Best of Artemis, week ending 7th January 2018

Here are the ten most popular news articles, week ending 7th January 2018, 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 7th January 2018:

1. $12.6bn of catastrophe bonds in 2017 take market to new $31bn high
   Full-year 2017 catastrophe bond issuance reached a record at $12.56 billion, the first double-digit year, while catastrophe bond risk capital outstanding ended the period at a new all-time-high of $31.06 billion, according to our latest data from the Artemis Deal Directory & Dashboard.

2. Capital curtails 1/1 renewal rate rises, disappointing reinsurers: Willis Re
   The availability of risk capital has curtailed reinsurance renewal rate rises at the key January 1st 2018 contract signings, with global property catastrophe and risk programs only seeing average risk adjusted price rises of 0% to 7.5%, according to broker Willis Re.

3. Stone Ridge reinsurance fund assets stable despite $1bn loss pay-out
   In the last reported quarter to October 31st 2017 insurance-linked securities (ILS) and reinsurance linked asset growth at investment manager Stone Ridge Asset Management’s mutual ILS funds fell to its slowest ever rate, as around $1 billion of catastrophe losses and mark-downs reduced the value of many ILS investment positions.

4. Decoupling of reinsurance pricing and risk “less than ideal” – KBW
   The decoupling of reinsurance pricing and expected reinsurance losses is “a less-than-ideal business model” according to analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, who feel that price hikes tend to be a reaction to losses, rather than being commensurate with a changing view of risk.

5. Armour gets $500m Aquiline-led investment, Validus participates
   Bermuda-headquartered P&C legacy and run-off reinsurance specialist, as well as founders of ILS Investment Management (ILSIM), Armour Group has raised a $500 million investment round led by private-equity specialists Aquiline Capital Partners to fund further growth.

6. JLT Re’s property catastrophe rate-on-line index rises 4.8% at Jan 2018
   Reinsurance broker JLT Re reports that “selective firming” was seen in global property catastrophe reinsurance rates at the January 1st 2018 renewals, helping the firms Risk-Adjusted Global Property-Catastrophe Reinsurance Rate-On-Line Index to a 4.8% rise, the first increase since 2011/12.

7. Alternative capital & ILS has “proof of concept” – KBW
   The use of alternative capital and insurance-linked securities (ILS) in the reinsurance market has had its “proof of concept” moment, as following the losses the market continues to function as intended, investors seem comfortable with their exposure and many are planning to reload or upsize allocations to the space.

8. Insured catastrophe losses hit record $135bn in 2017: Munich Re
   Reinsurance giant Munich Re said that natural catastrophe events in 2017 have caused record insurance and reinsurance market losses, with the total industry bill estimated at $135 billion, but insurance only covered 41% of the damage as the economic loss from 2017 disasters is pegged at $330 billion.

9. Windstorm Burglind (Eleanor) could cause EUR500m loss: Actuaries
   European windstorm Burglind, or storm Eleanor as it was named in the United Kingdom, will probably cause an insurance and reinsurance industry-wide loss of around EUR 500 million, with EUR 200 million+ of losses expected for German insurers alone, according to actuarial firm Meyerthole Siems Kohlruss (MSK) .

10. Neon’s UK ILS vehicle NCM Re enters into $72m syndicate quota-share
    The first insurance-linked securities vehicle to be approved and launched in the UK, the NCM Re (UK PCC) Ltd vehicle from specialist Lloyd’s and Bermuda insurance and reinsurance company Neon Underwriting, has successfully completed the first UK ILS transaction, entering into a $72 million quota-share with Neon’s Syndicate 2468.

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 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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