Trading Risk May 2018

Florida-based insurer UPC has inked several large deals with major ILS managers Nephila, Elementum and Aeolus at the 2018 reinsurance renewal.

Sompo International’s chief financial officer Mike McGuire said the firm remained committed to its Blue Capital platform after deciding to put its London-listed fund into run-off this week.

Ever heard the underwriting joke about how to spot the actuary driving a car?

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is in the preliminary stages of looking into road testing an ILS listing.

Cat bond volumes are expected to expand by 20 percent in 2018 in the aftermath of last year’s losses, Fermat Capital wrote in an ILS market update distributed by GAM.

Floridian insurer Heritage now expects to claim $151mn from its Citrus Re cat bonds as its Irma losses escalate, sources told Trading Risk.

Swiss pension fund Basellandschaftliche Pensionskasse (BLPK) has reported that its ILS investments made a 5.51 percent loss in 2017, joining a number of other local funds that reported the impact of last year’s catastrophe events.

Oppenheimer Funds is looking to hire personnel for a new broader ILS offering to complement its existing cat bond strategy, according to sources.

Zurich-based ILS manager Plenum has grown its assets under management (AuM) by almost 40 percent since the start of the year, to reach $355mn at the end of April.

Rate increases have mostly been limited to low attaching Floridian wind cover.

The retro manager's Irma loss deterioration is on a higher scale than that reported by peers.

Forecasts range from a slightly more active Atlantic storm season than usual, to below-norm.

The insured loss would account for less than 20 percent of the overall private property damage in the region, which could amount to $170bn.

NCM Re's expansion will depend on how much business the insurer writes itself, said Mark Gibson, the company’s alternative capital director.

(Re)insurers with established relationships within the ILS space are at an advantage in the current post-loss environment, according to Joe Ferraro, partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher.

Reinsurance rate increases fell short of expectations after hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria (HIM), but this could change if the market endures further major losses in 2018, panellists said at the Trading Risk London ILS conference.

Re(insurers) need to seize their “Uber moment” and regard ILS capital as “aligned capital” rather than “alternative” capital, according to Michael Wade, non-executive chair of TigerRisk Capital Markets UK.

As the 2017 catastrophe claims evolve, an “awful lot” of trapped retro capital could become lost capital, chief underwriting officer at QBE Re Jonathan Parry said during a panel debate at the Trading Risk London ILS conference.

Cat bond maturities influenced the dip in market share of Florida reinsurance cessions taken by the ILS market.

People moves in the ILS market.