Best of Artemis, week ending 25th September 2016

Here are the ten most popular news articles, week ending 25th September 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.

Ten most viewed articles on Artemis.bm, week ending 25th September 2016:

1. Unwillingness to pay “one of the big myths” of the ILS market: Craig Wenzel, XL Catlin
   Craig Wenzel, Head of Alternative Capital at XL Catlin, does not understand why there is any concern amongst cedants that alternative reinsurance or ILS structures could fail to payout in the event of a major loss.

2. FEMA buys first flood reinsurance for NFIP, will buy more in 2017
   A historic development has occurred in the United States which could see more flood insurance risk making its way into the reinsurance and capital markets, as FEMA has bought its first ever reinsurance cover for the National Flood Insurance Program.

3. Catastrophe bonds & ILS not a reinsurance disruptor: Dennis Kessler
   The rise of catastrophe bonds and insurance-linked securities (ILS) issuance in the global reinsurance marketplace is not a market disruptor, but supportive and supplementary to the global reinsurance market, according to SCOR’s Dennis Kessler.

4. Insurance more interconnected with capital markets than before: UK PRA
   To a greater extent than historically, insurance and reinsurance is more “interconnected with wider capital markets” than before, which alongside the inflow of institutional investor capital has helped to drive expected returns down, according to the UK’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA).

5. Hunt for profitable business to drive reinsurance M&A: A.M. Best
   As reinsurance firms continue to shape their responses to the challenging and competitive market environment, searching for profitable business remains a key necessity and the desire for this relevance could drive more mergers & acquisitions, says A.M. Best.

6. Alternative capital helps reinsurance serve broader set of goals: Swiss Re
   The utilisation of reinsurance protection is transitioning to serve a wider range of goals, and the integration of efficient, alternative reinsurance capital is helping the market achieve this, according to Swiss Re.

7. Nakama Re 2016 cat bond grows to $700m for Zenkyoren
   Demonstrating the appetite for catastrophe bond investments, the latest transaction to come to market from regular catastrophe bond sponsor Zenkyoren, Nakama Re Ltd. (Series 2016-1), has more than doubled in size to hit $700m during marketing.

8. Markus Schmutz (ex-Swiss Re Capital Markets) joins Rewire as partner
   Markus Schmutz has joined boutique insurance and reinsurance-linked securities (ILS) structuring and distribution firm Rewire Securities LLC as a Partner, bringing significant experience from his time at Swiss Re Capital Markets.

9. Despite falling returns equity investors unlikely to exit reinsurance: S&P
   The majority of reinsurance equity investors are likely to remain in the sector despite persistent rate declines as returns continue to be more favourable than other industry sectors, according to Standard & Poor’s (S&P).

10. The price game is over: Luca Albertini, Leadenhall Capital Partners
    There was no talk of further reinsurance rate reductions at the Rendez-Vous de Septembre in Monte Carlo, according to Luca Albertini, Chief Executive of Leadenhall Capital Partners. Instead, the focus was on the quality of reinsurance panels, building sustainable relationships and expanding opportunities.

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 28 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’ Q2 2016 Catastrophe Bond & ILS Market Report – A quiet quarter fails to keep up with investor demand

We’ve now published our Q2 2016 catastrophe bond & ILS market report.

This report reviews the catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) market at the end of the second-quarter of 2016, looking at the new risk capital issued and the composition of transactions completed during Q2 2016.

Q2 2016 issuance failed to hit $2 billion, with just $1.624 billion of new risk capital issued from 14 transactions. This is the first time since 2011 that Q2 issuance has failed to reach $2 billion.

Download your copy here.