ILS

The ILS market broadened its investor base and the scope of cover it was willing to offer sponsors in 2013, Swiss Re Capital Markets acknowledged in its annual review of the burgeoning sector.

London-listed (re)insurer Lancashire has established one of the industry's largest market-facing reinsurer sidecars after deploying more than $250mn of limit through its Kinesis Re I vehicle during the January renewals.

DCG Iris, the London-listed insurance-linked securities investment fund, achieved a total return of 2.2 percent in the six months to 30 November 2013, helped by a lack of catastrophe losses, it said today (24 January).

London-listed (re)insurer Lancashire deployed more than $250mn of limit through its Kinesis Re I sidecar at the 1 January renewals, the company has confirmed

Lloyd's chairman John Nelson has said that the Lloyd's market has the luxury of being able to frame the way it attracts capital to suit the dynamics of selling (re)insurance in a low interest rate environment

Bermuda registered 91 new (re)insurance companies in 2013, up 72 percent from the 53 firms registered in 2012, according to annual statistics released by the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA)

Collateralised retro provider Catco has shifted its risk profile down for 2014 in response to changing market conditions that have led to decreased demand from some buyers.

The chief reinsurance buyer for American International Group (AIG), Samir Shah, told sister publication Trading Risk that the firm's use of cat bonds was not about trying to stimulate competition in the reinsurance market but to help develop the ILS market over the long term.

Average premiums in the ILS and ILW market dropped by 27 percent in 2013, reaching levels last seen before Katrina

The cat bond market can expect new issuance of between $7bn and $8bn in 2014, according to a survey of major ILS broker-dealers conducted by our sister publication

Last year leading ILS fund manager Nephila Capital offered a $1bn reinsurance cover to the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (FHCF), as previously reported by sister title Trading Risk.

After a solid 2013 performance in which it generated a net return for its listed fund of 21.9 percent, collateralised retro writer Catco has significantly de-risked its portfolio for 2014 in a reflection of the changing dynamics in the marketplace.