ILS

Ratings agency Fitch said that the expansion of alternative reinsurance capital has resulted in a structural change to the reinsurance market that will likely act as a permanent brake on future profits for traditional writers.

The California Earthquake Authority (CEA) bought $134mn of new reinsurance limit in April as it continued to push for multi-year cover, sister publication Trading Risk has revealed.

Senior underwriters in the engineering direct and facultative (D&F) market have warned that the sector could face significant losses from increased take-up of advanced loss of profit (ALOP) and delay in start-up (DSU) cover.

Excessweather, a new managing general agency that provides indexed weather cover, has launched with an initial maximum line of £100mn, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

Munich Re plans to significantly expand its $63mn cat reinsurance sidecar Eden Re next year.

The presence of alternative capital could permanently erode the profit margins of traditional reinsurers, according to the 2015 global reinsurance outlook from ratings agency Fitch

Total capital returned by our Bermuda composite slipped by 11.6 percent to $505mn in the second quarter of 2014 as share buyback activity moderated during the period.

The recent impasse in new catastrophe bond issuance has ended with workers' compensation insurer the California State Compensation Insurance Fund seeking to renew its Golden State Re earthquake bond at $150mn.

AM Best has defended its rating process for hedge fund reinsurers and reasserted its view that the model is a viable strategy that can be successful when executed properly.

Retro MD leaves Aon Benfield; AmTrust settles with med-mal writer Murphy; Hancock succeeds; Cat in check; Bermuda grows; Consortium expands; NKSJ rebrands; Speare-Cole out; Napa at $1.5bn; ILS gain; Cyber bridge; Golden State Re renews; Fisher leaves...; ...As does Milligan; Atrium hires Weigall; Canopius hires Law; Buffett's $3bn bite; Low losses; Golub pulled; Munich Re marine

The Insurance Insider's Data Room finds that while all the global reinsurers agree on the competitive pricing conditions, they are adopting different approaches to navigating the soft market

Top-line growth accelerated for Bermudian carriers during the second quarter, as cheap retrocession and a continued propensity for insurance growth counteracted tough market conditions in reinsurance.