ILS

Unrated start-up reinsurer ABR Re claims it will offer a "superior" business model to existing alternative reinsurers, including established Cayman Islands vehicle Greenlight Re and the four Bermudians set up in the last three years.

Ace and BlackRock's $1.5bn capital raise for internal reinsurance vehicle ABR Re could all but freeze out the carriers that have not made it onto the insurer's core panel.

Chubb's latest East Lane Re bond has upsized by 11 percent to $250mn as pricing settled in the middle of initial forecasts

Floridian insurer Universal Insurance Holdings said a $19mn investment from Nephila Capital and its healthy balance sheet would enable the firm to drop its quota share reinsurance cover in the June 2015 renewals

Limit sold for ultimate net loss (UNL) retro coverage is on course to increase by around $1bn in 2015 to an estimated $12bn, The Insurance Insider can reveal

Third Point Re went $14.7mn into the red in the fourth quarter as it posted a $6.5mn investment loss, reversing an $89.3mn profit in the same period of 2013.

Chubb is seeking to broaden the coverage of its new East Lane Re cat bond and extend the length of the cover to five years, sister publication Trading Risk revealed last week.

Hannover Re has placed 25 percent more retro limit via its K quota share sidecar, sister publication Trading Risk reported earlier this month.

Direct lending may present an interesting opportunity for insurers' investment portfolios, but they should not underestimate the amount of credit work involved, according to speakers at the Clear Path Analysis Insurance Asset Management seminar last week.

Allianz and Allianz Risk Transfer - a major fronting partner for Nephila - have lent support to New Paradigm Underwriters, a Florida-based managing general agency (MGA) that offers parametric hurricane cover, sister publication Trading Risk reported last week.

Ace and BlackRock have commenced fundraising for their new joint venture, ABR Re, which they are planning to launch on an unrated basis, sister publication Trading Risk revealed last week.

Looking ahead to the upcoming Florida renewals, RenaissanceRe chief executive Kevin O'Donnell told investors on the carrier's fourth quarter earnings call that the market was still "a long way from unprofitable" despite softening pressures.