Commenting on the completion of a recent landmark parametric earthquake catastrophe bond, issued for the benefit of an asset manager focused on mortgage investing, Swiss Re CEO Christian Mumenthaler explained why he sees this kind of transaction as important.

The ongoing outbreak of bushfires in Australia are now said to be the costliest example from an insurance and reinsurance market loss perspective, as the latest data shows losses reached A$1.65 billion (US $1.13bn).

Significant issuance of property catastrophe bonds is expected in 2020, with a large amount of maturities likely to drive renewal issues, according to broker Aon.

U.S. primary insurer Travelers has renewed some of its core catastrophe reinsurance treaties at the January 2020 renewals and its aggregate coverage has changed significantly, with the insurer set to retain a far greater share of its losses this year.

Nephila Capital, the largest manager of mainly catastrophe and weather insurance linked securities and reinsurance linked assets, has lined up as one of the reinsurers supporting a technology-led cyber insurance company named Cowbell Cyber, signalling a step in the direction of specialty lines underwriting.

The number of special purpose insurers (SPI’s) registered in Bermuda fell in 2019, in-line with activity in the insurance-linked securities (ILS) sector. But overall new licenses for ILS related vehicles remained very strong.

Three tranches of catastrophe bonds exposed to Japanese typhoon wind damage have traded up around 10% in recent weeks, as the market’s view of how large the eventual industry losses from typhoon Jebi and Hagibis will be has moderated somewhat.

Insurance and perhaps reinsurance industry losses from the recent severe hail storm outbreaks across southeastern Australia have risen again, jumping another 26% to hit A$514 million (around US $355m) in the last day.