Catastrophe bonds and insurance-linked securities news

International ratings agency A.M. Best has highlighted the continued growth of the convergence space, stating that of the estimated $420 billion of dedicated reinsurance capacity at the end of 2016, $75 billion is from the convergence space.

The Gator Re Ltd. catastrophe bond notes have been marked down on the secondary market on a number of broker pricing sheets in recent days, as the expectation that the stricken cat bond will cause investor losses became apparent.

Twelve Capital, the Zurich headquartered specialist insurance and reinsurance linked investment and ILS fund manager, has completed a $19.5 million Dodeka XI private catastrophe bond issuance, its thirteenth cat bond lite transaction to date.

In a recent interview Artemis discussed the outlook for the insurance-linked securities (ILS), catastrophe bond, and the traditional reinsurance marketplace in 2017 with Gary Martucci, Director, Standard & Poor’s Global Insurance Ratings.

Alternative capital in the insurance and reinsurance market and across the range of insurance-linked securities (ILS) products reached a new high at $78 billion at the end of the third-quarter of 2016, according to Aon Benfield.

A new $86.5 million Seaside Re (Series 2017-1) private catastrophe bond, or cat bond lite, transaction, has been issued by German reinsurance firm Hannover Re’s segregated accounts vehicle, Kaith Re Ltd.

A new $187 million, three tranche, private catastrophe bond issuance has been completed in Resilience Re Ltd. (Series 1712) using the platform owned by insurance, reinsurance and capital markets broker and advisory Willis Towers Watson.

The market for insurance-linked securities (ILS) and catastrophe bonds saw “dramatic movement in pricing” in the fourth-quarter of 2016 as the January reinsurance renewals approached, with decreases as high as 30% seen that were partly responsible for triggering reinsurance softening.

Stephen Moss, Director of Capital Markets and Ben Brookes, Vice President (VP) of Capital Markets at catastrophe risk modelling firm RMS, in an interview with Artemis, recently discussed notable trends in the insurance-linked securities (ILS) space throughout 2016, and what might be in store for the market in the year ahead.

The Board of Florida Citizens Property Insurance has approved moving forward on the development of the company’s 2017 risk transfer program for its Coastal Account, and will utilise both the traditional reinsurance and capital markets to secure a diversified and efficient source of risk transfer.