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).
Hannover Re is anticipating a roughly EUR 230 million recovery from its retrocessional reinsurance to support its losses from the Los Angeles wildfires, with the majority of that expected to come from the proportional K-Cessions quota share sidecar, Sven Althoff, Member of the Executive Board for Property & Casualty (P&C) said this morning.
Read the full article
Robust catastrophe bond issuance in the first and now second quarter of 2025 seems to have taken some of the excess cash out of the market, leading to a little more firmness in pricing of late, K2 Advisors, the hedge fund focused investment management unit of Franklin Templeton has noted.
Read the full article
White Mountains reported that in the first-quarter of 2025 its investment into the Outrigger Re collateralized reinsurance sidecar, that supports its property and casualty insurance and reinsurance subsidiary Ark, was impacted by the California wildfires which contributed to a loss for the sidecar and an elevated 166% combined ratio for the period.
Read the full article
Hong Kong’s Insurance Authority (IA) has welcomed the recent issuance of the latest catastrophe bond sponsored by Peak Re, the US $50 million Black Kite Re Limited (Series 2025-1) transaction, while also noting that the deal represents a sign of the maturity under its insurance-linked securities (ILS) regulatory regime.
Read the full article
Fidelis Insurance has returned to the catastrophe bond market with an initial $75 million target to renew one of its maturing and also recently loss-affected sources of worldwide aggregate retrocession through a Herbie Re Ltd. (Series 2025-1) cat bond issuance, Artemis has learned.
Read the full article
Hannover Re is back in the catastrophe bond market with an initial target to secure $100 million or more in retrocession covering US and North American peak perils on an industry-loss basis, from a 3264 Re Ltd. (Series 2025-2) transaction that is now in the market and being offered to investors, Artemis can report.
Read the full article
Peak Re has hailed the structure of its latest catastrophe bond issuance, the $50 million Black Kite Re Limited (Series 2025-1) transaction, a move that the company’s CEO says reflects the firm’s broader mission to address Asia’s evolving catastrophe risks while fostering sustainable growth across the Asia-Pacific region.
Read the full article
March 2025 was a positive month for the insurance-linked securities (ILS) fund sector, with a strong 0.82% average return across the sector according to the ILS Advisers Fund Index.
Read the full article
Peak Re has now successfully priced its second catastrophe bond with the Black Kite Re Limited (Series 2025-1) issuance set to provide the targeted $50 million of retrocession across Japanese typhoon and earthquake risks on an industry-loss basis, as well as China and India earthquakes using a parametric trigger.
Read the full article
Hannover Re’s insurance-linked securities (ILS) market facilitation activities continued to expand in 2024, with the number of collateralised reinsurance participations fronted for investors rising, while its catastrophe bond fronting also grew to a new record level.
Read the full article
