Best of Artemis, week ending 28th April 2019

Here are the ten most popular news articles, week ending 28th April 2019, 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 or get our email alerts for every article we publish.

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Ten most viewed articles on Artemis.bm, week ending 28th April 2019:

1. Gulf Coast may be exception of average 2019 hurricane season, NC State forecasts
   The U.S. east coast is expected to see an about average level of storm activity during the coming 2019 Atlantic hurricane season, but the Gulf of Mexico could differ, with above average activity forecast by the team at North Carolina State University.
2. Notre-Dame Cathedral fire could threaten some specialty ILS positions
   When the roof of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris caught fire recently perhaps the last thing thought of was potential exposure for the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market. But it’s becoming clear there is a small chance some specialty lines ILS positions could be threatened by the fire.
3. Florida June reinsurance renewal pricing may have some teeth: Analysts
   While pricing at the June reinsurance renewals of all-important Florida underwriting business fell short of expectations a year ago, in 2019 market sentiment remains on the positive side, with analysts suggesting that this time around it might be different.
4. Markel CATCo remains committed on 2019 portfolio: Rhoads
   Markel CATCo Investment Management is committed to the delivery of its 2019 portfolio to shareholders in its listed retrocessional reinsurance fund strategy, signalling an intention to trade forwards once loss affected portfolios are dealt with.
5. TigerRisk announces Tony Ursano to depart firm
   Reinsurance brokerage, risk and capital advisory TigerRisk Partners, LLC has announced that its President Tony Ursano is set to depart the firm.
6. Alternative capital up, traditional down, as reinsurer profits shrink again
   Alternative reinsurance capital’s continued growth through 2018, as well as the slight shrinking of traditional reinsurer capital have been confirmed in a report out today, while at the same time profits at reinsurers are seen to have shrunk again, based on underlying returns on equity (ROE’s).
7. Elementum selling 30% stake to White Mountains
   Elementum Advisors, LLC, an insurance and reinsurance linked asset manager with over $4 billion of assets under management, is selling a 30% stake to insurance and financial services group White Mountains.
8. Hurricane Michael upgraded to first U.S. Cat 5 landfall since Andrew
   Hurricane Michael’s wind speeds at landfall in Florida have been upgraded by the U.S. NOAA’s National Hurricane Center scientists in their final tropical cyclone report, now estimating them as having reached Category 5 at 160 mph.
9. Distressed Caelus, Citrus, ResRe cat bonds trade at rock-bottom prices
   A number of at-risk of loss catastrophe bonds have been traded at rock-bottom distressed prices, suggesting investors have sought to offload bonds they believe will face a total loss, while a buyer (perhaps a single investor) is willing to bet there could be some improvement in the outlook.
10. Assignment of benefits (AOB) reform passes Florida Senate
    Meaningful reform could be on the way for the Florida insurance market, as a bill designed to reform the age-old practice of assignment of benefits (AOB) passed the Senate vote yesterday.

This is not every article published on Artemis during the last week, just the most popular, some of which were published over a week ago. There were 24 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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