Archive for September, 2020

Convex Group, the specialty insurance and reinsurance company founded by Stephen Catlin, has named two new CEO’s of its core underwriting entities, with Matt Paskin appointed CEO of Convex Re Limited (Bermuda) and Theo Butt CEO of Convex Insurance UK Limited.

U.S. primary insurance giant Allstate has reported the highest monthly total of catastrophe losses it has suffered for some time, as hurricanes Laura and Isaias helped to drive the total to $985 million for August 2020.

The impending combination of insurance and reinsurance broking giants Aon and Willis Towers Watson (WTW) will aim to “extend the proven model of catastrophe bonds” as the resulting organisation will continue to look to help clients access the capital markets, CEO’s Greg Case and John Haley have said.

According to our industry sources, a preliminary estimate of insurance and reinsurance market losses from hurricane Sally has been pegged at between $1.5 billion and $3.9 billion by catastrophe risk modeller AIR Worldwide.

While Pacific Gas and Electricity (PG&E), the wildfire stricken Californian electrical utility, made its $11 billion of subrogation payments in July, the benefits for insurance-linked securities (ILS) funds are expected to take as long as a year to be fully accounted for in the valuation of their exposed ILS and reinsurance assets.

White Bear Capital, the holding company of Blenheim Underwriting and a Lloyd’s focused insurance and reinsurance underwriting operation that counts ILS specialist Nephila Capital as a key strategic investor, has added £80 million more in funding from special situations focused investment house Alchemy Partners.

Hurricane Sally’s late intensification before landfall yesterday is expected to mean that overall private insurance and reinsurance market losses from the storm reach into the low billions, with any impact to ILS positions expected to be minimal.

Western U.S. wildfires so far this year have damaged or destroyed around 9,657 residential and commercial structures, while burning more than 5 million acres and the toll for the insurance and reinsurance industry could be as much as $8 billion already, according to Moody’s.

Should uncertainty over eventual losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic result in the trapping of significant amounts of retro capital at the end of 2020, the upwards pressure on rates in the market should be expected to persist, Philipp Rüede of Swiss Re said.

Private equity investment giant Blackstone has thrown its weight behind Brit’s algorithmic, follow-form Lloyd’s syndicate Ki, investing alongside Brit parent Fairfax in a $500m capital raise for the new venture.