Best of Artemis, week ending 1st March 2015

Here are the ten most popular news articles, week ending 1st March 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 1st March 2015:

1. Prepare for ‘a remarkable set of changes in the industry’: XL’s McGavick
   Never one to hold-back when interviewed, XL Group CEO Mike McGavick has again said what many re/insurers fear, that as traditional and alternative reinsurance capital increasingly work side-by-side we should prepare for “a remarkable set of changes in the industry.”

2. Swiss Re buys less retro reinsurance again, finds it ‘expensive’
   Global reinsurance firm Swiss Re has purchased less retrocession for the year, despite the retro market conditions being described as very attractive, as the firm follows a different strategy to other major reinsurers.

3. Re/insurance M&A trend could prove costly to Lloyd’s: Fitch Ratings
   In light of the current merger and acquisition (M&A) trend sweeping through the re/insurance sector, larger, specialist re/insurance entities could be an emerging risk to Lloyd’s of London’s business share, according to Fitch Ratings.

4. As asset class correlations rise, attraction to ILS & cat bonds increases
   Managers of large multi-asset class investment funds are showing signs of concern that correlation levels between asset classes may break down, with their portfolio adjustments suggesting a shift towards assets that can protect investments.

5. Aspen cedes U.S. insurance to investors, hits $185m third-party AuM
   Global insurance and reinsurance firm Aspen ceded a portion of its U.S. insurance business to third-party investors in its Aspen Capital Markets unit for the first time recently, while growing its third-party capital assets under management to $185m by the end of 2014.

6. Man Group reports growing commission from Nephila product sales
   Man Group, a global independent alternative investment manager and 18.75% stake holder in the world’s largest insurance-linked securities (ILS) investment manager Nephila Capital, revealed $15m of commission income relating to the relationship in its results.

7. XL CIO Street to assist alternative capital innovation post Catlin deal
   The leadership of XL Group following its proposed acquisition of Catlin is taking shape and the combined firm will have a different Chief Investment Officer after XL announced that Sarah Street will assume new responsibilities with a focus on alternative capital.

8. Intense competition drives reinsurance merger decisions: A.M. Best
   In its latest briefing on the global reinsurance market, rating agency A.M. Best warns that reinsurers risk having M&A decisions made for them, as the intensely competitive reinsurance market drives strategies making mergers increasingly likely.

9. S&P considers unmodelled perils in rating East Lane Re VI cat bond
   Rating agency Standard & Poor’s had to consider three unmodelled perils when applying a preliminary rating to the latest catastrophe bond to come to market, U.S. primary insurer Chubb’s $225m East Lane Re VI Ltd. (Series 2015-1) multi-peril cat bond.

10. K-Cessions quota share sidecar the backbone of our retrocession: Hannover Re
    For German reinsurer Hannover Re, the K-Cessions quota share retro reinsurance sidecar facility is “the backbone of our retrocession program” according to Henning Ludolphs, the reinsurers Managing Director for Retrocessions & Capital Markets.

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 26 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.