Nephila Capital

Carriers are grappling with a rush of investor interest in longer-tail lines.

Operating revenues were also up on the $29.1mn reported over Q2.

The syndicate is targeting capital allocation for 1 January, the company confirmed.

Hagood will stay on as sole CEO of Nephila Holdings, with Taylor continuing as president.

The ILS manager revised down slightly its forecast for the syndicate’s 2023 YOA.

Markel announced the sale of its global reinsurance renewal rights to Nationwide.

The ILS manager also swung to an operating profit after posting a loss in Q1 2024.

He joined Nephila in 2023 from Lancashire as a senior underwriter.

Both syndicates also reported a deterioration in their combined ratios.

Indirect exposure to cat risk through long-term investors gives Markel optionality.

The group ceded 55% more premium to Nephila over the year at $1.3bn.

The top quartile, which includes Nephila 2357, were set to shrink overall.

Strong growth in fee income builds on the favourable rating environment.

Fee income fell by 42% to $25.1mn in Q3 over the prior-year quarter.

Collateralised reinsurance and retro are in the firing line.

Insurance Insider ILS reported in June that the company had bought substantial ILW coverage.

Nephila’s income rose steeply owing to changes in its funds’ product mix.

Aeolus increased its participation on the program more than fourfold.

The ILS manager targeted aggregate and second-event covers.

He will continue to play a role as a fund director and firm ambassador.

Traditional reinsurers such as Berkshire Hathaway and Arch pushed for more share, our annual study of Florida cessions shows.

Parent company Markel said the ILS manager’s performance was subject to a reporting lag.

Operating revenue at the ILS manager climbed 49% to $19.2mn.

The coverage will be annual aggregate with an index trigger for wind and quake.

Increased ILW purchasing reflects cash-rich funds looking to protect return levels.

Managers have tightened buffer terms and added extension spreads to enhance illiquid strategies.

The coverage will be for named storm and quake.

Follow-only specialty Syndicate 2358 has reported a profit in both years since its launch.

The parent also expects the ILS platform’s AuM to grow.

The fund manager operations booked management fees of $31mn.

Of the 18 top-tier ILS managers, 10 recorded growth, while eight were flat or down.

The year brought a degree of closure on the loss-hit years of 2017-2021, while the outlook remains changeable for ILS managers.

The firm’s follow-only Syndicate 2358 has grown its stamp by 67% to £150mn.

A new pooling structure allowed the firm to free up historic side pockets and provides a template for future exit options.

Prior-year cat loss years that are finally shaking out drove fee benefits in Q3.

The ILS firm reported $6.8bn of assets under management at the third-quarter mark.

The industry’s ability to draw new capital will hinge on the outcome of the Atlantic hurricane season.

The ILS platform generated net income of $1.8mn in Q2.

Citizens has disclosed that Nephila Capital increased its exposure to the carrier’s reinsurance program by 68% to a total $756mn line.

The investment firm’s ILS holdings were worth around $746mn at year-end 2022.

Nephila Syndicate CEO Adam Beatty said that the firm hopes to grow its new specialty syndicate to $500mn of premium within the next few years.

Markel’s ILS platform maintained assets under management at $7.2bn, down by $200mn from a January figure of $7.4bn.

The syndicate had the second-lowest combined ratio for 2022.

The £50mn syndicate made most of its profits in aviation.

The syndicate’s combined ratio was down for the fifth year in a row.

The reinsurance and ILS leader joined the firm in 2012 during a “rollercoaster” year for industry loss warranties.

Reinsurer-owned ILS platforms were challenged to grow fee income in a tough year for nat cat losses and as cat market economics shifted.

Markel gross written premiums ceded to Nephila grew by 45% year over year to $1bn, including program business.

The CFO of parent company Markel has said it aims to lean into property cat through Nephila.

Nephila achieved significant rate increases at 1 January and expected the strong rate environment to continue this year.

Cat activity and financial market volatility had impacted investor’s allocations to ILS and redemptions, Markel said.

She had served as director of underwriting at Nephila since mid-2018.

The incoming president for insurance also highlighted the role Nephila could play in the transition to net zero.

The firm has folded its former Nimbus weather strategy into the new vehicle.

The pension investor re-directed capital to the Pillar Opportunity fund as of January 2022.

The syndicate’s growth headroom is somewhat constrained compared to the Lloyd’s market average.

Some firms have fared better than others in the competition to raise funds during the year.

The insurer also emphasized that it realised more than $300mn from selling two MGA operations.

The ILS platform has dipped to $7.8bn in assets under management, as ILS revenues were down 44% after the sale of Velocity.

The product protects firms buying carbon credits from third-party negligence and fraud.

Evanston Insurance Company, a subsidiary of Markel, backed the move.

The ILS firm reported $8.5bn of assets under management at mid-year.

The hardening rate environment in Florida provided a mid-year opportunity for some, but overall there was little growth.

The asset manager also invests in Pimco ILS and has an inactive mandate with Nephila.

The increase in allocation by the railways scheme contrasts with steady or declining ILS holdings at other UK pension funds.

The ILS platform delivered stable revenues as Markel spent $102mn on its Catco buyout.

The firm’s Syndicate 2357 had halved losses to $41.5mn during the year.

The ILS manager’s Lloyd’s business delivered a $55.5mn profit, on an 86.5% combined ratio.

The new firm says ESG criteria will be embedded into the products.

The bond provides annual aggregate industry loss cover for named storm and earthquake.

