October 2017/3

The Mexican state education authority is leading a string of direct and facultative (D&F) losses expected by the London market following the two earthquakes which struck the country in September.

As reinsurers continue to put out provisional loss estimates for Q3 cats, there is a growing recognition that 1 January will bring about a hardening in the US property treaty sector that could spread to other lines.

Wildfires that have ravaged California wine country came under partial control over the weekend, and rain forecast for later this week may let firefighters halt the advance of multiple blazes that have destroyed at least 5,350 structures in the region and left dozens of people dead.

Hyperion is the latest distribution group to seek extra capital through the mounting interest of long-term, low-return capital providers in the sector.

The reaction of investors in cat funds that write retro will play a major part in determining the extent of rate hardening for both reinsurers and insurers at 1 January.

Anyone who spends time on LinkedIn will be more than familiar with the eye-catching headlines written by the marketing departments of large recruitment or consultancy firms.

Two well-known figures in the trade credit insurance market have made a return to EC3 after lining up private equity funding to build a wholesale and specialty broker.

State Auto's specialty carrier Rockhill will not write new or renewal excess and surplus lines (E&S) property accounts after 1 November.

These Mexican losses are just the tip of the iceberg for the London direct and facultative (D&F) market.

London-listed (re)insurers have emerged as the most affected by the third quarter's catastrophe events.

Insurance-linked securities (ILS) investors contemplating leaving the sector because of low rates may be enticed to stay by the price increases expected following the recent hurricanes, according to Todor Todorov, head of ILS research at Willis Towers Watson.

Insurance-linked securities (ILS) managers must enter into dialogue with cedants to build confidence following the recent hurricanes, said Paul Schultz, CEO of Aon Securities, speaking at the Trading Risk New York Rendez-Vous last week.