ILS

Investor appetite for cat bonds continues unabated as the latest Residential Re (2013-2) cat bond sponsored by veteran issuer USAA has priced at the lowest end of marketing guidance and is set to close at $150mn, we can reveal...

Former CIG Re and New Castle Re founder Chris McKeown has been appointed CEO of New Ocean Capital Management, the investment management company set up by XL and Stone Point Capital earlier this year

Reinsurers should take advantage of alternative market capacity but it is possible to "survive nicely" in the industry without managing third-party capital, Validus CEO Ed Noonan said last week.

Falling catastrophe rates are a long-term secular trend rather than a short-term cycle phenomenon, said Nephila Capital co-founder Frank Majors during a panel discussion at the ILS Bermuda Convergence 2013 conference last week.

The ILS market has reached an inflection point in its growth but is still on track to keep expanding, Nephila Capital co-founder Frank Majors said in a panel discussion at the ILS Bermuda Convergence 2013 conference today.

Blue Capital Re, the ILS-focused investment fund backed by Bermudian reinsurer Montpelier Re, yesterday (12 November) closed its initial public offering after raising total proceeds of $225mn.

A UK court has ruled against Lloyd's insurer Novae after it refused to pay a facultative retro claim to Tokio Marine Europe Insurance (TMEI) as it claimed the 2011 Thai floods were multiple events.

Military mutual insurer USAA will test the appetite for working layer risk with its latest Residential Re cat bond, which includes a tranche of notes that would be one of the riskiest deals ever offered on the insurance-linked securities market.

Some insurance-linked securities (ILS) investors are changing their strategies in the face of the "ruthless" pricing pressure in the cat bond market and are instead refocusing towards more illiquid - but potentially better priced - collateralised reinsurance opportunities.

Rising marine rates have attracted ILS investors but they otherwise show limited interest in venturing beyond the catastrophe perils that make up the bulk of their portfolios, according to a leading ILS fund manager.

RenaissanceRe expects to reduce its top line gross premiums by circa 10 percent next year because of continued price competition.

Scor is in the early stages of talking to investors about a proposed retro sidecar for 2014, sister publication Trading Risk has revealed.