Capital markets

Nephila Capital co-founders Frank Majors and Greg Hagood, along with long-time colleague Barney Schauble, were named the Outstanding Contributors of the Year at the 2014 Trading Risk Awards in London last week (19 June).

A spike in interest rates would likely make the ILS sector more appealing to investors in the short term, Goldman Sachs' global head of structured finance Michael Millette said at the inaugural Insurance Insider and Trading Risk London Executive Briefing last week.

The choice on whether to deploy third-party capital or capital from a reinsurer's own balance sheet relies principally on the concentration of risk, said Aditya Dutt, head of RenaissanceRe Ventures, at last week's inaugural Trading Risk London executive briefing.

Credit rating agency Moody's has lowered its outlook on the reinsurance sector from stable to negative, citing falling prices amid intense competition, steady encroachment from alternative capital providers, and persistently low interest rates.

Singapore's prominence as an international (re)insurance hub continued to grow in 2013, as the city state attracted more reinsurers keen to tap into the fast-growing Asia Pacific market.

Ironshore's proposed IPO is set to give its founding investors and others that have since put money into the company a long-awaited opportunity to achieve liquidity on their holdings.

By 2024 the reinsurance industry will have undergone unimaginable change and 15-20 reinsurers could be enough to service the market as consolidation becomes inevitable, said Willis Capital Markets & Advisory (WCMA) CEO Tony Ursano.

The global insurance industry could undergo consolidation driven by the Asian markets over the next few decades, according to speakers at the Airmic conference held in Birmingham, UK, last week.

AA IPO; Ergo acquires; Hamilton hires; Allstate cat loss; Quindell overhaul; R&Q update; XL recruits; RSA interest; ING IPO; Peak Re profit; RSG launches; Heritage approved; Hiscox Dublin; DWF election; Argo appoints; White Oak grows; Travelers wants Tria; XL cyber; Aspen expands

The necessary conditions for industry consolidation are in place but larger reinsurers are unlikely to be among the principal deal-makers, according to Denis Kessler, the CEO of global reinsurer Scor.

M&A advisory and capital markets specialist Scott Maries has left his position as a managing director at JP Morgan to join Enstar, The Insurance Insider revealed earlier today (23 June).

Former Sunshine State (SSIC) CEO Steve Korducki is working on Canopy Insurance Holdings, a new Florida homeowners' start-up aiming to go live after a targeted $50mn capital raise, The Insurance Insider can reveal.