horseshoe Group, taking on the role of President of the firms collateralized reinsurance platform Horseshoe Re.

Analysts at Moody’s expect recent hurricanes in the U.S. and the Caribbean to drive substantial losses for alternative capital providers, but the insurance-linked securities’ (ILS) sophisticated investor base is expected to be willing and able to replace any lost capital.

The impact of recent catastrophe events, including the major hurricanes Irma and Maria, is gradually becoming clearer as ILS funds report their September returns. The latest to report is Blue Capital Management’s listed fund vehicle, which has suffered a -26% return for the month.

Property Claim Services (PCS) has published its first estimate for insurance industry losses from the Petya / NotPetya malware cyber attack that hit pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. in June, putting the initial figure at $275 million.

The growth of alternative capital in reinsurance, catastrophe bonds and insurance-linked securities (ILS) as a whole seems assured, but how fast it will grow remains uncertain and many factors could stimulate more rapid, or slower growth, but EY estimates it could make up 28% of reinsurance capital by 2021, or around $224 billion.

Independent fund administrator Apex Group Ltd. has announced an expansion of its service offering to the insurance-linked securities (ILS) fund market, aiming to offer a comprehensive fund administration solution as well as the hiring of Matthew Charleson from Kane LPI Solutions.

At a meeting of CARICOM Caribbean government leaders and international partners, hosted by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), the topic of disaster resilience was high on the agenda and multi-country catastrophe bonds as well as other insurance solutions were discussed.

XL Catlin and its subsidiaries are the first sponsor to return to the catastrophe bond market after the recent hurricane losses, according to sources, launching a $150 million Galileo Re Ltd. (Series 2017-1) transaction with pricing that looks a little higher than other recent similar multi-peril cat bond issues.

The Northern California wildfires that started on Sunday, October 8th, could drive insurance industry losses of $4.6 billion or higher, adding further pressure to the profitability of the property & casualty (P&C) industry following an active third-quarter, says Moody’s.