Best of Artemis, week ending 22nd May 2016

Here are the ten most popular news articles, week ending 22nd May 2016, 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.

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Top ten most viewed articles on Artemis.bm, week ending 22nd May 2016:

1. Canada fires continue, set to be largest insured wildfire loss ever
   The Fort McMurray, Canada wildfires continue to burn and have now spread beyond Alberta and into Saskatchewan, and as losses begin to be calculated the wildfires are now being called the largest wildfire insured loss in history.

2. Credit Suisse operational risk cat bond target lowered to CHF200m
   According to sources, investment bank Credit Suisse’s Operational Re Ltd. transaction, which looks to emulate the catastrophe bond to secure insurance via the capital markets for operational risk exposures, is now set to launch in the coming days as a CHF200m (approx US$205m) bond.

3. Collateralised reinsurance & ILS could hit $160bn by 2020: LGT’s Stahel
   The insurance-linked securities (ILS) and collateralised reinsurance market could more than double in size by 2020, growing from the roughly $70 billion of capacity it provides today, to as much as $160 billion, according to LGT’s Michael Stahel.

4. Leading industry CEOs join Insurance Development Forum
   The Insurance Development Forum (IDF), an international group consisting of insurance and reinsurance industry representatives, in partnership with the World Bank and the United Nations (UN), has announced the appointment of leading industry CEOs.

5. Kumamoto quake insurance payouts pass $1.13bn, more to come
   Payouts from Japanese domestic and foreign insurance companies for damage to dwellings from the earthquake that struck the Kumamoto region of Kyushu, Japan in April have already passed $1.13 billion and are expected to rise much further.

6. State National buys first shell insurer for Nephila program
   Specialist fronting and program service insurer State National Companies has acquired the first of the shell insurance companies it said recently it would purchase to underwrite business exclusively for its program arrangement with ILS manager Nephila Capital.

7. Locked reinsurance collateral and the potential impact on ILS returns
   The collateralized reinsurance market has been the fastest growing sub-sector of the insurance-linked securities space, as ILS funds and managers have increasingly participated in traditional reinsurance contracts on a fully collateralized basis.

8. $100m Laetere Re 2016 cat bond launched for United subsidiaries
   A new catastrophe bond has launched to investors, bringing another new sponsor to market, as three United Insurance Holdings subsidiaries seek at least $100m of fully collateralized reinsurance through a Laetere Re Ltd. (Series 2016-1) issuance.

9. First Coast Re 2016 cat bond launched for Security First Insurance
   A new catastrophe bond has been launched for first time cat bond ceding firm Security First Insurance Company, as it seeks a capital market backed source of collateralised reinsurance cover through a $100m First Coast Re Ltd. (Series 2016-1) cat bond issue.

10. MyLotto24 jackpot payout misses Hoplon II bond, but hits insurance
    Investors in the Hoplon II Insurance Ltd. lottery jackpot winning catastrophe bond or ILS style insurance coverage has escaped a loss after the sponsor MyLotto24 suffered a €37m jackpot win in a secondary lottery it held.

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 27 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’ Q1 2016 Catastrophe Bond & ILS Market Report – Another record first-quarter

We’ve now published our Q1 2016 catastrophe bond & ILS market report.

This report reviews the catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) market at the end of the first-quarter of 2016, looking at the record $2.215 billion of new risk capital issued and the composition of the cat bond & ILS transactions completed during Q1 2016. The report also includes a review of global property catastrophe reinsurance pricing trends and commentary on dedicated reinsurance sector capital from co-editor GC Securities.

Download your copy here.