ILS

The polemic swirling around the potentially disruptive influence of new capital, which is arriving in the reinsurance sector via inflows into ILS funds, has been building steadily since last summer, but the tone of the debate has become noticeably more strident and shrill in recent weeks

Catastrophe reinsurers are preparing for a brutal mid-year US wind renewal that threatens to bring tumbling rates and underutilised capacity

The riskier additional layer of Nationwide Mutual's Caelus Re III cat bond has upsized from $225mn to $320mn and closed at the lower end of initial pricing guidance, sources said.

The Turkish Catastrophe Insurance Pool (TCIP) has come to market with the first non-US peril cat bond of the year, seeking $100mn of cover against Turkish quake risk, sister publication Trading Risk has reported.

Bermudian carrier PartnerRe is the latest reinsurer to establish its own strategic sidecar vehicle with the launch of the $75mn Lorenz Re.

Reinsurers face a challenging year as margins come under increasing pressure from softening prices and competition from both traditional and capital markets rivals.

Traditional reinsurers are increasingly recognising the threat posed to their business models by capital markets, with more responsive carriers adapting first to the new reality, according to Willis Re

PartnerRe has joined the ranks of reinsurers to launch a strategic sidecar vehicle with $75mn multi-year Lorenz Re Ltd.

Montpelier Re will not invest any more of its own capital during the latest fundraising round for its Blue Capital Global Reinsurance Fund, Blue Capital Management CEO and president William Pollett has confirmed.

US insurer Nationwide Mutual has returned to the cat bond market while the North Carolina wind pools more than doubled the size of their hurricane cat bond on the back of high investor demand and low pricing, sister publication Trading Risk understands.

Property Claims Services (PCS) has allayed fears of further creep on the bulk of Sandy claims as it reiterated its previous $18.75bn industry loss figure.

Ace European Group chairman Andrew Kendrick warned the London market that (re)insurers need to concentrate on building a culture of "sustainable underwriting" if it is to tackle the "permasoft" market conditions and economic headwinds that continue to dampen growth in many regions.