Archive for August, 2023

Large Canadian institutional retirement fund, the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP), grew its allocation to insurance-linked securities (ILS) investments in 2022, with the asset class nearing 1% of its overall portfolio by the end of the year.

The Vesttoo issues of invalid, fake or fraudulent letters of credit (LOCs) backing reinsurance deals provides “a depressing reminder of what can go wrong” when compliance fails to identify risks, according to Joe Schmidt, fintech investment partner at venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz.

Hurricane Idalia has intensified further in recent hours and has become a major Category 3 storm with 125 mph sustained winds. But further strengthening is now expected right up to landfall, where major hurricane Idalia is forecast to have Category 4 winds of around 130 mph when it reaches the Florida Big Bend area of […]

There is now only one week to go until our upcoming catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) market conference, Artemis London 2023 on Tuesday September 5th. Register soon to attend as there are a few spaces left!

A new filing in the Vesttoo bankruptcy case provides a more detailed view of the scale of the alleged fraud, as Aon’s segregated accounts and reinsurance transformer company White Rock Insurance (SAC) Ltd. notes that there were 37 letters of credit (LOCs) that were likely invalid, which represented some $2.35 billion in value.

The latest NHC update on hurricane Idalia shows a further slight increase in the peak wind speeds expected from the storm as it approaches a major category landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast, while the peak storm surge forecast height has also risen.

The cyber insurance marketplace needs the backing of robust and healthy cyber reinsurance, cyber retrocession and cyber insurance-linked securities (ILS) markets, if it is to achieve its potential, according to S&P Global Ratings.

Porch Group subsidiary Homeowners of America Insurance Company (HOA), a managing general agent (MGA) and insurance carrier hybrid, has now filed to appear as a creditor in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case of beleaguered insurtech Vesttoo, as HOA looks to protect its rights and any possible recoveries that can be made.

Hurricane Idalia is not expected to significantly impact catastrophe bonds, with a shift in its forecast track north and further away from Tampa having lowered the modelled expected loss outcome for the storm, according to specialist asset manager Plenum Investments.

Idalia has now become a hurricane, running a little behind the forecast schedule as it meandered around Cuba, but now moving into the far southern Gulf of Mexico, the NHC warns hurricane Idalia will be an “extremely dangerous major hurricane” for Florida.