ILS

Martin Reith's proposed start-up vehicle Neon Capital did not write business at the 1 June renewals, The Insurance Insider understands.

Travelers has increased the size of its new Longpoint Re III cat bond from $150mn to $250mn as indicative pricing on the deal narrowed, Trading Risk understands.

The California Earthquake Authority (CEA) bought a $100mn collateralised reinsurance contract to top up its claims-paying capacity for 2012, according to governing board meeting documents.

With the final piece of Florida Citizens' risk transfer set to complete as The Insurance Insider went to press, the state-backed insurer has taken advantage of competitive conditions across traditional and non-traditional sectors to place 50 percent more cover than it expected.

The durability of the hardening market for US cat reinsurance has been questioned after underwriters were disappointed by rate rises at the Florida-dominated 1 June wind renewal

Forecasters at Tropical Storm Risk (TSR) has revised its outlook for Atlantic hurricane activity upwards this year and now anticipates a close to normal season.

USAA has successfully gained $40mn annual aggregate cover against multiple US perils at a relatively high-frequency level from the cat bond market as part of its new $200mn Residential Re cat bond.

Global reinsurer Scor has increased the amount of event-driven contingent capital it can draw on following large natural catastrophe losses to EUR150mn, having triggered the first EUR75mn of its 2010 facility last year.

Capital market investors provide about 10-15 percent of the $220bn-$250bn of global catastrophe reinsurance capacity, according to estimates from brokers and bankers.

Goldman Sachs' head of structured finance Michael Millette has estimated that the "quiet and pervasive" collateralised reinsurance market is almost as big as the cat bond market and growing in importance.

In recent years P&C (re)insurers have moved toward a new "paradigm" where a smaller core balance sheet is complemented by a range of off-balance sheet ventures that provide less volatile fee income and a more efficient means of flexing capital, according to Goldman Sachs's head of structured finance Michael Millette.

RenaissanceRe's temporary retro sidecar Upsilon Re is likely to continue writing business into 2013, the property cat specialist said