ILS

Three new cat bonds launched in the past week, including two from debut sponsors and a complex deal from Argo that offered direct and facultative risk to the insurance-linked securities market, sister publication Trading Risk reported.

Catastrophe modelling firm AIR Worldwide has said insured losses from European Windstorm Xaver could be as high as EUR1.4bn.

The burgeoning insurance-linked securities (ILS) market needs to be kept under close regulatory scrutiny to ensure it does not threaten the (re)insurance sector's financial stability, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (Eiopa) said today (12 December)

Scor picked up half the longevity risk in a new major hedging transaction completed by Aegon, the parties announced last week.

AIG more than doubled the target size for its second Tradewynd Re cat bond from $180mn to $400mn as pricing on the deal narrowed, sister publication Trading Risk reported last week.

QBE will lift the attachment point of its global catastrophe reinsurance programme by $100mn in 2014, it disclosed in a call with analysts today (9 December).

When Lloyd's (re)insurer Beazley buys its reinsurance/retro at 1 April next year it may consider issuing a catastrophe bond for the first time, according to Canaccord Genuity analyst Ben Cohen, citing a recent conversation with Beazley finance chief Martin Bride.

The alternative reinsurance market has grown to around $45bn from roughly $33bn in 2012, and now has a circa 17 percent share of US property catastrophe business and 11 percent globally, according to Swiss Re.

London-listed (re)insurer Amlin has an option to buy out its joint venture partners in the fast-growing ILS fund manager Leadenhall Capital Partners in 2014

American Family Mutual Insurance and service companies PCS and AIR Worldwide are seeking to dismiss a lawsuit over the $100mn Mariah Re tornado bond payout as they maintain that the claim was based on accurate data.

Retro rates have continued to tank in the run-up to 1 January as capital-rich collateralised writers chase a relative dearth of risk, according to a variety of sources.

Aspen Re has kicked off its third-party funds management business by launching a $65mn sidecar, Silverton Re, as first predicted by sister publication Trading Risk in late October.