ILS

As the industry prepares to converge on Monte Carlo for the annual ritual of the Rendez-Vous, it is clear that the alternative reinsurance market - from cat bonds and sidecars to collateralised reinsurers - has never been stronger. IQ asks what it means for traditional reinsurers

The growth of the alternative market has been a mixed blessing for traditional reinsurers, according to Fitch Ratings.

US thunderstorm losses have led ratings agency Moody's to downgrade a $50mn tranche of the Combine Re cat bond by a notch from Ba3 down to B1.

London-listed collateralised retrocessionaire Catco Reinsurance Opportunities Fund has reported a 5.3 percent increase in net asset value to $357.9mn for the first half of the year as investment gains on its 2012 portfolio offset loss creep from 2011 catastrophes.

After two consecutive quarters of relatively benign losses helped capital to recover to record levels, Bermudian (re)insurers have spoken favourably about using share buybacks to take advantage of weak sector valuations.

It is with great regret that Insider Publishing says goodbye to its publishing editor, Rebecca Bole, who is leaving the organisation

RenaissanceRe's permanent sidecars returned to profit in the first half of 2012 as the reinsurer's joint ventures helped to lift its top line by 6 percent

Cat bond issuance has reached $4.29bn for the year-to-date after two diversifying cat bonds closed in strong demand in August

RenaissanceRe CEO Neill Currie says the influx of collateralised capital into the reinsurance markets can help reinsurers

Liz Frederick, the global head of insurance-linked securities (ILS) at Kane who was recently appointed managing director (MD) of Kane USA, has left the insurance manager.

The AlphaCat sidecars contributed $12.1mn to Validus' second quarter profits while the Bermudian reinsurer took a $5mn quarterly loss from the new PaCRe start-up, according to its strong Q2 results.

Lancashire wrote off $25mn in the second quarter for industry loss warranty (ILW) payouts related to the Costa Concordia disaster as ILW losses also hit its retro sidecar Accordion, the company's results showed.