Capital markets

The retrocession market has sourced $1bn of new capacity in the past year, with most of the growth coming from traditional reinsurance carriers, Aon Benfield Global Re Specialty chairman Piers Cantlay said at a Guernsey ILS Insight event hosted in Zurich last week.

Lloyd's (re)insurer Amlin is set to lift its stake in insurance-linked securities fund manager Leadenhall Capital Partners from 40 percent to 75 percent, six years after it helped launch the firm.

MMC's reinsurance arm Guy Carpenter has become the latest authoritative voice to confirm widespread softening in the reinsurance markets at the mid-year renewals, as it noted "price decreases across virtually all geographies and lines of business, many in the double-digit range"

Swiss Re has said that alternative capital is unlikely to replace the traditional natural catastrophe reinsurance market, despite the inroads made by the capital markets in recent years

Tighter US tax regulation could be in the pipeline for hedge fund-backed reinsurers, amid calls from lawmakers for tougher tax treatment of investors in the offshore vehicles.

Worldwide insurance sales growth slowed last year, with stagnation in the industrialised world partly offsetting continued strong expansion in emerging markets, according to the latest Swiss Re Sigma world premiums study.

Investors in the insurance-linked securities (ILS) sector are likely to get increasingly close to underwriters and cedants, according to panellists at the International Insurance Society's 50th annual seminar on 24 June.

Transatlantic Holdings has increased its ownership stake in Bermudian fund manager Pillar Capital Management to 50 percent and extended its commitment to invest capital in Pillar funds, the Alleghany subsidiary announced last week.

Munich Re's withdrawal of its new Queen St cat bond showed that the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market was either reaching a pricing floor or limit on capacity for US nationwide or multi-peril risks, said Leadenhall Capital Partners CEO Luca Albertini.

Scor chief executive Denis Kessler called for an end to the current run of low interest rates during a panel discussion held at the International Insurance Society's 50th annual seminar last week.

Diversifying legacy business Enstar is looking to add a third limb to its live strategy by setting up an alternative reinsurance business, The Insurance Insider understands.

Munich Re has pulled its Queen St X Re catastrophe bond from the market, telling investors that the decision was taken due to the target size not having been attained, our sister publication Trading Risk revealed today (25 June).