December 2015/1

Leadenhall Capital Partners has hired former Markel International analyst Joel Milnes and Swiss Re life insurance actuary Craig Gillespie

The decade-long major US hurricane landfall "drought" since Hurricane Wilma struck in 2005 has been highlighted by the meteorological community, catastrophe modellers and the insurance sector alike as extraordinarily rare

For any ILS transaction, the structure of the trigger mechanism is critical to determining whether a sponsor receives a loss payment following a catastrophe event, thereby causing a loss to investors

Support for several innovative reinsurance projects emerged to coincide with this month's COP21 Paris Climate Conference.

A change in US reserving rules kicked off the year in the life sector, causing a crunch in the number of reserve financing and embedded value (EV) financing deals, according to Milliman

The Lloyd's Franchise Board has given final approval for Credit Suisse and Securis to set up new vehicles in the London market from 1 January 2016.

As reinsurers push further into the insurance market, debate is re-igniting over whether this strategy will cause conflict with their existing primary counterparties.

ILS investors are questioning whether American International Group (AIG) will remain as active in the cat bond market as it has been in recent years, after the insurer parted ways with its head of insurance capital markets Samir Shah.

The ILS funds market caught the M&A fever seen across the traditional reinsurance sector this year as its rate of growth significantly slowed

Leadenhall Capital Partners won a $20mn mandate from a US state university pension fund in early November, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) pension fund lifted its investment with a Nephila Capital fund by 25 percent year-on-year in the financial year ending 31 March 2015.

Nephila Capital is targeting the Florida Citizens depopulation programme as a new source of business for its expansion into the primary insurance market.

Swiss ILS fund manager Twelve Capital confirmed that it has closed its Twelve ILS cat bond fund, as it consolidates its range of Ucits funds.

The record-setting 2014 was always going to be a hard year for the cat bond market to follow in terms of business volume

Catastrophe bonds were yielding about 16 percent more year-on-year by the end of November, according to RMS data.

There were fewer buyers of cat bonds near maturity this year than in 2014, making it more difficult for sellers looking to trade out of positions ahead of the January renewal season, sources told Trading Risk.

The ILS market is expecting a final verdict on the MultiCat Mexico class C notes in the coming weeks as "best track" data on Hurricane Patricia is expected to be released in January.

Reinsurers dominated the quartet of cat bond sponsors that have launched new deals since late November, collectively targeting at least $550mn in total volume that would take 2015 issuance to more than $7.56bn.

Michael Millette's Hudson Structured Capital Management is close to launching its first reinsurance fund in the New Year and recruiting underwriting staff, Trading Risk understands.

Some might argue that sartorial traces of the 1970s or 80s cling to the reinsurance industry: the slipcases overflowing with papers, the Monte Carlo polo tops, the lunch-bedaubed shirt on a Friday afternoon.

The timetable for the launch of the joint venture reinsurer planned by Axis and Blackstone has been delayed into 2016, it is understood.

Aon establishes facility; Catco completed; UK flood losses £250mn-£325mn; Oppenheimer fund gains 4.93%; Blue Capital reduces net return target; Record hurricane season...

A number of reinsurer sidecars are expected to expand in 2016 as investor demand continues to be strong despite a softening in prospective returns, sources told Trading Risk.

The $18bn merger between Willis and Towers Watson has been approved by their respective shareholders, despite proxy firms advising Towers Watson investors to vote against the deal.