Reinsurance News

Ariel Re Capital Partners (ARCP), the third-party capital management platform established by global reinsurance company Ariel Re in 2024, has now completed its first capital raise and utilised the Lloyd’s ILS transformer London Bridge 2 to channel the funding to its business.

Lloyd’s of London CFO Burkhard Keese is to depart the market to focus on investment roles in the German insurance sector, but he is set to remain a strategic advisor with a focus on developing the risk transfer vehicle London Bridge 2.

AXIS Capital, the Bermuda based specialty insurance and reinsurance company, reported a significant 39% increase in fee income generated from its work with third-party investors for full-year 2024.

With a widening crisis protection gap evident around the world there is a need for a transformational expansion in the use of insurance and reinsurance mechanisms to transfer risks to the capital markets, according to a report from the High-Level Panel on Closing the Crisis Protection Gap.

The Los Angeles, California wildfires are a tail event for the peril and will demonstrate the continued and growing relevance of reinsurance, according to RenaissanceRe CEO Kevin O’Donnell, who also explained today that “most of our US property catastrophe programs are loss impacted.”

Based on preliminary insured loss estimates, the reinsurance sector and its capital providers are expected to assume at least 30% of total insured losses from the Palisades and Eaton wildfires in Los Angeles, according to analysts at Moody’s.

Signal Iduna Reinsurance Ltd. (SI Re), the Swiss based reinsurer, has reported that while the reinsurance industry experienced an orderly renewal season in January, the strong performance of the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market helped to reopen the retrocession market during the key renewals.

Initial loss estimate announcements for the Los Angeles, California wildfires from Bermudian reinsurance firm RenaissanceRe and global re/insurer Chubb may raise some concerns, as RenRe based its estimate on a $50 billion industry loss event, while Chubb also seems to be working from a relatively high industry figure.

RenaissanceRe, the Bermuda based reinsurance company and third-party capital manager, has reported raising almost $238 million in additional third-party capital from investors for some of its ILS structures in time for the 1/1 renewal season, while over the course of 2024 investors benefited from strong earnings from joint-ventures and ILS funds.

According to independent insurance-linked securities (ILS) investment manager Euler ILS Partners, the Los Angeles, California wildfires could have a significant impact on US pricing, especially if insurance industry losses were to exceed $30 billion.