Archive for February, 2025

The Board of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) met today and one item up for discussion was the setting of the 1-in-100 year probable maximum loss (PML), a critical figure for defining its funding needs for the hurricane season and therefore its purchases of reinsurance and catastrophe bonds for 2025.

The Lifson Re collateralized reinsurance sidecar structure is set to be even more valuable in 2025 to owner W. R. Berkley Corporation, the US headquartered insurance holding company, as the Lifson Re sidecar has been capitalised to a higher level for this year, while the quota share cession rate has also been increased.

According to Gallagher Securities, the specialist insurance-linked securities (ILS) and investment banking arm of reinsurance broker Gallagher Re, the future of the cyber ILS market is not a question of growth, but rather how quickly the market can evolve to meet evolving opportunities and challenges.

According to ratings agency AM Best, reinsurance leverage and surplus relief has risen significantly in recent years, driven by strong annuity premium growth, which has driven additional capital to the market, while a number of life and annuity (L/A) insurers have established sidecars to manage expansion and risk-based capitalisation.

Schroders Capital has announced that it has appointed Vikram Bhandari to the newly-created role of Head and Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of Schroders Capital Solutions, where he will be based in London, reporting to Ingo Heinen, Global Head of Business Development and Product.

Catastrophe bond managers produced “another marquee year of returns” in 2024 and once again experienced a strong 12 months of inflows, according to analysis by Kepler Absolute Hedge, a research and data-led provider of insight into hedge fund strategies.

The Berkshire Hathaway insurance and reinsurance businesses are estimated to face losses from the Los Angeles, California wildfires amounting to as much as $1.3 billion, while the company also disclosed underwriting fewer property reinsurance premiums in 2024.

Security First Insurance Company, a specialist Florida domestic homeowners insurer, has now secured the upsized $250 million target for reinsurance from its new First Coast Re IV Ltd. (Series 2025-1) catastrophe bond issuance, while both tranches of notes priced at the low-end of reduced guidance, Artemis can report.

Direct-to-consumer insurtech company Kin Insurance is looking to upsize its new Hestia Re Ltd. (Series 2025-1) catastrophe bond transaction, with now as much as $300 million of Florida named storm reinsurance being targeted from the deal, we can report.

Build America Mutual Assurance Company, the financial guarantee and municipal bond specialist, has been back in the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market and secured its largest deal yet, with the new Fidus Re Ltd. (Series 2025-1) securitization and note issuance providing it $275 million of collateralized reinsurance.