Catastrophe bonds and insurance-linked securities news

Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. is set to place less emphasis on its secondary catastrophe bond and ILS trading desk, while increasing its focus on other services it provides to the ILS market, from financing to prime brokerage.

Despite the increased maturity of the insurance-linked securities (ILS) and catastrophe bond market and the growing sophistication of its investor base, the disclosure of risk analysis in the offering document continues to add value, according to a panel of industry experts at SIFMA.

Hannover Re increased the volume of ILS and collateralised reinsurance business that it acted as a fronting or transformation service provide for in 2015, saying that this activity is expected to deliver a positive and rising contribution to profits in the future.

Investors in the insurance-linked securities (ILS) space would benefit from improved, and more timely, disclosure of loss information relating to aggregate reinsurance transactions, according to speakers at SIFMA.

Japanese primary insurance group Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Insurance is returning to the capital market in search of an expanded source of reinsurance protection for losses caused by Japan typhoons with a $175m Aozora Re Ltd. (Series 2016-1) catastrophe bond.

The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA), the residual market or last-resort property insurer for Texas, is planning to reset its Alamo Re catastrophe bonds to fit within its 2016 program, as it plans an increase in its reinsurance retention.

Pool Re, the UK’s government backed mutual terrorism reinsurer, has not yet included any ILS fund capacity or collateralised reinsurance within its retrocession program, which grew to £1.95 billion this year, but told Artemis that it remains open to including capital markets coverage in future.

London headquartered specialist insurance linked securities (ILS) and reinsurance investments manager Securis Investment Partners has launched the Securis Catastrophe Bond Fund, a sub-fund of Northill Global Funds ICAV.

According to an update from the Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX) a $50.2m private catastrophe bond transaction issued through the Kane SAC Limited Note Program was redeemed early in January and has now been delisted from the exchange.

Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc., Florida headquartered parent to Heritage Property & Casualty Insurance, has reduced its reliance on using the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (FHCF) thanks to the successful completion of its latest catastrophe bond, Citrus Re Ltd. (Series 2016-1).