capital markets

Catastrophe bonds became more important for the reinsurance market in 2020, as the record year of issuance saw use of the cat bond as a reinsurance or retrocession risk transfer tool increase, Fitch Ratings has said.

For Lloyd’s, it’s important to “learn how to walk” first, as it gets up to speed with the new route for channelling investor funds to members of the market through its now approved multi-arrangement UK Insurance Special Purpose Vehicle (iSPV) before thinking about expanding the structures remit, according to CFO Burkhard Keese.

The approval and launch of Lloyd’s of London’s first insurance-linked securities (ILS) structure under the UK ILS regulations that came into force in late 2017 “reaffirms the ILS potential of the London Market”, according to Horseshoe CEO Andre Perez.

Lloyd’s has this morning announced that it has finally received all necessary approvals from regulators to set up its new multi Insurance Special Purpose Vehicle (mISPV), which is named London Bridge Risk PCC Ltd.

Hudson Structured Capital Management Ltd., the insurance-linked securities (ILS), reinsurance- and transportation- focused investment manager, has announced a key hire as Adrian Jones, formerly of SCOR, joins the firm.

Munich Re has now completed the usual two tranche issuance for the renewal of its fully collateralized reinsurance sidecar vehicle Eden Re II Ltd., with the amount of capital backing the sidecar for 2021 down some 18% at $235 million.

Howden Group, the insurance and reinsurance group with both broking and underwriting at its heart, continues to blur lines, with its latest initiative being the establishment of a capacity vehicle that has third-party capital backing from an investor and will channel reinsurance underwriting capital to its DUAL MGA group.

As a group, the assets under management of the top-tier of insurance-linked securities (ILS) investment fund managers had increased through the second-half of 2020, Artemis’ data shows.

Insurers operating in the Asia Pacific region need increasing amounts of reinsurance protection following a series of costly catastrophe years and the COVID-19 pandemic, but they should look broadly at both traditional and alternative forms to secure the most efficient protection in the hardening market environment, according to rating agency S&P.

Trapped capital is expected to remain and pose an ongoing challenge for some investors and managers from across the insurance-linked securities (ILS) space, according to executives at Willis Re, the reinsurance arm of broker Willis Towers Watson (WTW).