November 2016/1

Guernsey-domiciled rated reinsurance company Humboldt Re is on track to write gross written premium (GWP) of approximately CHF156mn ($160.26mn) for 2016, above its original top line target, according to AM Best

Head of ILS analytics at Twelve Capital Jan Kleinn has left the firm after two years, according to market sources, with another senior analytics executive Markus Stricker also placed on gardening leave.

Georgia hit with $90mn+ Matthew loss; Q3 cats impact United Insurance; Top Layer forex loss hits RenRe; RenRe puts Matthew loss at $75mn; Insured Canterbury losses reach $13.6bn; Q3 income dips at Blue Capital

The Turkish Catastrophe Insurance Pool (TCIP) renewed its EUR2.4bn ($2.6bn) reinsurance programme with rate reductions of just over 10 percent on a risk-adjusted basis, our sister title The Insurance Insider revealed.

Newly approved Lloyd's syndicate Blenheim confirmed that Nephila Holdings is among its capital backers, as it said that further former Cathedral staff would be joining the platform.

The volume of livecat trading of industry loss warranties (ILWs) prompted by Hurricane Matthew may have reached up to $150mn-$200mn, according to sources contacted by Trading Risk.

Despite initial fears that Hurricane Matthew could take a significant toll on the Florida (re)insurance market, a shift in the storm's track as it approached the US coastline in early October has limited forecast industry loss levels to the low single-digit billions.

Future Fund prepares for reinsurance scale; Leadenhall targets US investors; PSERS returns

Third quarter returns from a group of ILS funds tracked by Trading Risk were stable year-on-year.

Blue Capital Management said that it does not anticipate any management changes following the acquisition of its parent company Endurance by Sompo Holdings, the second ownership change for the firm in as many years after Endurance bought Montpelier Re in 2015.

Indicative reinsurer sidecar returns for 2016 have dropped into the single-digit range, highlighting the impact of catastrophe losses recorded earlier this year

XL-owned ILS manager New Ocean Capital Management has said its new backer Mitsui & Co would help it broaden its relationships with Asian investors.

Four weeks on from Hurricane Matthew, cat bond spreads have slipped back in to a pattern of slight softening, according to data from RMS.

Cat bond specialist Fermat believes the trend towards cat bond lite and hybrid private ILS transactions will "level the playing field" compared to collateralised and traditional reinsurance alternatives

The first cat bond issuance of the fourth quarter garnered strong investor interest as sources said they expected lacklustre deal volume in the period.

Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management's ILS fund has withdrawn from writing collateralised retro business and is now focused on cat bond investing, sources told Trading Risk.

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

LGT ILS Partners said that it believes a highly rated carrier backed by a collateralised ILS fund could add value to the reinsurance market.

When you've been writing editorials for a few years, the ghosts of columns past inevitably come back to haunt you.

The insurance risk transfer chain is becoming more flexible as ILS players begin taking on primary risk, but this does not necessarily imply links are being removed from the chain, panellists said at the Trading Risk New York Rendez-Vous

Validus intends to add $300mn-$500mn to its asset management platform AlphaCat to deploy in 2017, CEO Ed Noonan said in comments after the company's Q3 earnings release.

Reinsurance buyers speaking at the Trading Risk New York Rendez-Vous were split on whether sponsoring cat bonds would offer them the benefit of lower rates, as they debated the dip in ILS issuance this year

Hedge fund manager Elliott Management Corporation plans to hold onto its investment in Aeolus Capital Management "for a long time", the Bermudian ILS manager's founder Peter Appel told Trading Risk.