Markel Corporation is now officially “off-risk” for property catastrophe reinsurance, as of the end of the first-quarter of 2022, according to its Co-CEO Richie Whitt.

Insurance and reinsurance broking group Aon has benefited from the strong levels of activity in the catastrophe bond and related insurance-linked securities (ILS) market in the first-quarter of 2022, with revenues soaring.

The current period of spread widening and uncertainty in the catastrophe bond market has been driven largely by external forces, rather than losses, according to Aon, leading the broker to suggest it will be “relatively short-lived.”

Universal Insurance Holdings, the Florida headquartered primary insurance carrier, has continued to prune its portfolio, shedding policies as it looks to combat the challenges of the Florida property insurance market, the effects of catastrophes and weather losses.

Alternative reinsurance capital levels, largely in insurance-linked securities (ILS) formats, declined very slightly in the second-half of 2021, with broking giant Aon estimating it fell to $96 billion by the end of the year.

The target issuance size for the latest catastrophe bond from U.S. primary mutual insurer USAA has been lifted to $415 million, while at the same time the pricing for all four of the remaining tranches of the Residential Reinsurance 2022 Limited (Series 2022-1) deal now look likely to settle at the top of raised guidance.

Youssef Sfaif, a Director of Credit and Insurance Linked Investments at significant insurance-linked securities (ILS) sector pension investor PGGM, is departing from the allocator to join an in-house ILS platform owned by a major reinsurer, Artemis has learned.

With the CATCo retrocessional reinsurance investment funds buyout now completed, owner Markel and the remaining former-Markel CATCo team can concentrate on running-off the remainder of the portfolio, a process that could continue into 2023.