Rates

Allstate's Sanders Re 2018-1 cat bond has expanded by 25 percent to $500mn, as pricing dropped to 550 basis points, the lower boundary of the initial guidance range.

The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association will reset its Alamo Re 2017 cat bond to trigger at a lower level after its Hurricane Harvey losses wiped out the association's funds.

The cat bond market has gained some much-needed diversification following the launch of three Japanese deals, including a $700mn transaction.

Several Floridian insurers are looking to lower their reliance on the state-backed reinsurance fund in 2018, bringing a small amount of new demand into the market.

Reinsurance buying strategies are likely to diverge ahead of the June renewals as some cedants attempt to agree capacity early and others sit tight in the hope of striking a better deal later on, sister publication The Insurance Insider has reported.

The abundance of ILS and traditional capital is reducing the likelihood of a sustained rate hardening in catastrophe-exposed US insurance business, Willis Towers Watson has said in its update on the US property market.

ILS spreads have widened in the mid-to-high teens range after last year's losses, Swiss Re Capital Markets estimated in its latest quarterly market report.

Losses from US primary habitational and coastal hotel accounts have driven pockets of localised hardening in the US commercial property insurance market, with rate increases of as much as 70 percent for some risks.

Pricing for industry loss warranties is up by 15-30 percent on loss-affected covers, according to figures from brokers, as the market picks up after a slow start to the year.

The Blue Capital Alternative Income Fund is expected to deliver returns of 8-13 percent in 2018, up by roughly a third compared to the 6-10 percent expected return from its 2017 portfolio, the ILS manager announced.

The World Bank's South American cat bond has priced just below the upper end of a revised target range at $1.36bn, according to Trading Risk sources.

Investor allocations to the ILS sector could increase in 2018 after capacity was quickly replenished following last year's losses, JLT Re said today in its Reinsurance Market Perspective report.