Archive for May, 2020

The United Kingdom’s weather forecaster the Met Office, the national meteorological service for the UK, has joined calls for an above average level of hurricane activity to occur during the 2020 Atlantic tropical storm season with its long-range forecast for the season ahead.

The Florida reinsurance renewals have been hit by a “perfect storm” of market conditions, according to TigerRisk Partners exec Brian O’Neill, who who says support from core reinsurance partners will be critical to help carriers weather the storm.

Peak Reinsurance Company Limited (Peak Re), the Hong Kong headquartered, Fosun backed global reinsurer, has listed a slice of its latest collateralised reinsurance sidecar transaction, featuring a single $12.32 million tranche of notes that were issued by the reinsurers Lion Rock Re Ltd. special purpose vehicle.

Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corporation withdrew one layer of its latest issuance from the catastrophe bond market at the mid-year renewal, as it found that capital market investors are looking for “irrational returns” and wasn’t willing to lock in pricing over a multi-year basis at those rates, CFO Jennifer Montero explained to us.

Catastrophe bonds are expected to face increasing investor demand over the coming months, as during the Covid-19 pandemic these instruments have “showcased” their benefits to global investors once again, according to S&P Global Ratings.

Florida reinsurance renewal rate increases are expected to be “significant” but are unlikely to match the increases seen in the post-Katrina market except in some extreme cases, according to analysts at KBW.

Palomar Insurance Holdings, the speciality California-based insurer that provides largely catastrophe exposed property covers, has renewed its reinsurance program to provide it with coverage up to $1.4 billion, despite market conditions it explains as “hard”.

London’s efforts to develop a market for insurance-linked securities (ILS) has been “hampered by bureaucracy” according to a new report from the market-wide body that represents the London specialist commercial insurance and reinsurance sector.

Insurance giant Allstate’s top-end target for its latest catastrophe bond transaction has been lifted to as much as $200 million, while at the same time price guidance for the Sanders Re II Ltd. (Series 2020-2) cat bond deal has been lifted to the top-end of initial guidance.

NN Life, part of the Nationale-Nederlanden (NN Group), has secured reinsurance and swap arrangements with leading reinsurers Canada Life, Munich Re and Swiss Re to transfer all of the longevity risk associated with some EUR 13.5 billion of pension liabilities from the Netherlands.