Best of Artemis, week ending 3rd April 2016

Here are the ten most popular news articles, week ending 3rd April 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.

Today we’ve published our our Q1 2016 catastrophe bond & ILS market report, reviewing a record first-quarter $2.215 billion of catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) issuance and looking at the market at the end of the first-quarter of 2016. Download a copy now.

Top ten most viewed articles on Artemis.bm, week ending 3rd April 2016:

1. Nephila Capital sees opportunities to grow asset base
   Nephila Capital, the world’s largest manager of catastrophe and weather insurance or reinsurance linked assets, sees opportunities emerging which will allow it to grow its asset base and accept new capital from third-party investors.

2. Sciemus to help alternative capital access emerging risks like cyber
   Sciemus, a specialist risk modelling and analytics firm for insurance and reinsurance markets, as well as the space, power, solar, cyber, mining and wind sectors, has adjusted its strategy as it sees an opportunity to help alternative reinsurance capital and ILS access new & emerging risks, such as cyber.

3. Alternative capital finding its most efficient home: Palmer, Swiss Re
   The expanding, reported $70 billion of alternative capital in the global reinsurance landscape is seeking out its most efficient home in the overall risk transfer industry, according to Andy Palmer, Vice President at reinsurance giant Swiss Re’s Capital Markets division.

4. Florida cat fund (FHCF) to test market for $1bn reinsurance renewal
   The Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (FHCF) is set to revisit the private reinsurance market in 2016, to test appetite and pricing for a potential renewal of its program which will likely repeat the $1 billion of placement of last year.

5. Stone Ridge ILS & reinsurance assets jump by 15% to $4.44 billion
   Stone Ridge Asset Management has continued its strong growth in its last reported quarter, with its insurance-linked securities (ILS) and reinsurance linked assets under management jumping 15% to an impressive $4.44 billion by 31st January 2016.

6. Watford Re adds U.S. based Watford Specialty Insurance Company
   Watford Re, the investment-oriented, total return reinsurance joint venture operated by Bermudian re/insurance group Arch Capital alongside asset manager Highbridge Principal Strategies, has launched a U.S. domiciled surplus lines insurer, Watford Specialty Insurance Company.

7. Rate tipping point slows ILS growth, but S&P wary on reinsurer discipline
   In a recent report on the global reinsurance sector, rating agency Standard & Poor’s discusses the slowdown in the growth of ILS capital, which it said is “not due to lack of interest from investors” but rather indicates a pricing tipping point, in some peril regions.

8. Markel CATCo raises another $10.9m for retro reinsurance fund
   Bermuda headquartered reinsurance and retrocession linked investment and fund manager Markel CATCo Investment Management Ltd. has raised another $10.9 million for the exchange listed CATCo Reinsurance Opportunities Fund Ltd.

9. State Farm completes private $300m Merna Re cat bond renewal
   U.S. primary insurer State Farm has confirmed its commitment to sourcing reinsurance through the ILS market with a privately placed renewal of a maturing catastrophe in the form of a Merna Re Ltd. (Series 2016-1) transaction.

10. Climate change raises questions about Flood Re funding: Fitch
    Uncertainty surrounding climate change and its influence on increased frequency and severity of extreme weather events raises questions about the funding adequacy of the UK’s government-backed reinsurance scheme Flood Re, according to Fitch Ratings.

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.

Get listed in our MarketView directory of professionals.

View the current breakdown of the market in our range of charts, allowing you to analyse the cat bond market.

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.