Pol risk, credit & surety

Dutch pension fund provider PGGM raised a further $260mn of securitised notes via its Leo Re vehicle just before Christmas, according to a Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX) listing.

A flurry of deals at the end of last year took total cat bond lite issuance to $1.17bn for 2017, up over 400 percent from 2016's $212.81mn.

Validus Re's first cat bond proved to be popular with investors, expanding by 23 percent over the course of marketing to reach $400mn.

Political violence insurers are set to pay out around EUR25mn ($29.4mn) to the owners of a Libyan cement plant that was stormed by jihadists in 2016, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

The UK trade credit insurance market has been hit by a series of claims in recent months, prompting discussions on potential rate increases.

Nimbla, a trade credit insurance start-up, is on the hunt for series A funding.

Risk transformation regulations that will allow for an insurance-linked securities (ILS) regime in the UK have been passed by parliament

Markel Catco will raise gross proceeds of $543mn from the sale of new shares in its London-listed Catco Reinsurance Opportunities Fund, taking the fund manager's total new capital raised following third quarter losses to $2.3bn.

The London Stock Exchange-listed Blue Capital Alternative Income Fund anticipates a median return of about 15 percent for next year, with a return of 10 percent for a mean loss scenario.

Schroders has launched a life insurance-linked securities (ILS) fund with $750mn of committed capital spread across several mandates.

Credit Suisse-managed reinsurance vehicles Humboldt Re and Kelvin Re have both had their A- ratings confirmed by AM Best, after the ratings agency said that each would record an underwriting loss this year.

Credit and political risk veteran Andrew Beechey will move back to the UK to help develop the global financial risks (GFR) operation at Liberty Specialty Markets (LSM).