Markel CATCo Investment Management

Markel CATCo Investment Management acknowledged the delay to the buyout process for its retrocessional reinsurance investment funds this morning, but said that any challenges from investors would be vigorously defended against.

Activity surrounding the buyout terms proposed to investors in the Markel CATCo Investment Management retrocessional reinsurance investment funds looks set to drag on, after a court appearance in Bermuda ended with Markel agreeing to provide additional information to creditors, we understand.

Yesterday, a judge in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York granted Markel CATCo’s petition for Chapter 15 bankruptcy recognition and relief for the proposed buyout process for the final winding down of the CATCo retrocessional reinsurance funds.

Pension Insurance Corporation plc (PIC) has explained that it won’t accept the updated and improved buyout terms proposed to investors in the Markel CATCo Investment Management retrocessional reinsurance investment funds, calling the proposal “fundamentally flawed”.

Markel Corporation intends to continue to cede retrocessional reinsurance business to its Lodgepine Capital Management start-up retro ILS investment manager and expects the full retro book to transfer to the ILS model in time, Co-CEO Ritchie Whitt said today.

In the last quarter of record, revenues earned from its flagship insurance-linked securities (ILS) operation Nephila Capital rose for parent Markel Corporation, but assets under management at Nephila Capital declined heavily in Q3, dropping by $500 million to $9.3 billion by the end of September.

Investors in the Markel CATCo Investment Management retrocessional reinsurance investment funds now stand to receive as much as 18.5% more in capital return, on the back of the updated and improved buyout terms.

Markel CATCo Investment Management said this morning that it has received a “substantial level of investor support” for its proposed buyout transaction to speed the winding up of its retrocessional reinsurance investment funds and has updated the terms to be more favourable, in response to investor feedback it seems.

The CATCo Reinsurance Opportunities Fund Ltd., the listed, retrocession focused insurance-linked securities (ILS) fund strategy managed by Markel CATCo Investment Management, has again seen its net asset value (NAV) rise after another reduction in catastrophe loss reserves, this time from the 2018 California wildfires.

Pension Insurance Corporation plc (PIC) announced just now that it intends to try and put together an investor group to challenge retrocessional reinsurance investment manager Markel CATCo’s proposed buyout scheme, saying that it believes it will “drastically undervalue the interests of investors.”