Trading Risk June 2017

Despite a softer-than-expected 1 June Florida renewal, hedging activity in the industry loss warranty (ILW) market has been slow, with buyers holding back amid a glut of capacity, sources said.

Swiss Re has bolstered its retro support from the Sector Re sidecar by around $100mn in the past year to take the vehicle's total capacity to $492mn, Trading Risk understands.

Access to people with money to spend is closely guarded in the insurance and reinsurance markets. Premium dollars are shepherded carefully from insurance agents to carriers and then brokers before eventually reaching reinsurers and ILS managers.

Larger residual insurers were among cedants that prospered in the June renewals from competition for US property catastrophe reinsurance business.

Leadenhall Capital Partners is a key investor in start-up Gryphon Group Holdings, which plans to take a technology-focused approach to delivering life insurance products.

Four recent private and cat bond lite deals cleared during the mid-year renewals.

Specialty (re)insurer Neon has recruited Argo's reinsurance buyer Mark Gibson, who is likely to start work at the firm this summer, sources told sister publication Trading Risk.

The final version of the Insurance Open Protocol has cut back the frequency of reporting it requires from ILS managers in response to feedback received during the consultation period.

LGT ILS funds; Wilton Re buys Aegon US run-off businesses; Cat bond funds reopen

The main factors in this year's "double-dip" Florida reinsurance renewal were abundant supply, reduced demand from several key buyers and uncertainty over model changes.

Forecasters are predicting an average to above-average 2017 Atlantic hurricane season, as debate continues over whether a longer-term shift to a phase of reduced activity is underway.

JLT Re said that "renewed vigour" from ILS markets looking to deploy capital contributed to a step-up in reinsurance rate reductions at this year's 1 June renewal.

Standards set by the Hedge Fund Standards Board (HFSB) can provide a pattern for ILS managers to mitigate potential conflicts of interest, Hiscox Re ILS COO Richard Lowther told Trading Risk.

Asset managers in South Korea are offering ILS strategies to local investors after the country entered the sector last year, with at least $49mn having been raised from two local distributors.

A recent flurry of single-state cat bond deals highlighted continuing strong ILS demand as year-to-date issuance surpassed $8bn.

Newly issued cat bonds, including the latest Alamo Re and Citrus Re 2017-1, have already traded above par on the secondary market, in a sign of strong ILS demand.

Switzerland-based asset manager Plenum has discontinued its partnership with Sequant after marketing a new non-catastrophe ILS fund with the Bermuda asset manager last year, Trading Risk can report.

A significant drop in social and healthcare spending in the UK is now thought to be the cause of a slowdown in mortality improvement, which has led the longevity swap market to stall.

Allstate reduced its traditional limit when it renewed its $4.42bn nationwide catastrophe reinsurance treaty at the mid-year renewals, after having cover up to $4.55bn last year, sister publication The Insurance Insider reported.

JLT Re has appointed John Paulsen as senior vice president in Chicago with a remit to expand the company's business in the Midwest.

AlphaCat has hired Bernard Van der Stichele, a former ILS analyst for the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan.

Jason Carne, the former ILS practice leader at KPMG Bermuda, has joined Hudson Structured Capital Management as an adviser, focusing on providing guidance on valuations and reinsurance.

Scor has appointed Wolfgang Murmann to the new role of head of longevity for Europe (excluding the UK), the Middle East and Africa.

Greenlight Capital Re has announced that former SAC Re chief executive Simon Burton will replace Leonard Goldberg, who has been acting as CEO on an interim basis.

Argenta non-executive director and former Lloyd's deputy chairman Graham White is to lead a new Lloyd's Market Association (LMA) group to represent the interests of members' agents at Lloyd's.

Legal & General has hired Pretty Sagoo from Deutsche Bank as head of strategic business in its pension risk transfer team.

Drinker Biddle & Reath has hired John Finston to join the insurance regulatory and transactional team in the firm's San Francisco office.

Global Parametrics, which offers risk transfer solutions for low- and middle-income countries, has appointed Nina Shapiro as chairperson.

Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX) CEO, Greg Wojciechowski, has joined the board of the Bermuda Business Development Agency (BDA), the BDA announced.

The CEO of Dutch pension fund PGGM, Else Bos, has resigned after holding the position for five years.