January 2017/2

Monthly share price data on The Insurance Insider's universe of P&C (re)insurers

RenaissanceRe has confirmed it set up the $140mn Fibonacci Re vehicle, which was established in Bermuda in late December, to provide it with more property catastrophe capacity.

Willis Capital Markets & Advisory's private cat bond platform Resilience Re has completed a $187mn deal, its largest transaction so far.

The Insider 50 was up by 9.7 percent on average in 2016 to beat both the S&P 500, which closed up 9.5 percent, and the Euro Stoxx 600, which ended the year down 1.2 percent.

The Insider 50 index closed the first trading week of 2017 at 1,030.4, down just 0.3 percent from the end of the year

Price-to-book (PTB) multiples at P&C (re)insurance companies were marginally higher in 2016 than in the previous year, as share price growth slowed and M&A activity lessened.

The first year of Donald Trump's presidency promises to be a mixed bag for the US insurance industry

Chronic overcapacity and a reduction in underlying activity from customers continued to hamper the energy market in 2016, leading to further rate reductions, according to JLT.

Capital model changes in the US could be a driver of incremental reinsurance demand, according to Aon Benfield.

When news broke last year that Bill O'Farrell and Arch were working together on a run-off start-up, it was speculated that the vehicle would be a Watford Re for the legacy sector, another iteration of the total return reinsurer model that was about to add Enstar's Kayla Re to its ranks.

The launch of a $510mn Kelso-backed Bermudian run-off vehicle by Bill O'Farrell and Arch comes at a time of potentially significant new opportunities in the US legacy sector.

After years of lacklustre price growth, accelerating inflation, particularly in the US and the UK, has re-emerged on the insurance radar.

A few overarching themes continue to shape the reinsurance segment as 2017 begins, including excess capital, a squeeze on margins and an active M&A market as carriers reach for growth.

A new theory that suggests the southern US coastline has a buffer zone that helps to curb hurricanes under the right conditions could lead disaster forecasters to revise their models

PA market faces $35mn baseball claim; Vibe picks up Navigators' North American D&F book; Fairfax talks to Omers on Allied; Willis Towers Watson Asia duo departs; Pryce appointed to Lloyd's Franchise Board; Icat and Neon team up on D&F; Brit expands sidecar

Analysts warned of higher-than-expected catastrophe losses from P&C (re)insurers in Q4, as XL Group disclosed its own $245mn net cat loss for the period.

Dale Willetts, head of accident and health (A&H) and special risks at AmTrust at Lloyd's Syndicate 1861, has left the company to join Endurance, The Insurance Insider understands.

For many reinsurers US casualty was a safe harbour in a sea of disappointment at the 1 January renewals.

It is one of life's great paradoxes is that the older and more mature someone gets, the more irrational they become.

Growing interest in multi-line aggregate covers translated into fresh or expanded placements at 1 January by cedants such as XL Catlin and AIG, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

A brief examination of the 1 January reinsurance renewal could be misread as an incrementally positive step in the recovery of underwriters from their soft market ills.

Reinsurers are preparing to dig in for two or three years of deteriorating results, as the 1 January renewals look set to mark the last meaningful erosion of rates following years of significant compound reductions.