December 2013/1

The January 2014 renewals will feature more "club" deals that are concluded with a handful of large catastrophe specialists, which will lead to less business being placed in the subscription market, sources said.

Early indications suggest that international property catastrophe reinsurance prices will soften by an average of 10-15 percent at the 1 January renewals.

The top tier of ILS fund managers eased off the growth pedal in 2013 as the challenge of deploying new funds became increasingly difficult in a highly competitive market.

It wasn't a hurricane or any other natural disaster that prompted the 2013 wave of reinsurance sidecars, but rather a shockwave within the industry caused by the growing clout of ILS fund managers.

It has been a long time coming, but the cat bond market has finally returned to its pre-crisis heights, with 2013 issuance set to reach $7.5bn if all three bonds currently in the pipeline close on target.

Two Sigma and Duperreault lead SAC Re buyout; Cayman cuts fees; European storms; ILS market could take on terror risk

American Family Mutual Insurance and service companies PCS and AIR Worldwide are seeking to dismiss a lawsuit over the $100mn Mariah Re tornado bond payout as they maintain that the claim was based on accurate data.

Cat bond pricing may appear to be in line with the pre-Tohoku soft market but investors are not being compensated for taking on greater tail risk, according to Lane Financial analysts Morton Lane and Roger Beckwith.

Aegon's head of risk transfer Chris Madsen said he was very encouraged by the increasing depth of the market for longevity risk transfer after the firm completed its second major hedging transaction this month.

Blackstone fund builds cat bond book; Blue Capital adds $23mn; Elementum sets up Bermuda SPI

Money managers were the fastest-growing sector in the cat bond investor market in 2013, Swiss Re estimates.

The Coca-Cola Company's pension fund has moved into reinsurance after lifting its allocation to alternative investments over the past year, according to regulatory disclosures.

Willis has placed a A$56mn ($51mn) "cat in a circle" reinsurance derivative written by Endurance Global Weather for Australian mining client Roy Hill Holdings.

Throughout 2013, US wind bond prices have consistently sat about 4 percentage points above the five-year average over 2008-2012, according to Swiss Re pricing data collated by Tullet Prebon.

ILS traders have predicted that secondary trading volumes will reach $3bn-$3.5bn in 2013.

American International Group (AIG) quadrupled the size of its latest Tradewynd Re cat bond to $400mn from a $100mn target, as its tactic of providing investors with extra disclosure appeared to pay off.

ILS investors were anticipating a robust pipeline of cat bonds in the fourth quarter but they were initially left wondering where all the deals had gone.

Axis has established a new class 3A Bermudian reinsurer, Axis Ventures Re, as well as a management company, Axis Ventures, according to the latest registration statistics from the Bermuda Monetary Authority.

The profile of the alternative reinsurance market has significantly reshaped in 2013, according to Swiss Re statistics.

This is my last deadline of the year, so sympathies to those who will still be plugging away on renewals until the New Year.

Bermudian fund manager Aeolus expects to deploy about $200mn-$300mn in the January renewals via its new high-layer aggregate product Spire, Trading Risk understands.

AIG is understood to have ordered the largest global aggregate programme in the market as it renews its reinsurance cover for 2014.