ILS

Ken LeStrange is set to take the position of chairman at Pine River Re in a move that will reunite him with his former Endurance Specialty colleague Bill Jewett, The Insurance Insider can reveal

Two of the cat bonds in the latest crop of new issuance have demonstrated the potential for divergent modelling views to emerge on indemnity offerings.

US insurer Chubb is considering increasing the size of its new East Lane Re VI cat bond to $270mn as indicative pricing on the deal softened by almost 15 percent, Trading Risk understands.

Tokio Marine's Kizuna Re II Japanese quake bond has grown from $200mn to $245mn with pricing set at the lowest bounds of guidance amid strong investor interest, Trading Risk understands.

American Strategic Insurance Group has increased the size of its debut cat bond Gator Re from $125mn to $200mn as pricing tightened below initial guidance, according to sources.

Amlin says it expects its partnership with London-based insurance-linked securities (ILS) fund manager Leadenhall Capital Partners to help grow its catastrophe reinsurance portfolio, after it lifted gross premiums in this business line by 2 percent in the January 2014 renewals.

Argo Re will join peers such as Allianz Risk Transfer, Hannover Re and Tokio Millennium Re as a participant in the fronted reinsurance market, lending out its rated paper to unrated companies.

Don Kramer's ILS Capital Management launched underwriting operations at the January 2014 renewals, including writing a small portfolio of marine retro business for Berkshire Hathaway, sister publication Trading Risk reported late last month.

Hedge funds and other alternative asset managers are lining up to revolutionise the casualty and other non-cat sectors

As soft market pricing pressures grow, Insider Quarterly offers a 10-point guide to surviving as an underwriting castaway in 2014

New York-listed reinsurer Third Point Re more than doubled its net income for 2013 to $227.3mn, compared to $99.4mn in 2012, boosted by a hefty increase in the volume of business written.

TransRe has several capital market initiatives underway - including a reinsurance sidecar Pangaea Re - as the global reinsurer draws on its new relationship with $80bn asset manager Ares, overnight filings from US insurance parent Alleghany have revealed