ILS funds news, insurance linked securities or ILS fund news

The UK’s top regulator, the Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA) of the Bank of England, has updated its policy related to the insurance special purpose vehicle (iSPV) structure, in another set of changes designed to evolve and improve the UK insurance-linked securities (ILS) regime.

Ahead of a difficult renewal period that looks set to be defined by a shortage of retrocessional reinsurance capacity, it’s clear that the alternative capital space needs to evolve, and yet the conditions providing the impetus may also prevent it from doing so.

RenaissanceRe (RenRe), the Bermuda-headquartered reinsurance and third-party capital management specialist, has secured AM Best ratings for the two reinsurers it had established for its Fontana Holdings third-party capitalised casualty and specialty reinsurance focused joint venture.

Eclipse Re Ltd., a private syndicated collateralised reinsurance note, private catastrophe bond issuance and reinsurance transformer platform owned and operated by Artex Capital Solutions, has listed three more private cat bond issues totalling roughly $29.54 million of notes in Bermuda.

The current re/insurance market dislocation provides a unique opportunity for the insurance-linked securities (ILS) space to influence the development of a more sustainable industry for the benefit of all parties, according to Kathleen Faries, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Artex Capital Solutions.

For industry loss warranty (ILW) markets opportunities are plentiful heading into 2023, but it’s up to the industry to take advantage of it as more concepts are expected to continue to gain traction, according to Tom Johansmeyer, Head of PCS, Verisk Insurance Solutions.

Hurricane Ian is seen as an additional catalyst for hardening reinsurance rates, by global giant Swiss Re, who warns that its impact “will extend beyond Florida and add to pre-existing drivers of rate increases such as claims inflation.”

The Arkansas Teacher Retirement System, a state pension fund that provides retirement solutions to Arkansas education professionals, saw its insurance-linked securities (ILS) allocation shrink further in the last year, while the impacts of hurricane Ian also appear evident in the performance of its ILS portfolio.

From January 1st 2023, specialty insurance and reinsurance underwriter Beazley’s Smart Tracker special purpose arrangement (SPA) syndicate 5623 will now become a full market-facing syndicate at Lloyd’s.

The California Earthquake Authority (CEA) was unable to fully renew all of its expiring reinsurance at October 1st resulting in a further shrinking of its risk transfer program and now the CEA is unsure whether it can renew all its expiring limit at the January 1st 2023 renewal as well.