October 2015/1

John Seo, founder and managing principal of ILS fund manager Fermat Capital Management, has been appointed to serve on a US advisory committee on terrorism risk

Early renewals down; Floridians expand; Axa wins mandate; Armored Wolf shuts; RMS buys HWind; Vario partners with GC; AIR cyber model; Berkshire pulls facilities

Kiskadee Investment Managers has made two senior hires in Bermuda, recruiting a chief compliance officer and portfolio manager.

Swiss Re has brought its capital markets staff into a new broader structured solutions division, appointing Philipp Rüede to head up the team's property and casualty section in a newly created role.

Proposed changes to AM Best's method of calculating capital adequacy for (re)insurers could boost demand for peak cat cover, particularly from regional US carriers.

Australian asset manager MLC and the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System both announced new ILS mandates this month.

Catco is preparing to expand its listed retro fund, the Catco Reinsurance Opportunities Fund, by up to $750mn ahead of its integration by Markel.

Reinsurers increased their share of the catastrophe bond market from 6 percent to 10 percent in the year to 30 June 2015, according to Aon Benfield's annual ILS report.

Seven cat bond funds tracked by Trading Risk have delivered average returns of less than 2 percent for the first nine months of 2015, putting them below their performance at the same mark last year.

The Swiss Re Cat Bond Price Return Index has almost reached the values recorded at the start of 2015 after posting a 1.7 percent upswing since mid-July.

How will climate change impact ILS?

Amtrak's captive insurer expanded its storm surge cat bond PennUnion Re from an initial target size of $200mn to $275mn after pricing settled at the lower end of initial guidance this month.

The mix of cat bonds issued in 2015 is looking notably more diverse than last year as third quarter diversifier deals helped lessen the dominance of North American perils.

At the recent Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous, the ILS market sent out a clear message that it had come of age and is here to stay

A group of sidecars followed by Trading Risk are on track to deliver annualised returns of 10.48 percent, according to data compiled from filings made by US fund managers Stone Ridge and Pioneer

Aon Benfield has moderated its outlook for alternative reinsurance market growth to $120bn-$150bn by 2018 from initial guidance of $150bn, Aon Securities CEO Paul Schultz said at a Monte Carlo press briefing

Bankers at Credit Suisse are hoping to tap ILS investors for an insurance securitisation covering the institution against operational risks, such as of a cyber attack or a rogue trader incident, Trading Risk understands.

Liquidity in the burgeoning market for private cat bonds and cat bond lite instruments remains limited, but commentators are hopeful that the situation should improve.

Offering only catastrophe capacity will limit the ILS market's future growth as cedants look for partners that can offer multi-line solutions, Aon Securities CEO Paul Schultz said at the Trading Risk roundtable in Monte Carlo

The US has experienced its worst year for wildfire losses since 2007, with insured losses surpassing $1bn for two fires that impacted California in September, Aon Benfield's modelling arm Impact Forecasting said.

Ostensibly the reinsurance industry gathers in Monte Carlo every September to talk about rates for the upcoming January renewals.

The impact that (re)insurance consolidation would have on buying and underwriting discipline was a major point of debate at Monte Carlo, but commentators said demand for peak zone cover is less likely to be affected

TransRe now has more than $350mn of sidecar capacity, making it a significant player in the market, head of TransRe Capital Partners Craig Hupper told Trading Risk.

A series of hedge fund reinsurer initiatives were revealed during the Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous last month, with two of the vehicles in progress likely to act as captives