reinsurance

Everest Re, the Bermuda-headquartered global insurance and reinsurance firm, has said that it achieved what it sees as an “excellent outcome” from the January renewal season, with property a particular highlight.

In an interview with Artemis, specialist provider of software for cyber risk quantification for large industrial and critical infrastructure corporates, DeNexus, argues that a more granular approach to assessing cyber risk is needed to remove some of the guess work, which in turn will make investors more comfortable allocating capital.

Brookfield Reinsurance, the Bermuda-based reinsurance entity of Brookfield Asset Management Inc., the giant Canadian headquartered alternative asset manager, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire specialty re/insurer Argo Group International Holdings, Ltd. in an all-cash transaction valued at $1.1 billion.

Spreads in the catastrophe bond market, in terms of both new primary cat bond issuance and secondary marks, appear to have stabilised, signalling the market finding a new equilibrium at higher premiums, Plenum Investments has said.

French reinsurer SCOR’s asset management company, SCOR Investment Partners, has announced the expansion of one of its core insurance-linked securities (ILS) fund strategies, Atropos, with assets under management (AuM) now exceeding $2 billion.

During a January 1st renewal season the reinsurer describes as a very challenging market environment for all participants, Hannover Re secured an increase in natural catastrophe retrocession, including the expansion of its capital markets backed K-Cessions quota share sidecar facility of almost 85% to $831 million, the biggest it’s ever been.

Australian primary insurance group Suncorp has reported that its catastrophe losses from the first-half of its fiscal year have exceeded its budget, resulting in a $399 million erosion of its aggregate reinsurance deductible.

Independent investment management giant Cambridge Associates LLC is bullish on the outlook for insurance-linked securities (ILS) investing in 2023, believing the higher yields on offer provide a good return opportunity relative to risk. But they caution that investors should review the ILS asset class on a regular basis.

Global reinsurance company SCOR purchased less catastrophe retrocession at the renewals given its own property catastrophe book shrank again, but still the diversification between traditional and ILS market retro sources was a benefit, Jean-Paul Conoscente, CEO of SCOR Global P&C said today.

In reinsurance, the industry had softened its pricing to an unsustainable degree, resulting in a situation where margins for capital providers were thin to non-existent. But, recent moves in pricing, terms and conditions are an attempt to “balance things in favour of the reinsurers,” Aditya Dutt, President of Aeolus Capital Management explained.