ILS

Non-traditional capacity is on track to reach Aon Benfield's prediction of $150bn by 2018, after it increased by almost 25 percent to $61.9bn by the end of the third quarter of 2014.

Brit Insurance today (5 January) became the latest insurer to enter the collateralised reinsurance space with the creation of a Bermuda-domiciled special purpose reinsurer, Versutus Ltd.

Brit Insurance has this morning (5 January) unveiled Versutus Ltd, a new Bermuda-domiciled special purpose reinsurer that will provide collateralised capacity support for the Lloyd's insurer's property treaty portfolio for 2015.

Aon Benfield Americas CEO Bryon Ehrhart has said that reinsurers that had succeeded in incorporating alternative capital into their businesses in 2014 had an added edge in the January 2015 reinsurance renewals.

Loss-free US property cat and risk accounts saw rate reductions of 10 to 15 percent at 1 January renewals, according to Willis Re.

Diversification is the traditional reinsurance market's only credible defence against eroding margins and the "wall of money" pouring into the sector, Willis Re International's chairman James Vickers has said.

Chris O'Kane, CEO of Aspen, has sold a further $2mn of shares in the carrier at an average price of $45, bringing the total value of shares sold by the executive this month to more than $3mn.

Despite the overall Lloyd's market reducing in size, capacity behind young syndicates has expanded by more than 20 percent for 2015 as new players enter the market and some recent start-ups continue to expand.

Hannover Re has structured and placed an extreme mortality swap with capital market investors, the German carrier announced.

American Strategic Insurance (ASI) has added to its estimated losses for the first 10 months of 2014 to take the total to 90 percent of the trigger point for its $200mn Gator Re bond, sister publication Trading Risk revealed last week.

Barbican group CEO David Reeves said the Lloyd's insurer and the Credit Suisse insurance-linked securities (ILS) team hope to develop their partnership further and may aim for full syndicate status for special purpose syndicate (SPS) 6120.

Third Point Re is winding down its catastrophe fund and investing in strategic partner Hiscox Bermuda's Kiskadee funds instead.