The ILS firm’s management fees, however, fell back compared with 2020.

The new issuance is slightly less risky than 2020’s offering.

The change in plan comes as Lloyd’s restricts cyber growth.

The transaction provides reinsurance capital from four pension funds and marks the second use of the Lloyd’s ILS transformer vehicle.

Despite the drop-off in AuM, Markel boosted ILS operating revenues significantly in the quarter.

The consultant recommended the pension fund allocate $95mn to Pillar in 2022 after pulling a $41mn mandate from Nephila.

Both the firm’s underwriting and portfolio management functions will report into her.

The 2017 start-up has previously focussed on quota share investing.

SageLink will enable fully automated quoting capabilities for reinsurance.

The new retro fund launched with $98.9mn after an extended development phase.

Sources told Trading Risk that a different kind of investor was interested in ILWs compared with retro cat bonds.

NatWest cited a reduction in relative risk-adjusted returns as it decreased allocations, while North Yorkshire reported outperformance across its trio of ILS investments.

Her move follows overall leadership change at Nephila Climate.

The asset manager’s primary platform has previously been using fronting providers and Nephila's Lloyd’s syndicate to access business.

CEO Talbir Bains founded the business in 2017 with backing from the market’s largest ILS manager.

The world’s largest specialty insurance market must minimise its use of jargon and make processes easier for capital investors to understand, panellists at Trading Risk’s ILS Week said.

Markel’s overall ILS revenues dropped by 27% year on year as it lifted fronted premium written for the Bermudian firm.

Covid-19 and nat cat losses take a higher toll on the ILS firm’s MGA unit.

The $20bn fund has 2% of its assets allocated to ILS, equal to about $400mn.

Target investments could include cat bonds and other reinsurance, though the allocation size is unknown.

The permitted growth has accelerated from a 7% increase moving from 2019 to 2020.

The investment is thought to be the $81bn fund’s first ILS allocation.

Could a back-to-basics approach see ILS firms shun Lloyd's advantages for lower-cost alternatives?

The Nephila CEO said ILS capital backing sidecars that are a "trade not a relationship" will charge a higher cost of capital.

The sting could be in the tail for reinsurers dropping agg risk.

Markel's ILS revenue dropped 30% amid Catco run-off and growing side-pocketed assets at Nephila.

Platform planning head Tim Shreeve and portfolio manager Niall MacGillivray have left.

The appointment follows a number of senior departures from Aon’s reinsurance ranks.

Kristofer Sannemalm joins the growing new platform helmed by Lixin Zeng and Richard Lowther.

The climate-focused InsurTech has raised $4.2mn and signed up insurance backing from the ILS manager and Munich Re.

Nephila’s fall in AuM contributed to the trend of specialist firms shrinking, as reinsurer-backed assets were up modestly.

The manager’s MGA operations boosted ILS revenue despite lower AuM.

Ex-Novae deputy CUO to become active underwriter at Syndicate 2358.

Syndicate 2358 may target lines such as cyber or terrorism.

Syndicate 2358 will write specialty risks, an expansion from the Markel-owned platform's historic focus on property catastrophe.

The deal could be expanded by up to 50 percent at the top end of pricing guidance.

It is understood the new syndicate would write following lines via quota shares or consortia.

The bond will renew only part of previous Blue Halo cover benefitting Nephila's fronting partner.

Two large ILS managers bucked the trend for alternative retractions, but traditional carriers recorded the fastest expansion.

The top ILS manager expects assets under management to decline by 7% in H1.

The entity has told brokers that its “minimum standards” on all terms and conditions will include exclusions for these perils.

The MGA insurance business returned an underwriting profit of $1.4mn having made a loss of $75.1mn in 2018.

The three ILS-backed syndicates at Lloyd’s narrowed their losses in 2019.

The insurer will offer to buy out side-pocketed assets at a discount, with several hundred millions of capacity available if needed.

Co-CEO Richie Whitt also highlighted an expectation that Nephila will seek to raise capital and return to growth.

Costs associated with Markel's investigations into Catco drove ILS expenses up tenfold for the insurance group in 2019.

The ILS manager has no current plans to deploy investor capital in cyber underwriting risks.

This is the first time the Bermuda-based ILS manager is known to have been linked to cyber risk deals.

Markel is fronting the deal, which will cover insurance business transacted for Nephila by State National.

The carrier’s ILS revenues tripled year on year after its Nephila acquisition.

The firms will back the Heart of Texas development via a “proxy generation swap”.

Nephila Syndicate Management will launch on 11 October 2019.

The brouhaha over trapped ILS capital has led to the question of whether alternative collateral management solutions will emerge.

The Oregon Public Employees fund held $119.3mn in two Nephila funds at year end 2018.

The follow-up investments take its overall ILS allocation to up to $950mn, as it put in place mandates to respond to higher rates.

The Markel co-CEO also said that “noise” around the performance of new acquisition Nephila will clear up by year end.

Its new acquisition offset lower revenues from the Markel Catco business, which will take about three years to run off.

The InsurTech uses satellite imagery to provide underwriters with data on individual properties.

The weather protection market currently resembles the early ILS market, according to the Nephila managing principal.

Swiss funds active in ILS recorded stable or slightly increased allocations after 2017’s losses.

With Nephila’s market share slightly shrinking, RenaissanceRe and Gen Re moved up the Florida leaderboard.

WorldCover, a climate insurance provider to smallholder farmers, has raised $6mn from a fundraising round led by MS&AD ventures.