Catastrophe bond news

Here are the ten most popular news articles, week ending 2nd October 2016, covering catastrophe bonds, ILS, reinsurance capital and related risk transfer topics. To ensure you never miss a thing subscribe to the weekly Artemis email newsletter updates.

Being able to successfully attract and deploy alternative reinsurance capital can provide reinsurers with some potentially invaluable cost reductions and broader market efficiencies, according to global reinsurance broker Aon Benfield.

Beta and alternative risk focused mutual fund manager Stone Ridge Asset Management has further increased its insurance and reinsurance linked assets under management, coming very close to the $5 billion mark, reporting $4.95 billion of ILS assets at July 31st 2016.

According to risk modelling firm AIR Worldwide, typhoon Meranti’s impact on mainland China could have resulted in insurance and perhaps reinsurance industry losses of up to $1.15 billion, the firm estimates.

AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM), the global asset management unit of AXA Group, has announced two new hires for its insurance-linked securities (ILS)  and reinsurance linked investment and fund management team, adding a portfolio manager and an analyst.

In the last reported quarter U.S. mutual fund manager Pioneer Investments has grown its interval style insurance-linked securities and reinsurance linked investment fund, the Pioneer ILS Interval Fund, by another 28% to reach almost $142m of ILS assets under management.

Following meetings with re/insurance industry observers and experts in Monte Carlo recently, analysts at J.P. Morgan have warned that any hike in risk free rates, while unlikely, could lead to further deterioration of reinsurers’ RoEs.

In order for the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market to continue to grow at the pace it’s been accustomed to, it will need to expand and diversify into new peril regions via innovation, according to industry leaders.

The California Earthquake Association (CEA), the non-profit provider of over 76% of residential earthquake insurance policies in California, has reported a significant increase in policy uptake in 2016, which the CEO told Artemis will mean more risk transfer will likely be required.

Michael Stahel, Partner and Portfolio Manager at LGT ILS Partners describes how tearing down the wall between the reinsurance and capital markets has fundamentally altered the reinsurance cycle.