Insurance Linked Investments

Global insurance and reinsurance group Markel Corporation has hired Julia Chu from broker Guy Carpenter to take responsibility for its reinsurance buying, as she takes on the newly created role of Chief Global Ceded Reinsurance Officer.

New Paradigm Underwriters, the Florida based parametric specialist managing general agency that sells parametric insurance and reinsurance products, which are at times backed by ILS capital, has announced a new hire, as Evan D. Bull joins the firm as Executive Vice President.

Securis Investment Partners LLP, the London based ILS investment manager, has entered into a new arrangement with property, casualty and specialty lines insurance company StarStone which will see Securis better accessing risks from primary catastrophe insurance.

Commercial property insurance rates in the U.S. began to respond to the catastrophe loss events of 2017 in the fourth-quarter of the year, according to Willis Towers Watson, but with rates only seen to increase by single-digits it’s likely this was a worse response than had been hoped for.

While 2017 with its major catastrophe loss events resulted in significant impacts to reinsurance and retrocession providers, the experience served to, “demonstrate the importance of the global reinsurance market and highlight the ability of collateralized vehicles… to respond to global catastrophic risk,” according to Markel CATCo.

According to Artemis’ sources, mortgage insurance firm Essent Guaranty is nearing completion of a first mortgage insurance-linked securities (ILS) transaction, as it seeks capital markets support for its mortgage insurance portfolio, in a deal said to be likely to secure it $360.75 million of collateralized reinsurance capacity.

Insurance and reinsurance brokerage Willis Towers Watson (WTW) has today announced the launch of the Global Ecosystem Resilience Facility, an insurance facility designed to help strengthen the resilience of ecosystems and their communities, through the use of efficient risk transfer where catastrophe bonds may feature.

Securis Investment Partners, London-headquartered but globally active insurance-linked securities (ILS) and reinsurance-linked investments manager, has hired Simon Arnott for a Bermuda-based role focused on origination of risk opportunities.

The insurance-linked securities (ILS) and catastrophe bond market, as well as wider alternative reinsurance capital structures, proved themselves resilient in 2017 positioning them for further growth, according to SIFMA’s Randy Snook.

Danish registered insurance company Alpha Insurance A/S (Alpha) has been placed into solvent liquidation and told to stop underwriting, placing its portfolio into run-off, with the circumstances highlighting what could have been a risk for a €20 million private insurance debt transaction between it and investment manager Twelve Capital.