Capital markets

Improved performance and growing investment returns played a role in the upgrade.

The Bermuda reinsurer has been active in ILS since launching in 2007.

The ILS manager has $6.8bn in assets and will be led by MariaGiovanna Guatteri.

The measures also seek to encourage greater wildfire mitigation efforts.

The sidecar will support five programs providing specialty frequency coverages.

The syndicate is targeting capital allocation for 1 January, the company confirmed.

Cat bonds have outperformed private ILS strategies in the YTD, according to ILS Advisers.

Sources said that the carrier has held preliminary talks with private debt investors.

The private ILS segment took losses from LA wildfires and Mid-West severe convective storms in H1 2025.

Fleming’s attempt follows those of other legacy carriers that have had recent successes raising capital.

Hannover Re Capital Partners is in talks with two investors for 1 January launch.

Ryan Alternative Capital Re was launched in partnership with Axis Capital.

The Japanese carrier has agreed to buy Aspen for a realization of $3.5bn.

The ILS play will make the business more capital efficient under new owner Sixth Street.

The lawsuit is the latest development in the multi-billion dollar reinsurance scandal.

Cat portfolios generally grew, but casualty approaches varied.

The vehicle will support Ascot’s casualty business in the US and Bermuda.

The broker has nearly 20 years of experience in the reinsurance and retro markets.

The PRA will also have to report on turnaround time for new approvals against 10-day and six-week targets.

How is The Fidelis Partnership choosing to launch into new insurance classes as it rapidly expands?

The man is alleged to have conspired with others to falsify LOCs and collateral letters.

The latest update brings the agency’s combined estimate for Milton and Helene to $32.4bn.

The programme will succeed the previous buyback launched in 2023.

Gallagher Re said rates had softened in 2025 versus the prior two years.

Sentiment at the ILS Connect event hosted by Insurance Insider ILS was generally positive.

We assess the Bermudian’s standing amid waning investor sentiment and economic uncertainty.

The state insurer of last resort is set to purchase $2.89bn of reinsurance this year.

Its 2025 programme exhausts at $9.5bn excess $1bn.

The firm acted as the front for Trouvaille Re, the E&S property sidecar for MGA AmRisc.

Being the “new kid” has created interest in the market, Mereo CEO Croom-Johnson added.

The industry loss data provider also increased its estimate for Hurricane Helene to $15.3bn.

The broker has also hired fellow Aon broker Barry Gordon in a role trading ILWs.

The business will still look at large non-life deals in particular in-the-money ADCs.

The investment recovery will be welcome but Chinese tariffs will contribute to loss-cost inflation.

European reinsurers, London market carriers and composites all enjoyed healthy trading.

Erik Manning is joining the business from BMS as head of ceded reinsurance.

The announcement spurred a quick spike in stock market valuations.

Trade credit and marine are among the lines facing direct impacts amid a broader inflationary challenge.

Swiss Re and Talanx led the gains among listed European carriers.

The asset manager has hired Rom Aviv as head of ILS.

Markets have taken a battering across the globe following the “Liberation Day” announcement.

Elizabeth Wooliston said the immediate concern would be managing ‘value at risk’.

Trouvaille II raised $580mn for 2025, compared to $325mn in 2024.

Insurance share prices were resilient amid today’s market meltdown.

Total reinsurer capital grew by $45bn in 2024 to $715bn.

Recent transactions on the platform include cat bonds from Flood Re and Brit.

The firm also promoted Devin Inskeep to an expanded role as SVP, head of ratings and advisory.

This year’s coverage will involve $2.94bn of new risk transfer.

Some $4.8bn of reinsurance and cat bond limit will come up for renewal in 2025.

The role will focus on international treaty, specialty lines and strategic advisory.

Jana holds around 109,000 shares and 69,000 call options, at a $307mn total value.

Bolding will focus on aligning Gallagher Securities with Gallagher Re.

The carrier’s Eaton Fire loss would be a retained net loss hit.

Somers Re is valued at ~$1.3bn, according to disclosures made in Arch’s Q3 2024 SEC filings.

Theo Norris joins from Gallagher Re, which brokered one of the first 144A cyber cat bonds.

The company’s stock price has plummeted in the wake of the LA wildfires.

The state insurer is budgeting for an extra 43% of overall coverage in 2025-26.

The 2025 target would be ~25% larger than the $3.56bn it placed for 2024.

Fema's traditional reinsurance programme will attach at losses of $7bn and above.

CEO Adrian Cox said Beazley’s recent $290mn ILW purchase was not driven by “capital flexibility in and of itself”.

The reinsurer is planning to drop its cession rate from 40% to 30%-35%.

The firm has helped underwriting businesses secure $3.5bn in capital.

The loss tally is considerably lower than estimates issued by model vendors.

In line with Milton’s moderate forecast loss, the ILS market reaction will be less influential in post-event dynamics.

The raise includes minority investments from Nationwide, Enstar and others.

Changes to the categorisation and oversight of managing agents seek to reduce duplication and thereby cut costs.

Cat bond funds have been attracting inflows while confidence is patchier across collateralised re.

The company increased its full year 2024 adjusted net income guidance.

The proposals include increasing either statutory or CRTF funds.

Aspen said reduced reinsurance appetite made it a good time to seek alternative capacity.

A hard cat market in 2023 means cedants must consider the alternatives.

Alexandre Delacroix will lead the Continental hub.

A more consistent trading rhythm returned to the property market, with capacity deployment outside of frequency-exposed layers and more heavily loss-impacted segments bouncing back.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday on behalf of Clear Blue and its subsidiaries, alleges that Aon conducted insufficient due diligence on the ILS InsurTech.

