Archive for April, 2021

There is evidence that the hard market in catastrophe bonds and insurance-linked securities (ILS) may be coming to an end, as data suggests that softening may finally have begun and could continue if 2021 remains loss free, according to consultancy Lane Financial LLC.

The deadline for approval of the proposed merger of insurance and reinsurance broking giants Aon and Willis Towers Watson (WTW) has been pushed back by just over two months, as a package of concessions has now been received and the European Commission (EC) restarted the clock on the process.

Underwriting of cyber insurance and reinsurance risks is going to require “massive amounts of additional capital” to support what is expected to be a particularly fast-growing class of business, according to broker Gallagher Re’s Ian Newman.

Horseshoe, the Bermuda-headquartered insurance or reinsurance management, fund administration, insurance-linked securities (ILS) specialist and Artex company, has appointed well-known industry executive Kathleen Faries as its new CEO.

Growth of alternative reinsurance capital, so that largely managed through ILS funds or other insurance-linked securities (ILS), recovered in the second-half of 2020 according to Willis Re, ending the year at $90 billion, up 2% from the middle of the year.

Here are the ten most popular news articles, week ending 11th April 2021, covering catastrophe bonds, ILS, reinsurance capital and related risk transfer topics. To ensure you never miss a thing subscribe to the weekly Artemis email newsletter updates or get our email alerts for every article we publish.

US primary insurance giant State Farm has again returned to the 144A catastrophe bond market for another slice of New Madrid earthquake reinsurance protection to sponsor its latest capital markets deal, a $350 million Merna Re II Ltd. (Series 2021-1) issuance.

The most active March for tornado touchdowns in the United States since 2017, as well as string of outbreaks of severe weather, with hail and flooding, is set to drive billions in economic losses and at least a billion dollars of insurance market losses, according to Aon.

The merger of insurance and reinsurance broking and consultancy giants Aon and Willis Towers Watson (WTW) continues to be looked at by watchdogs, with the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore the latest to assess the deal.

Genworth Mortgage Insurance, a US mortgage insurance subsidiary of Genworth Financial, is back in the capital markets with its second mortgage insurance-linked securities (ILS) deal of this year, a $303 million Triangle Re 2021-2 Ltd. issuance.