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).
In announcing new targets and a refreshed strategy today, Swiss Re, one of the world’s largest reinsurance companies, has highlighted the role of third-party capital investors in helping to fuel its expansion into natural catastrophe risks over recent years, while also maintaining balanced exposure.
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The insurance-linked securities (ILS) fund sector has delivered its strongest October returns on-record in 2025, as the group of ILS funds tracked by the ILS Advisers Fund Index reported an average performance for the month of 1.44%.
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PGGM, the Dutch pension fund investor that invests in insurance-linked securities and reinsurance on behalf of its end-client Dutch pension PFZW, has revealed a meaningful increase in the target allocation size for its investment into the PartnerRe operated Huygens sidecar structure.
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Mapfre Re’s second successful sponsorship of a 144A catastrophe bond and the fact the Recoletos Re DAC (Series 2025-1) deal upsized to provide €125 million of annual aggregate European windstorm retrocession demonstrates the cat bond market’s confidence in the reinsurance company, CEO Miguel Rosa said this morning.
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Hannover Re is back in the catastrophe bond market looking to bolster its North American peak peril retrocession through a new 3264 Re Ltd. (Series 2025-3) issuance that has an initial target of $200 million and one tranche of which utilises a multi-section approach to provide targeted protection, Artemis can report.
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Mapfre Re has successfully priced its second 144A catastrophe bond, securing the upsized €125 million of annual aggregate European windstorm retrocession through the Recoletos Re DAC (Series 2025-1) issuance, while the spread was finalised at the low-end of reduced guidance, Artemis understands.
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OAK Global has launched a retrocession division OAK Enterprise, that will underwrite through new Lloyd’s Syndicate 1440 from January 1 2026. The syndicate has been backed by a range of investors and we understand from sources that at least one of these has funded its commitments through the Lloyd’s ILS structure London Bridge.
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Spain headquartered global reinsurance company Mapfre Re has returned to the catastrophe bond market for its second visit, looking to secure €125 million in annual aggregate European windstorm retrocession deal through its second Recoletos Re DAC (Series 2025-1) issuance, Artemis has learned.
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AXA XL, the global specialty insurance and reinsurance arm of the AXA Group, has returned to the catastrophe bond market seeking $175 million or more of industry loss based retrocessional protection with a new Galileo Re Ltd. (Series 2025-1) issuance, as the company demonstrates a desire to secure more capital markets backed cover.
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Major reinsurance firms are guiding to triple digit millions of Euros in losses from recent major hurricane Melissa, as these global giants demonstrate that they have meaningful shares of the market’s exposure to catastrophe events in the Caribbean. It’s impossible to say for certain, but any loss in the hundreds of millions could see some […]
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