Insurance

Global insured natural catastrophe losses rose to over $30 billion for the first-half of the year, as the insurance, reinsurance and insurance-linked securities (ILS) market supported roughly 40% of the estimated $75 billion of economic losses driven by events around the world in H1 2020, according to Aon. The $30 billion plus insured loss estimate…

The past few months have provided unprecedented challenges for all areas of the global financial markets, but for insurance-linked securities (ILS) players, the ongoing desire for un-correlated assets presents a great opportunity, according to industry experts. On the final day of our virtual ILS Asia 2020 conference, leaders and experts from across the ILS and…

Australia headquartered global insurance and reinsurance group QBE has revealed an expectation of a US $750 million loss for the first-half of 2020, as its catastrophe losses came in over budget and it forecast a $335 million hit from Covid-19 in the period. Overall, QBE forecast its total losses from the Covid-19 pandemic as being…

FedNat Holding Company, the U.S. primary insurance carrier group, has bolstered its reinsurance program for the 2020-2021 season, adding coverage to reduce its second and third event retentions, plus a non-Florida quota share and a Florida specific quota share with Swiss Re. FedNat had secured a catastrophe excess of loss reinsurance program covering it on…

With reinsurance pricing firming broadly and expected to continue to do so, one of the dynamics we expect to see in the marketplace is increasing competition, as the improved rate environment attracts some underwriters back to the market. Case in point W. R. Berkley, whose appetite for reinsurance underwriting has diminished over the last decade…

The Alturas Re Ltd. collateralised reinsurance sidecar vehicle of global specialist re/insurer AXIS Capital has completed a new issuance of 3,628 preferred shares, meaning options for third-party investors to access the returns of AXIS’ underwriting business seemingly expand. AXIS has been expanding its insurance-linked securities (ILS) activities, particularly in private quota shares in recent years.…

The UK market for longevity risk transfer and reinsurance has remained resilient during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Prudential Retirement, a business unit of Prudential Financial, Inc., which has closed $1.7 billion of longevity reinsurance deals in the first-half of this year. Prudential has highlighted the growing number of smaller pension risk transfer transactions in…

The alternative, or third-party reinsurance capital market, has permanently altered the structure of reinsurers and will continue to do so moving forward, according to Dr. Morton Lane, President, Lane Financial LLC, and Director, The University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. During the penultimate day of the virtual Artemis ILS Asia 2020 conference, Lane delivered an insightful…

Reinsurance market price rises are expected to catch-up to the levels seen across primary and retrocession markets in recent months, flattening out the u-shaped marketplace and providing greater opportunities for underwriters and ILS investors to enhance their returns. Analysts have already called for the u-shaped market to have flattened out in Florida, after the 6/1…