Reinsurance News

The performance of the Mercury investible Catastrophe Risk Index (or MiCRIX for short) demonstrates that stable and attractive returns are possible by investing purely in industry-loss warranty (ILW) instruments, according to Mercury Capital Ltd. CEO Charlie Griffiths.

Greenlight Re, the Cayman Islands and Ireland based investment-oriented reinsurance firm which is backed by hedge fund manager David Einhorn, is looking for risk sourcing opportunities in Europe and Asia, striking a partnership to help it expand.

The recent devastating flooding that struck the state of Louisiana in August are estimated to have caused an economic loss of between $10 billion and $15 billion, with public and private insurance or reinsurance likely to pick up a bill in the “low-digit single billions (USD)”, according to Aon.

Gross insurance industry losses from the recent M6.2 earthquake in Umbria, Italy are not expected to exceed EUR200 million, according to rating agency Standard & Poor’s, which believes that the low levels of insurance penetration in the region will keep losses down.

A catastrophe swap software platform based on the blockchain is ready for use, according to the developer of the technology which featured in the pilot catastrophe swap undertaken between Allianz and Nephila Capital recently, Symbiont.

Recent hurricane Hermine is not expected to pose any problems for the insurance, reinsurance and insurance-linked securities market, with insured losses expected to be relatively low and no chance of catastrophe bonds being exposed, according to Fitch Ratings.

The 20 largest European cedants are making the most of the softening reinsurance market cycle and the abundance of traditional and alternative reinsurance capital, according to A.M. Best.

Despite the signs that pricing pressure is easing across global property catastrophe reinsurance pricing, it is still “too early to call the bottom” of the pricing cycle at this time, according to rating agency Moody’s Investors Service.

JLT Re, global reinsurance broking and consultancy services provider, has appointed Matthew Carter as a Partner in its London Market & International Division, to lead structured and non-traditional reinsurance activities in the UK and Europe.

The realistic or underlying return on equity (RoE) of a group of reinsurance firms tracked by Willis Re fell to 4.5% in the first-half of 2016, as higher natural catastrophe losses and ongoing competitive threats continue to erode reinsurer profits.