Best of Artemis, week ending 24th August 2014

Here are the ten most popular news articles, week ending 24th August 2014, on catastrophe bonds, reinsurance capital and related risk transfer topics, from the last seven days on Artemis. 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 24th August 2014:

1. A.M. Best turns negative on reinsurance sector, joins other rating agencies
   Rating agency A.M. Best has finally turned negative in its outlook for the global reinsurance sector, citing weakening operating fundamentals and significant ongoing market challenges which will hinder the potential for positive rating outlooks and upgrades.

2. Private equity follows hedge funds into reinsurance for long-term capital
   It’s not just hedge funds that are entering the insurance and reinsurance market in search of so-called long-term capital to put to work in their strategies, private equity firms targeting the space are also seeking opportunities to add assets under management.

3. Leadenhall Capital Partners helps Amlin into the top-tier of reinsurers
   The combination of insurance-linked securities (ILS) and reinsurance-linked investment manager Leadenhall Capital Partners offering with Amlin plc’s traditional reinsurance proposition has lifted the firm into the top-tier of reinsurers.

4. Positive for ILS investing: McKinsey says alternatives to keep growing
   One of the factors that is responsible for assisting the rapid growth of the insurance-linked securities (ILS) and reinsurance-linked investments market in recent years is global investors continuing shift towards alternative asset classes.

5. S&P questions viability of hedge fund reinsurer business model
   In a newly published report ratings agency Standard & Poor’s questions the viability of the hedge fund backed reinsurance strategy, asking whether combining the hedge fund and reinsurer strategy can create higher risk-adjusted returns.

6. Plenum adds cat bond fund to Swiss Exchange (SIX) giving daily liquidity
   Plenum Investments Ltd., the independent Zurich, Switzerland based insurance-linked securities (ILS) and catastrophe bond fund manager, has made its UCITS cat bond fund available on the Swiss Exchange to offer investors daily liquidity.

7. Asian insurers look to diversify risk capital, cat bonds one option: Fitch
   Asian general and property casualty insurance companies are typically reliant on traditional reinsurance capital for funding in the event of a major natural disaster striking, but increasingly they are looking to alternative capital and catastrophe bonds, says Fitch Ratings.

8. Throw-in coverages, like cyber/terror, to show reinsurers weak spots: NoonanActive and disciplined reinsurance underwriting, rather than blindly accepting all risks placed in the market, is the way to success in the current underwriters market, according to Validus CEO Ed Noonan.

    

9. Delta Lloyd in EUR 12 billion index-based longevity swap with RGA Re
   Dutch insurance, pensions and investments firm Delta Lloyd has entered into an index-based longevity swap transaction covering €12 billion of its longevity reserves with Reinsurance Group of America.

10. China catastrophe re/insurance system development a ‘difficult project’
    Developing a system for catastrophe insurance, reinsurance and a catastrophe fund, across a country as large, diverse and affected by so many natural catastrophe perils as China, is a “very difficult project” according to the China Insurance Regulatory Commission.

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 17 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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Q2 2014 Catastrophe Bond & ILS Market Report – The Biggest Quarter, The Biggest Catastrophe Bond

We’ve now published our Q2 2014 catastrophe bond & ILS market report.

This report reviews the catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) market at the end of the record second-quarter of 2014, looking at the new risk capital issued and the composition of the transactions completed during Q1 2014.
Download your copy here.