Retrocession news

Allied World Assurance Company (AWAC) is another sponsor looking to upsize on its original ambitions, as the company is now seeking up to $275 million of reinsurance protection from its 2001 CAT Re Ltd. (Series 2023-1)  renewal transaction.

Investors in mutual insurance-linked securities (ILS) fund strategies operated by Stone Ridge Asset Management, the New York based asset manager with an alternative risk premia focus, will be delighted so far in 2023, as returns accelerate and reach over 40% year-to-date in the Stone Ridge interval ILS fund strategy.

AXA XL, the global specialty insurance and reinsurance unit of the AXA Group, is back in the catastrophe bond market for the first time since late 2019, seeking $250 million or more in protection with a new Galileo Re Ltd. (Series 2023-1) issuance, that features a reduced range of perils to its recent deals and […]

Ardonagh Specialty has appointed Jonathan Marsh as its new Deputy CEO of Bermuda and also the Global Head of Retro broking at dedicated reinsurance arm Inver Re.

Having significantly increased the amount of risk it cedes to retrocession partners at the start of this year, Hannover Re is now looking at the flexibility it has in the retro program and may opt to cede less to proportional retrocession partners next year, one of its Board Members said today.

In reporting its third-quarter results this morning, the CEO of global reinsurance player Hannover Re has said that the company is “seeing a clear trend towards increasing frequency losses” especially from secondary peril events.

Reinsurance sidecar vehicles are in favour right now, with investors liking the certainty they provide in terms of duration and seeing them as an attractive way to capitalise on a hard reinsurance market that is of unknown duration, while the returns are clearly much-improved as the majority are pitching 20% plus returns.

K2 Advisors, the hedge fund focused investment management unit of Franklin Templeton, has raised its conviction on investing into insurance-linked securities (ILS) and reinsurance investments to “strongly overweight” saying it anticipates firm pricing conditions and despite some spread tightening in catastrophe bonds the yields remain attractive.

There is evidence from the third-quarter 2023 results of White Mountains that its re/insurer subsidiary Ark is starting to see increasingly significant benefits delivered by the $250 million Outrigger Re collateralized reinsurance sidecar that it launched at the end of 2022.

Private ILS funds that allocate to collateralised reinsurance instruments other than catastrophe bonds, are now accelerating their 2023 returns over the group of pure cat bond funds in the Eurekahedge ILS Advisers Index after September’s results.