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).
For under-pressure property insurers in the challenged Florida marketplace, achieving a full placement of their Florida-focused catastrophe reinsurance programs at the upcoming June 1 renewal season is set to be challenging, analysts at AM Best have said.
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Markel Corporation is now officially “off-risk” for property catastrophe reinsurance, as of the end of the first-quarter of 2022, according to its Co-CEO Richie Whitt.
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The current period of spread widening and uncertainty in the catastrophe bond market has been driven largely by external forces, rather than losses, according to Aon, leading the broker to suggest it will be “relatively short-lived.”
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With the CATCo retrocessional reinsurance investment funds buyout now completed, owner Markel and the remaining former-Markel CATCo team can concentrate on running-off the remainder of the portfolio, a process that could continue into 2023.
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Specialty insurance and reinsurance group Lancashire Holdings continued to grow strongly during the first-quarter of 2022, adding almost 35% in gross premiums written and also revealing a lower than anticipated ultimate net loss exposure to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
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Global insurance and reinsurance firm Everest Re continues to take steps to reduce its exposure to property catastrophe related volatility, with its writings of catastrophe excess-of-loss reinsurance business falling to just 16% of its first-quarter book.
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The Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis has now issued an official proclamation calling for a special legislative session, specifically to address issues the state is facing in the property insurance and reinsurance marketplace.
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Assets under management at Markel’s flagship insurance-linked securities (ILS) operation Nephila Capital declined slightly during the first-quarter of 2022, ending the period at $8.6 billion.
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The catastrophe bond market is seeing spreads widen for practically all new issuances, with market sources telling us about a mismatch, on multiple counts, that has the effect of driving prices higher, and is also sending broader signals on the potential trajectory for catastrophe reinsurance rates at the mid-year renewals.
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Vantage Risk Ltd., the still relatively young Bermuda headquartered insurance and reinsurance company, has now secured its latest Vista Re Ltd. (Series 2022-1) catastrophe bond arrangement at the targeted $65 million size, but with pricing eventually fixed roughly 15% above the initial mid-point of guidance.
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