Best of Artemis, week ending 18th January 2015

Here are the ten most popular news articles, week ending 18th January 2015, 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.

Top ten most viewed articles on Artemis.bm, week ending 18th January 2015:

1. XL Catlin deal a sign of how bad the reinsurance market really is: KBW
   The fact that two insurance and reinsurance firms of the size and scale of XL Group and Catlin Group have felt the need to come together, in order to achieve even greater scale and relevance, is a “sign of how bad the market really is”, according to analysts at KBW.

2. Reinsurance market cycle has changed, responds locally to losses: Guy Carpenter
   The reinsurance market cycle has changed, broker Guy Carpenter said at a press briefing last week. The market cycle no longer responds in the same way to loss events, with a reinsurance market that responds locally and regionally to losses expected to be the norm.

3. Investor appetite may lift cat bonds to $9 billion in 2015: Willis
   Continued investor appetite for catastrophe bonds and insurance-linked securities (ILS), alongside growing confidence in their use as an alternative to reinsurance, could see the cat bond market hitting $9 billion of issuance in 2015, according to WCMA.

4. Lloyd’s insurers and reinsurers under pressure again in 2015
   As the (super)abundance of alternative reinsurance and insurance-linked securities (ILS) capital continues to impact pricing and distort the dynamics of the reinsurance space, Lloyd’s and London players are set for a “tougher but manageable” 2015, according to analysts.

5. Third consecutive year of price declines negative for reinsurers: Moody’s
   The continued price reductions faced by the traditional reinsurance industry, with the January 1st 2015 being the third consecutive renewals where price declines have been experienced, are credit negative for reinsurers according to Moody’s Investors Service.

6. Munich Re hails ‘synergies’ created by Eden Re reinsurance sidecars
   The world’s largest reinsurance firm Munich Re has hailed the ‘synergies’ created between large institutional investors and its core natural catastrophe reinsurance business through the completion of two Eden Re collateralized reinsurance sidecar transactions.

7. Is lower catastrophe reinsurance pricing a new normal?
   Lower pricing at the reinsurance renewals may be a new normal, particularly in catastrophe risks where the decline in pricing has been most evident, broker Aon Benfield discusses in its recent reinsurance renewal report.

8.  Louisiana Citizens will seek to replace Pelican Re cat bond at renewal
   Louisiana Citizens, the non-profit residential and commercial property insurer for those who cannot access private market insurance in the state, will seek to replace its Pelican Re Ltd. (Series 2012-1) catastrophe bond at its next reinsurance renewal.

9. ILS & cat bond rates & excess return declined at slower pace in 2014: Lane Financial
   While both the average rate-on-line and the excess return of insurance-linked securities (ILS) and catastrophe bonds declined considerably in 2014, it was at a slower rate than that seen in 2013, according to the latest report from Lane Financial.

10. Longevity swap sponsors can halve deal costs with own re/insurers
    Pension fund sponsors of longevity swaps can as much as halve the transaction costs by establishing their own special purpose insurance or captive vehicle, or using a service provider, in order to more directly access sources of longevity reinsurance capital.

Also, make sure you read our predictions articles, featuring leading players from the ILS, cat bond and reinsurance world.

This is by no means every article published on Artemis during the last week, just the most popular, some of which were published over a week ago. There were 30 new articles published in the last week. To ensure you always stay up to date with Artemis and never miss a story subscribe to our weekly email newsletter which is delivered every Wednesday.

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Artemis’ Q4 2014 Catastrophe Bond & ILS Market Report – A busy finish to a record year for ILS

We’ve now published our Q4 2014 catastrophe bond & ILS market report.

This report reviews the catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) market at the end of the fourth-quarter of 2014, looking at the new risk capital issued and the composition of the cat bond & ILS transactions completed during Q4 2014. It also includes a brief review of the full-year 2014’s record issuance.

Download your copy here.