Industry loss warranty news

The continued loss creep that has affected reinsurance markets this year has hit the listed retrocessional reinsurance investment fund operated by Markel CATCo Investment Management, resulting in a decline of -18% in both share classes of the ILS fund in May.

PERILS AG, the Zurich headquartered provider of catastrophe loss data and indices, has announced that it has acquired Canadian loss and exposure data firm Catastrophe Indices & Quantification Inc. (CatIQ).

Reported claims figures for the typhoons and extreme rainfall event that struck Japan last year have risen significantly, with the latest figures from the General Insurance Association of Japan (GIAJ) totalling over US $14.5 billion.

Markel CATCo Investment Management has increased its specific loss reserves for catastrophe events from both 2017 and 2018 again, further denting the net asset values of the shares of its CATCo Reinsurance Opportunities Fund.

The insurance and reinsurance industry wide loss from Japanese typhoon Jebi looks destined to rise even further, with analysts saying that industry participants they met with recently in Bermuda have suggested the loss may settle at between $15 billion to as much as $16 billion.

Property Claim Services (PCS) industry loss data aggregation and index reporting services for non-marine catastrophe losses in Japan has already been used for an industry loss warranty (ILW).

The CATCo Reinsurance Opportunities Fund, Markel CATCo Investment Management’s stock exchange listed retrocession focused investment fund, has experienced a second consecutive month of positive returns for April, but the shares are still discounted well below the latest NAV’s.

The Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) has authorised the first licence for its insurance regulatory sandbox, giving it to Akinova, the start-up aiming to launch a marketplace for the transfer and trading of insurance or reinsurance risks.

The industry loss warranty (ILW) market offers an attractive investment opportunity at this point in time, as market dynamics have reduced available capacity, meaning fewer coverage providers exist right now and ILW returns are on the rise.

Global reinsurance firm Swiss Re strengthened its typhoon Jebi loss reserves in the last quarter and the firms CFO John Dacey said that the company puts the industry loss from the storm at close to $13 billion now.