Collateralized reinsurance news

In the ongoing court case that sees insurance and reinsurance broking giant Aon, via its White Rock SAC vehicle, pursuing beleaguered insurtech Vesttoo for reparations after letters of credit (LOCs) backing collateralized reinsurance deals were alleged to be fraudulent or forged, the broker is seeking a $136.7 million return of collateral.

A new statement from the incoming interim CEO of Vesttoo, Ami Barlev, claims that the company has now learned that “a number of factors, external to the company, led directly to the current crisis, including the involvement of certain foreign banks and financial institutions.”

Insurance and reinsurance broking giant Aon is pursuing beleaguered insurtech Vesttoo through a New York Court via its White Rock Insurance (SAC) Ltd. segregated account and transformer structure, and has so far secured a temporary restraining order to freeze Vesttoo’s funds.

In analysing US insurer filings for their use of letters of credit (LOCs) specifically from one of the banks at the centre of the Vesttoo linked collateral fraud story, ALIRT Insurance Research found more than $1.3 billion of them, but said it is hard to tell how much of that is associated with Vesttoo, or […]

ALIRT Insurance Research has concluded that, ultimately, all of the parties exposed to the alleged fraudulent LOC issue engulfing insurtech Vesttoo bear some responsibility, stating that it’s “difficult to fathom” that the fraud was “able to evade multiple levels of due diligence”.

One of the key drivers for some insurance-linked securities (ILS) funds in their strong recovery following September 2022’s hurricane Ian struck Florida is the fact many of the contracts they had written were at higher attachment points, and so have avoided losses.

The Board of Directors of under fire insurtech Vesttoo has announced the appointment of Ami Barlev as interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO), as Yaniv Bertele, one of its co-founders who served as CEO, is on paid leave as the alleged collateral fraud issue continues to be investigated.

Porch Group, a software driven financial services group with a homeowners insurance arm, has revealed exposure to reinsurance contracts arranged via Vesttoo and has realised a charge of $48.2 million in its second-quarter results because of this, while pursuing $300 million of collateral from a letter of credit (LOC).

Hiscox Group disclosed this morning that its Hiscox ILS insurance-linked securities (ILS) fund management unit experienced some further outflows in the last quarter, ending the half-year with total ILS assets of $1.7 billion.

The collateralized insurer class of company that was set up by under-pressure insurtech Vesttoo is now being liquidated, with the company stating that it has opted to focus its activities “on a limited number of high-quality and large markets.”