Archive for February, 2019

The acquisition of Bermuda headquartered insurance and reinsurance group Aspen Insurance Holdings by funds under the management of private equity and alternative investment specialist Apollo Global Management, LLC, has now been completed.

Floridan primary insurers handle major catastrophe losses particularly well, especially the specialist underwriting firms who focus on coastal and catastrophe exposed property business. But a hurricane industry loss of greater than $100 billion would trouble the sector.

Assets under management held by Kinesis Capital Management, the collateralized retrocessional reinsurance unit of specialty re/insurer Lancashire Holdings Limited, grew its assets under management 20% year-on-year.

A bill has been introduced that if enacted would authorise the California Governor, Insurance Commissioner, and Treasurer to purchase insurance, reinsurance insurance-linked securities (ILS) or other alternative risk transfer (ART) products to help pay costs resulting from natural disasters.

Insurance claims from the Townsville flooding in Queensland, Australia are now estimated to have reached A$606 million, increasing the likelihood of reinsurance programs being triggered for insurers operating in the region.

Despite what the firm explains as a “more difficult environment” for fundraising, specialty insurance and reinsurance player Brit Ltd. said it has grown its third-party capital base and added new institutional investors for 2019.

Markel Corporation plans to adapt the Markel CATCo underwriting and investment strategy based on what it can learn from the catastrophe losses that affected it so severely during 2017 and 2018, the re/insurers Co-CEO said.

Australian primary insurer Suncorp is set to raise its budget for natural catastrophe losses and plans to buy A$200 million more reinsurance cover for the next financial year, while at the same time the insurers’ CEO acknowledged that climate change is driving more frequent losses for the firm.

RGA Life Reinsurance Company of Canada (RGA Canada), part of global life reinsurer Reinsurance Group of America, has completed a transaction to reinsure the longevity risk associated with 45,000 annuitants for Manulife.

Insurance-linked securities (ILS) and reinsurance linked investment funds fell to a negative December, thanks to continued loss development and loss creep from catastrophe events in prior months, which added to the already negative year and drove 2018’s ILS Index return to -3.92%.