ILS

RPC acquires; AJG enters Colombia; Talbot hires Sonville; Mistry in the Channel; Low-sulphur fuel; Nangka kills 2; Walden joins Liberty; Temblors cost $150bn; Transformers spark more losses; Beazley raids Hiscox; Higher June cats; Romanian capital rumbles; Chan Hom loss; Asia-Pac storms; Marketform expands cargo; WCMA appoints Shea; IUA appointments

Total Q2 cat bond issuance came to just over $3bn in 2015, according to Trading Risk figures, which include life and non-life public 144A cat bonds as well as larger rule 4(2) cat bonds placed with numerous investors.

Swiss Re and Everest Re led an increase in participation from traditional reinsurers on the 2015 programme placed by Florida Citizens Property Insurance, sister publication Trading Risk reported last week.

Specialty insurer Assurant reduced its reinsurance spend by 25 percent year-on-year to $180mn at the 1 July 2015 renewals as its total per-occurrence property catastrophe coverage was scaled back from $1.77bn to $1.32bn

The Insider 30 made a 1.46 percent gain last week, outstripping the performance of wider stock market benchmarks the FTSE 100, Euro Stoxx 600 and S&P 500.

Two earthquake cat bonds are set to be renewed this week, with the Turkish Catastrophe Insurance Pool (TCIP) and the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) the likely sponsors, sister title Trading Risk understands.

Bondholders are monitoring the Akibare II and Aozora transactions following predictions that Category 4 Typhoon Nangka could make landfall in southern Japan later this week, Trading Risk understands.

Lane Financial's insurance-linked securities (ILS) rate-on-line index has continued its upward trend in 2015, climbing 8.5 percent in the first half of the year.

African Risk Capacity (ARC), Africa's first parametric catastrophe insurance pool, is to grow to around $192mn, with over $70mn ceded to the reinsurance market through Willis Re

Global reinsurance capital reached $580bn by the end of the first quarter of 2015, up 1 percent from the end of last year, according to Aon Benfield's latest reinsurance market outlook

Reinsurers and reinsurance brokers will almost certainly lose out following the proposed acquisition of Chubb by Ace, as the combined entity's enlarged balance sheet, better diversification and increased buying power allow it to reduce its reinsurance spend.

London faces the challenge to deliver ILS business to the UK by Budget 2016, according to the UK's Crown Representative for insurance Michael Wade.