Archive for June, 2021

UCITS catastrophe bond funds as a group have increased their assets significantly over the last year, with accelerated growth of the cat bond market and rising interest in ILS investments helping to propel the UCITS cat bond funds we track to asset growth of roughly 58% in just one year.

Global reinsurance firm Swiss Re has released UK £437 million of capital by selling a chunk of its shareholding in the largest European pension and life consolidator Phoenix Group Holdings.

Global reinsurance broker Lockton Re, part of the independent Lockton broking group, has announced the hiring of retrocession specialist broker Jeremy England Lee from rival Aon.

Global Parametrics has designed and structured a new parametric hurricane insurance product that is now being sold in the Caribbean country of Dominica and is backed by the capital from the firms Natural Disaster Fund (NDF).

Global reinsurance company Swiss Re is back in the capital markets in search of protection for its life reinsurance business, with a new Vita Capital VI Limited (Series 2021-1) mortality catastrophe bond deal that aims to secure $75 million or more of extreme mortality protection.

In securing its latest Bellemeade Re mortgage insurance-linked securities (ILS) transaction, sponsor Arch Capital Group also benefited from $93.21 million of traditional mortgage reinsurance placed alongside the capital markets deal, with the support of broker Gallagher Re.

It increasingly looks like Hong Kong could break into the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market before too much longer, as with details of its ILS grant pilot now available, one local law firm said it is already receiving enquiries from potential sponsors.

Langhorne Re, the joint-venture, third-party capital backed life and annuity reinsurance firm launched by Reinsurance Group of America (RGA) in partnership with RenaissanceRe (RenRe), has promoted its Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel  Andrew Markus to become Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Bermuda.

Swiss Re has warned that insurance and reinsurance firms will face increased indemnity costs after land-falling hurricanes in the United States this year, as inflationary factors are set to drive claims amounts higher.

According to a report, insurance and reinsurance giant Aon and its acquisition target Willis Towers Watson (WTW) were both “surprised” by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) filing a lawsuit to try and block their merger.