Archive for December, 2017

Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has forecast that global reinsurance rates will rise by between 0% and 5% in 2018, with the potential for double-digit price increases in loss-affected lines, but notes that it needs to see more discipline from reinsurers as well.

A new $260 million Leo Re Ltd. collateralised reinsurance sidecar transaction has been issued on behalf of Dutch pension fund manager PGGM, as the organisation returns for its second issuance under the Leo Re vehicle, following its $200 million 2017 sidecar arrangement.

Athene Holding Ltd., the life and retirement reinsurance focused company that is majority owned and works alongside private equity specialists Apollo Global Management, LLC, has entered into a $19 billion reinsurance agreement covering $19 billion of fixed and fixed indexed annuity liabilities for Voya Financial.

Gryphon Group Holdings Limited, the insurtech start-up that hopes to launch disruptive insurance ventures into established sectors and that raised £180 million, including capital from ILS fund manager Leadenhall Capital Partners, has acquired Guardian Assurance Limited and will operate the protection business it is building under the Guardian brand.

Total-return reinsurance firm Sandell Re and legacy specialist SOBC Corp. have completed two more run-off transactions under their legacy or distressed run-off and commutation joint-venture SOBC Sandell, acquiring two more captive entities.

International specialty insurer Chaucer plc has launched Thopas Re Ltd., a Bermuda domiciled fully collateralized reinsurance sidecar that will provide additional capital markets backed capacity to the firm’s Chaucer Syndicate 1084’s global reinsurance portfolio in 2018.

Prudential Retirement, a division of Prudential Financial, Inc., has entered into its sixth longevity reinsurance agreement since 2014 with Legal & General (L&G), covering $800 million (£600mn) of its pension liabilities against longevity risks.

Munich Re has successfully sponsored and placed an almost $83.7 million tranche of Series 2018-1 participating notes from its Eden Re II Ltd. collateralised reinsurance sidecar vehicle with investors, as it sets up its retrocessional sidecar facility for the coming year.

FINACTU Group has announced that it’s been chosen by the Moroccan government to support the establishment and supervision of a parametric insurance solution to protect the country’s agricultural sector from drought risks.

Specialist Lloyd’s and Bermuda insurance and reinsurance company Neon Underwriting has now received approval from the UK’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) for the first insurance-linked securities (ILS) vehicle to be launched in the country since its new ILS regulatory regime was introduced.