Archive for February, 2020

Secondary market pricing for the World Bank’s pandemic catastrophe bond notes are set to decline, significantly for one tranche, after the coronavirus outbreaks spread resulted in a second triggering condition being met, Plenum Investments believes.

U.S. primary mutual insurer USAA has added another just more than $57.4 million to the reinsurance recoveries made under its Residential Re catastrophe bond program, as it continues to benefit from the catastrophe protection the program has provided it through recent heavy loss years.

Hamilton Insurance Group has added Marvin Pestcoe to its board, bringing it a significant source of expertise in life and health reinsurance business from the seasoned executive.

American International Group (AIG) has hired former Lloyd’s of London insurance and reinsurance market Director of Performance Management Jon Hancock to become its new Chief Executive Officer, International General Insurance.

Returning to the catastrophe bond market again for 2020, U.S. primary insurance giant Allstate is seeking a new $250 million or greater source of U.S. multi-peril property catastrophe reinsurance through sponsorship of a just launched Sanders Re II Ltd. (Series 2020-1) cat bond transaction.

Property and casualty reinsurance underwriting fell to a technical loss for Munich Re, as the impacts of major catastrophe events drove the units combined ratios higher for the fourth-quarter and full-year of 2019.

The spreading global outbreak of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV or Covid-19) has now met another of the conditions within the trigger mechanism of the World Bank’s pandemic catastrophe bond transaction, raising the chance that noteholders face losses in the coming weeks.

Insurance-linked securities (ILS) is seen as one of the cylinders of the insurance and reinsurance engine for Markel Corporation and the firm’s CO-CEO’s Thomas Gayner and Richard Whitt see ILS driving “increasing advantages and profitability” for the company with its leading position set to help it scale in the space.

Another of the Dodeka series of private catastrophe bonds, issued for ILS and reinsurance focused investment manager Twelve Capital, has had its maturity extended, likely to allow for a cedent’s catastrophe loss development to continue.

The upper-end target for the government of Mexico’s latest World Bank supported catastrophe bond issuance has been lifted, with the IBRD / FONDEN 2020 transaction now seeking up to $525 million of parametric earthquake and hurricane protection for the country.