ILS

Bermudian reinsurer Argo Re is turning to the cat bond market for the first time, attempting to raise $100mn of multi-peril protection under its Loma Re offering.

Bolstered by its $180mn sidecar AlphaCat Re 2011, Validus took advantage of firming property cat rates to increase its Florida exposures by 30-35 percent

UK life insurer Prudential is among the new investors in collateralised reinsurer Catco, according to documents released to the London Stock Exchange

AM Best has affirmed the A+ financial strength rating and aa- issuer credit rating of RenaissanceRe's perma-sidecar Top Layer Reinsurance, saying it has generated outstanding operating results since 1999

Flagship cat bond sponsor USAA was forced to lift pricing above initial guidance to place its latest Residential Re multi-peril bond

Standard & Poor's (S&P) has downgraded Scor's Atlas VI Capital 2009 cat bond after aftershocks from the Tohoku earthquake racked up points towards its trigger

The Insurance Insider looks at the differences between the new models and their 2005/06 predecessors

London market boutique reinsurance and ILS broker Optex Group is set to become a wholly owned subsidiary of Besso Holdings, following the recent takeover of the London market broker

Validus Holdings has become the latest reinsurer to launch a post-Japan sidecar targeting collateralised reinsurance and retro business with the $180mn AlphaCat Re 2011

Risk and insurance management specialist Kane Group has closed its deal to buy the insurance management operations of HSBC, an acquisition first revealed by our sister title Trading Risk

The latest Residential Re cat bond sale currently being marketed for regular sponsor USAA is set to provide a key test of the market's capacity for US wind risk.

Insurance-linked securities (ILS) fund managers are "licking their wounds" after RMS released cat bond remodelling statistics under version 11 of its new hurricane model.