Insurance

Record first-quarter issuance of new catastrophe bonds and related insurance-linked securities (ILS) resulted in over $5 billion of risk capital coming to market as 2020 got off to a rapid start, driving the outstanding market to a new high according to the latest report and data from Artemis. Our latest quarterly report on the catastrophe…

Reinsurance rates rose by as much as 50% at the 1.4 April reinsurance renewals according to Willis Re, but the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market is reported to have deployed slightly less capacity as some ILS funds dealt with redemption requests. The Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic escalated right as the April reinsurance renewals reached their critical point…

Global reinsurance giant Munich Re has become the first major player to withdraw its stated profit guidance for 2020, as it revealed a “considerable claims burden” caused by losses from the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. Munich Re’s CEO Joachim Wenning had confidently set out a profit target of €2.8bn for 2020 as recently as late February,…

Plaintiff attorneys believe there are a number of legal precedents that could mean insurers end up taking more business interruption claims from the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic than initially thought, which analysts say suggests a rising risk of the impact being greater than anticipated. As we explained last week, legal actions seeking to allow businesses and…

For the property reinsurance marketplace, the impacts of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic are expected to be largely driven by macro-economic factors, although some specific contracts could be at-risk of legislative efforts around inclusions, according to Aon. In a client briefing seen by Artemis, Aon explains that property reinsurance contracts would be largely expected to follow…

Reinsurance broker Willis Re has promoted Charlie Rumball, currently of its Bermuda specialty and retrocession broking team, to the role of Head of Speciality – North America. Rumball had previously been the head of Specialty Reinsurance at Ariel Re, before joining Willis Re in 2018. Based in Bermuda, Rumball has been working across specialty reinsurance…

The rapid growth of mortgage insurance-linked securities (ILS) issuance witnessed over the past five years is expected to slow as a result of uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, according to analysts at Credit Suisse. Since the introduction of the first deal in 2015, the $298.89 million Bellemeade Re Ltd. (Series 2015-1) transaction from…

Pandemic protection. Is it included, excluded, or even mentioned in a policy or program? Even if it is, is the coverage responsive enough to really help the protection buyer, or should parametric solutions be looked at? If so, how to ensure they are robust? At a time when interest in pandemic insurance, reinsurance and retrocessional…

Insurance and reinsurance market losses from a severe east coast low that struck Australia at the beginning of February are estimated to be A$794 million, according to PERILS AG. Sydney flooding image from ABC News’ Oscar Coleman. As we explained yesterday, the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) pegged the losses from this latest catastrophe to…