All of our news and analysis on the retrocessional reinsurance marketplace.
Retrocession is effectively reinsurance for reinsurers, so a tertiary layer of risk transfer away from the original risk, if you consider primary, reinsurance and then retrocession.
As reinsurance is insurance for insurers, retrocessional, or retro, protection is reinsurance for reinsurers.
The retrocession reinsurance market has increasingly come to depend on the capital markets and insurance-linked securities (ILS).
As of mid-year 2022, global retrocession capacity has been estimated to be as high as $60bn, around $20bn of which is indemnity based and the rest in other formats.
The alternative capital markets and ILS funds, or investors, play a significant role in global retrocession, as too do instruments such as catastrophe bonds and industry-loss warranties (ILW).
Markel CATCo Investment Management Ltd. has strengthened loss reserves considerably for its listed retrocessional reinsurance fund, the CATCo Reinsurance Opportunities Fund, bolstering the reserves for 2017 catastrophe losses by another 19.5% of net asset value.
Read the full article
The early indications on the upcoming mid-year June and July 2018 reinsurance renewals are that capital is being deployed “aggressively”, according to RenaissanceRe CEO Kevin O’Donnell, suggesting that any rate increases achieved may be dampened to a degree.
Read the full article
Bermudian reinsurance firm RenaissanceRe significantly increased its appetite to underwrite property catastrophe risks in the first-quarter, thanks to improved market conditions, but subsequently ceded more to third-party capital through its Upsilon RFO and DaVinciRe vehicles.
Read the full article
An increase in estimated losses from last year’s hurricane Irma has dented the first-quarter results of Blue Capital Reinsurance Holdings Ltd., but the manager of the vehicle is confident in the portfolio underwritten at renewals this year and expects higher rates to deliver stronger returns.
Read the full article
Reinsurance brokerage Guy Carpenter has announced the promotion of its Bermuda Head of Retrocession broking John Fletcher to become the new Chairman of its island operations, as well as the hiring of James Morris as SVP, who joins the broker from Aon Bermuda.
Read the full article
The continuing growth of the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market, the strong appetite being shown by catastrophe bond investors and the ongoing inflows of alternative capital from institutional investors into the reinsurance market, will limit rate increases at the mid-year 2018 renewals, KBW says.
Read the full article
Transatlantic Holdings, the parent to Transatlantic Reinsurance (or TransRe), is set to sponsor its first catastrophe bond transaction this year, with the launch to investors of a $200 million Bowline Re Ltd. (Series 2018-1) deal, that will provide the firm with collateralized multi-peril reinsurance coverage.
Read the full article
Financial services, insurance and reinsurance giant Markel Corporation has reported a significant 84% year-on-year jump in investment management fees generated by the reinsurance and retrocession linked ILS investment activities of its specialist manager Markel CATCo Investment Management.
Read the full article
Stock exchange listed ILS and collateralized reinsurance investment strategy the Blue Capital Alternative Income Fund, suffered a -2.62% loss in March 2018, as hurricane Irma loss estimates were increased by counterparties, a factor that has negatively affected a number of ILS funds for the month.
Read the full article
The first catastrophe bond in over a decade from Bermudian insurance and reinsurance group Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited looks set to increase in size by 50%, with the Kendall Re Ltd. (Series 2018-1) international multi-peril transaction now likely to secure the company $225 million of collateralized reinsurance protection.
Read the full article
