ILS

A significant shift in the reinsurance sector's capital structure was the main driver as US property cat rates slid by more than expected at the key 1 June renewal, according to Guy Carpenter

USAA is set to close its 20th Residential Re cat bond at $300mn after final pricing settled at the lower end of revised guidance.

Don Kramer's nascent insurance-linked securities (ILS) fund manager, ILS Capital Management, will be targeting marine business in the January 2014 renewals after hiring former Ariel Re underwriter Brian Gulbransen.

Brian Gulbransen has re-emerged in the market at ILS Capital Management, the Bermudian fund manager run by his former CEO at Ariel, Don Kramer.

Traditional (re)insurers that describe the emergence of capital markets-backed alternative capacity as unsustainable may be in denial, Willis Capital Markets & Advisory (WCMA) wrote in a review of first quarter results from the ILS market.

The fourth Florida-specific cat bond of 2013 is now marketing to investors through a new private deal, The Insurance Insider can reveal...

Earlier this year Trading Risk reported that start-up fund manager Stone Ridge had successfully raised $350mn for two new ILS funds, while fixed-income specialist Pine River had hired convergence market executive Al Selius to oversee investment of up to 5 percent of two of its flagship funds to the ILS sector.

Generalist investors - such as pension funds and other mainstream fund managers - are continuing to lift their share of new cat bond issuance in 2013, according to updated statistics obtained by sister publication Trading Risk.

Bermuda-headquartered White Mountains is the latest (re)insurer to enter the convergence arena by unveiling a new capital markets division through its reinsurance arm Sirius International.

Willis Capital Markets & Advisory (WCMA) has expanded into Asia with the hire of Michael Guo as managing director and head of Asia.

Montpelier Re's Blue Capital Global Reinsurance Fund had invested $66.9mn by 1 April, equivalent to 68 percent of the net proceeds of its $100mn December IPO.

Tokio Millennium Re (TMR) will become the latest Bermudian to redomicile away from the island as it unveiled plans to change its place of incorporation to Switzerland