Casualty/GL

Insured losses from storms and flooding that hit the US over the past week are expected to reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars, according to a report from Impact Forecasting.

Casualty reinsurers operating in the US started to push back against historically broad soft-market terms at the January renewals, with most placements renewing flat, sister publication The Insurance Insider reported.

Long-tail lines of reinsurance business such as casualty and legacy risk can be adapted to the ILS market, a panel of speakers suggested at the 2016 Bermuda Reinsurance Conference hosted by Standard & Poor's and PWC this week (8 November).

Casualty risk offers an opportunity for the ILS industry to expand beyond catastrophe business, according to Willis Capital Markets & Advisory's head of ILS Bill Dubinsky

Axis reported $8.1mn of fee income from "strategic capital providers" in the third quarter, up fourfold from $2.1mn a year earlier after it established casualty underwriting vehicle Harrington Re with Blackstone.

AIG has recruited former Chubb reinsurance buyer Mark James in a senior ceded risk role, sister publication The Insurance Insider reported

A $6mn investment in the Bellemeade Re mortgage insurance securitisation was the only ILS instrument held by the Blackstone Alternative Investment Funds as at 31 March 2016, according to annual report filings

Swiss Re has announced that its current CEO of reinsurance for Asia, Moses Ojeisekhoba, will become reinsurance CEO later this year

American International Group (AIG) has followed through on plans to make greater use of reinsurance after agreeing a two-year quota share deal with Swiss Re covering its US casualty book.

Swiss Re reported 2015 results that were boosted by low catastrophes and a $183mn one-off tax gain in the fourth quarter.

AIG picked out expanded use of reinsurance as one of six ways that will help it return at least $25bn to shareholders over the next two years.

The non-life reinsurance market will likely fall into an underwriting loss in 2016 if natural catastrophe losses return to historical averages, with the deficit deepening in 2017, according to predictions by Swiss Re chief economist Kurt Karl.