Reinsurance News

insurance-linked securities

Insurance-linked securities (ILS) are a specialist asset class where capital market investors allocate to instruments exposed to insurance and reinsurance risks.

Read our insurance-linked securities news and analysis below.

Peak Re secures $75mn of retrocession in Asia’s first sidecar deal

10th December 2018

Hong Kong domiciled reinsurer, Peak Reinsurance Company Limited (Peak Re), has secured $75 million of collateralised retrocession from private investors via its new Bermuda-domiciled special purpose insurer, Lion Rock Re Ltd. The deal is Asia’s first sidecar transaction and Peak Re claims that it represents an important milestone for the region’s ... Read the full article

Alternative capital market proven to be “relevant and reliable”: PwC’s Gibbons

28th November 2018

The alternative capital market has shown itself to be both “relevant and reliable” following the series of heavy global catastrophe losses in 2017 and 2018, according to David Gibbons, insurance-linked securities (ILS) leader at PwC. Speaking as part of a panel at PwC’s Insurance Summit event in Bermuda, Gibbons said that ... Read the full article

Q3 catastrophe bond issuance highest ever at $1.6bn: Willis Re

6th November 2018

Catastrophe bond issuance was at a record-high during the third quarter of 2018, totalling $1.6 billion, which exceeded the former Q3 record of $1.4 billion in 2013, according to the new insurance-linked securities (ILS) Market Update from Willis Re. The Q3 total is also well ahead of the $800 million five-year ... Read the full article

Arch obtains further $506mn of mortgage reinsurance from capital markets

23rd October 2018

Arch Mortgage Insurance Company (Arch MI), the U.S mortgage insurance arm of Arch Capital Group, has secured a further $506.11 million of indemnity reinsurance from the capital markets via an insurance-linked securities (ILS) transaction with Bellemeade Re 2018-3 Ltd., a special purpose reinsurer. The reinsurance relates to a portfolio of mortgage ... Read the full article

Reinsurance products backed by alternative capital have become mainstream: WTW

22nd October 2018

End investors, Insurance Linked Securities (ILS) funds, and buyers – the three groups active in ILS – have mostly weathered last year’s substantial loss activity with a view that reinsurance products backed by alternative capital have become mainstream, according to a new survey by Willis Towers Watson. In fact, the 2017 ... Read the full article

Arch returns to capital markets for $506m mortgage reinsurance deal

17th October 2018

Re/insurance specialist Arch Capital Group has turned to the capital markets for a third time this year, as it looks to complete an insurance-linked securities (ILS) transaction that will provide $506.11 million of reinsurance capacity, according to reports from our sister site Artemis. Once this deal completes, Arch will have ... Read the full article

Hannover Re helped clients secure $1.5bn from capital markets over 2018

17th October 2018

With the recent completion of its fifth catastrophe bond transaction, Hannover Re has helped its clients to secure more than US $1.5 billion of reinsurance capacity from the capital markets over 2018. The company’s latest transaction was a $125 million cat bond covering San Diego-based energy infrastructure company Sempra Energy against ... Read the full article

MGIC taps capital markets to secure $318mn of mortgage reinsurance

17th October 2018

One of the largest mortgage insurers in the United States, Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation (MGIC), has sought $318.6 million of capital markets-backed reinsurance capacity with its first insurance-linked securities (ILS) transaction, according to our sister site Artemis. Reports from Artemis had revealed that the mortgage insurance specialist was eyeing ... Read the full article

AGCS restructures Alternative Risk Transfer business

9th October 2018

Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS), the specialist corporate re/insurer of Allianz Group, has announced that it plans to restructure its existing Alternative Risk Transfer (ART) line of business into two specialist teams. From November 1, the Insurance-Linked Markets team will become a standalone line of business known as Capital Solutions, ... Read the full article

Potential for alternative capital to expand beyond nat cat: Hannover Re CEO Wallin

25th September 2018

As alternative capital continues to play an increasingly important role in the natural catastrophe space, Hannover Re’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ulrich Wallin has discussed the potential for these markets to be utilised in other areas of the reinsurance industry. Speaking in an interview with Reinsurance News, Wallin noted that, following ... Read the full article

Pricing will remain flat at 1/1 renewals: Fitch Ratings

25th September 2018

Although reinsurance pricing improved to some extent over 2018, abundant levels of underwriting capacity continue to absorb any increase in reinsurance demand, meaning rates are not expected to improve significantly at 1 January 2019 renewals, according to Fitch Ratings. Rates improvements were greatest at the January renewals in 2018, but subsequent ... Read the full article

The cycle has “disappeared,” says SCOR’s Denis Kessler

11th September 2018

Denis Kessler, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of French reinsurance giant SCOR, has said that it is his “strong conviction” that the reinsurance pricing cycle has “disappeared” and is unlikely to return. Speaking during a debate on the third day of the Reinsurance Rendezvous event in Monte Carlo, Kessler acknowledged ... Read the full article

Reinsurers adapting as alternative capital becomes permanent fixture: J.P. Morgan

31st August 2018

Reinsurers are adapting their business models in light of the market’s increasing reliance on alternative capital, which proved capable of absorbing large industry losses in 2017, and which may have ended the concept of ‘payback’ in the property & casualty (P&C) sector, according to analysts at J.P. Morgan. A report by ... Read the full article

Arch Capital secures $653mn of mortgage reinsurance from capital markets

22nd August 2018

Arch Mortgage Insurance Company (Arch MI), the U.S mortgage insurance arm of Arch Capital Group, has secured $653.3 million of indemnity reinsurance from the capital markets via an insurance-linked securities (ILS) transaction with Bellemeade Re 2018-2 Ltd., a special purpose insurer. The reinsurance relates to a portfolio of mortgage insurance policies ... Read the full article

Lloyd’s agencies back alternative capital expansion: LMA survey

16th August 2018

An overwhelming majority of Lloyd’s managing agents support the continued use of alternative capital in the re/insurance market and believe that insurance-linked securities (ILS) transactions will expand beyond natural catastrophe risks, according to a survey by the Lloyd’s Market Association (LMA). The LMA’s poll of senior executives from 25 managing agencies ... Read the full article