Retrocession news

Artemis has learned that Alex Mican, the Head of PCS Global Strategy and Growth at Verisk Claims, is departing the company.

K2 Advisors, the hedge fund focused investment management unit of Franklin Templeton, continues to overweight most insurance-linked securities (ILS), but in its outlook for 2025 notes that meaningful catastrophe bond issuance is required to absorb cash in the marketplace.

White Mountains has reported that for full year 2024, its investment into the Outrigger Re collateralized reinsurance sidecar, which supports its property and casualty insurance and reinsurance subsidiary Ark, delivered income of $46 million, down 33% on 2023 as catastrophe losses had a far greater impact.

Global reinsurer Hannover Re increased its natural catastrophe retrocession protections at the January 1st, 2025, reinsurance renewals by EUR 100 million to a little more than EUR 1.2 billion, with growth in the aggregate excess of loss and whole account excess of loss covers more than offsetting a reduced K-Cessions sidecar for the year.

PartnerRe, the Bermuda headquartered reinsurance company, has promoted insurance and reinsurance industry veteran Zino Theokli to Head of Group Retrocession.

SCOR has reported more competitive market conditions at the January reinsurance renewals, with increased capital supply the main driver, leading it to stay disciplined in property catastrophe risks, where it noted premiums were flat, but its net exposure slightly higher after the contract signings.

According to Gallagher Re, reinsurers within the EMEA regions looked to obtain growth across Europe at the key 1/1 renewals, with many offering more capacity as they aimed to achieve their growth mandates which came almost exclusively from incumbent reinsurers, in part empowered with ILS-fueled new sidecar capacity. 

Private ILS funds outpaced pure catastrophe bond funds in the full-year performance of the Eurekahedge ILS Advisers Index, while the average return across all of the insurance-linked securities (ILS) fund strategies tracked was 13.10% for 2024.

Hiscox Group is back in the catastrophe bond market seeking $200 million in retrocessional North American peak peril reinsurance protection from the capital markets with an Ocelot Re Ltd. (Series 2025-1) issuance, Artemis can report.

Signal Iduna Reinsurance Ltd. (SI Re), the Swiss based reinsurer, has reported that while the reinsurance industry experienced an orderly renewal season in January, the strong performance of the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market helped to reopen the retrocession market during the key renewals.