The Bermudian firm said it expects the acquisition could drive more growth than the prior forecast of $2.7bn incremental premium.

The lopsidedness of the ILS recovery means more confidence around prolonged hard market rates but also raises the bar on competing for third-party capital.

The sidecar has been launched alongside partner Stone Point Credit Adviser.

The APRA intends to review reinsurance settings in the Australian prudential framework over the course of 2023 and the first half of 2024.

The company’s targeted Vescor cat bond would have provided collateral to meet auto and other obligations, but there were multiple structural points of risk for investors.

The firm’s statement followed allegations in Israeli tech media of missing collateral linked to deals it was concerned in.

In a discussion at Trading Risk’s London ILS 2023 conference, panellists compared the current cyber ILS market to the cat market in the 1990s.

Hard-market conditions have been beneficial but more improvements are needed, the panel said.

At Trading Risk’s London ILS 2023 conference, the PRA’s head of division for London markets, Andrew Dyer, explained how the PRA is executing its plans to bolster the UK ILS market.

Structures have been developed that would avoid “excessive capital trapping”.

The company will use the funds to expand its global presence, enhance its marketplace platform and widen its offering.

How much capacity is available to meet rising cat reinsurance demands was a key theme throughout this year’s Rendez-Vous.

Gupta moves from Axis Capital where he served for four years in the New York team.

There are still some hurdles preventing widespread ILS adoption of cyber risk, but momentum should increase.

The ratings agency said a high degree of uncertainty around ultimate exposure is likely to be long-lasting and will fuel rate strengthening in affected lines.

The first-of-its-kind deal blends bank financing with ILS funding.

Political violence and aviation coverages had been thrown into marine composites as the market softened.

Courts in Bermuda and the US approved the move, which had earlier been subject to investor litigation.

The reinsurer said it was anticipating increased volume for catastrophe bonds and collateralised reinsurance this year.

Cornell Fox joins as head of investor relations and business development, while Masa Kitade has been enlisted as head of business development for Asia.

Plus booming broker growth; GRP, Covea UK and James River sales; and all the top news of the week.

Many ILS firms opened 2022 with reduced assets under management, in a bearish signal for the mid-year renewals.

The team will not offer an ILS product but plans to invest in insurer capital-relief instruments as part of a new asset management play.

The former MS Amlin head of reinsurance takes up the CUO role next week.

Negotiations were dragged out by decisions being referred for sign-off at senior levels.

Reinsurers have held the line more strongly than last year but rising risks may offset gains.

CyberCube also forecast that fresh capital will start to flow into the cyber insurance market next year.

The interconnected challenges of performance and the collateralized structure make it tough to land a strategic pivot.

The carrier has ramped up fundraising activities this summer as it seeks to broaden its platform.

If you only read a handful of stories this week, make it the selection below.

The Canadian pension plan Ontario Teachers’ will support three Lloyd’s syndicates – CFC, Beazley and Beat – via its initial deal.

The Dutch firm had given the AIG-owned platform a mandate that could range from EUR500mn to EUR1bn, covering US cat reinsurance.

The new London Bridge framework is less useful to the bulk of specialist ILS asset managers than it is end investors.

The manager said last year it wanted to deploy $100mn to $200mn in casualty ILS

Discussions with industry and in-country partners have so far foregrounded parametric solutions.

Markel will provide approximately $150mn to facilitate the buyout of the retrocessional segregated accounts of the funds, as well as tail-risk cover to release $100mn of trapped collateral.

Ongoing high claims from risks such as winter storm, wildfire or convective storm are playing into the climate-change debate over whether and to what extent cat reinsurers are mispricing their business.

Carriers will not necessarily accept smaller returns in exchange for high ESG scoring vehicles and risks must be properly priced, according to Dirk Lohmann, chairman of Schroders Capital ILS.

Managers such as Schroders and Fermat capitalised on investors looking for liquid, remote-risk strategies to grow their asset base in H1.

The Canadian pension fund and the ILS fund provide Funds at Lloyd’s capital alongside traditional reinsurers.

A rampaging cat bond market should lead more cedants to consider its long-term advantages.

He worked for eight years at the French firm, where he oversaw the strategic direction of its ILS business.

With ILS and pension fund money now confirmed for Syndicate 1988, there are further observations for the vehicle launch.

Reinsurers from Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and Japan have also provided capital to the syndicate for its 1 July launch.

The ILS vehicle has support from four key providers and will be launched alongside a broader offering including K&R, fine art and other specialty risks.

The experience of the past few years has made cedants much more concerned about managing tail risk than they are credit risk.

The platform will be managed by Horseshoe with Leadenhall’s head of non-life, Ben Adolph, acting as head of underwriting.

Syndicates and managing agents who want third-party capital support need to deliver on profit and transparency.

Mary Margaret von Herberstein will work on relationships with quota-share capacity providers.

The broker’s international chairman noted shifting attachment points on wind deals and reshaped aggregate covers.

The investor will focus on late seed and Series A funding rounds as it widens its geographical remit.

Former Aon broker Charlie Simpson will lead the broker’s platform in Bermuda.

The hedge fund reinsurer reports an underwriting loss of $1.1mn for the quarter, a fraction of the typhoon-driven deficit of a year earlier.

The Floridian insurer aims to renew just over a third of its private reinsurance placement in cat bond cover.

Whether the Texas Deep Freeze ends as a $12.5bn, $15bn or $20bn insured loss, it will be a medium-sized cat event that will deal an earnings hit to carriers with exposure to the affected states.

Hannover Re and Fidelis provided significant capacity on the Munich Re-led programme.

The merged entity will also look to focus on higher margin lines and invest in InsurTech.

The Insurance Capital Fund combines US wind cat bonds with subordinated debt issued by European insurers.