December 2011/1

Is the ILS investor base becoming too top-heavy?

Proposed SEC securitisation reforms threaten to wrap more red tape around the ILS market. Dewey & LeBoeuf partner Stephen Rooney lays out the case for ILS to be set apart

As a large number of 2009 vintage cat bonds roll-off over the next six months, investors are on the hunt for remaining yield in the transactions now that the US wind season is over.

Glacier Re extends Nelson; Top staff depart Kane; Swiss Re CEO to retire

Four new cat bonds closed in December, adding $1.26bn to the market as investors placed large orders for aggregate deals offering double-digit premiums.

Lloyd's (re)insurer Catlin expects that more than two-thirds of its retrocession recoveries from a significant catastrophe could come from collateralised markets, according to a presentation made during the firm's fourth quarter investor day last week.

Prudential Retirement has reinsured about one-sixth of the Rolls-Royce pension fund swap closed by Deutsche Bank earlier this month.

Industry loss aggregator Perils will track data on inland flooding losses in the UK from 1 January 2012, providing a benchmark for risk transfer of the peril.

Turmoil on the European markets appeared to spur new inflows into the ILS sector this year as investors sought returns from an asset class that does not follow the fortunes of general equities, according to Swiss Re's head of non-life transformation Martin Bisping.

Losses from the developing Thai floods and loss creep from March's Japanese earthquake are likely to fall disproportionately with retro writers, our sister title The Insurance Insider has revealed.

It has been a hard slog fundraising for some of the new ILS fund managers over the past six months, with only a couple managing to attract new capital by year-end.

The retro market is shaping up for a tough renewal, as buyers and sellers square up over structure, available capacity and pricing right as the crucial 1 January deadline approaches.