What’s behind South Africa’s flood disaster
South Africa, the continent’s most industrialised country, has largely escaped the tropical cyclones that regularly hit its neighbours. But last week, storms pummelled the east coast city of Durban, triggering heavy floods and landslides that killed more than 440. Here are the main questions behind the floods and devastation. FULL PUBLICATION HERE
Blackstone sees cat bonds & ILS as real estate risk transfer options
Investment giant Blackstone is increasingly focusing on the need to manage risks within its various real estate companies and assets, using risk transfer solutions, insurance and instruments such as catastrophe bonds and insurance-linked securities (ILS). Blackstone is one of the biggest investment groups in the world and has a global real estate portfolio that it […]
Cat bond momentum has carried over into 2022
Market momentum for catastrophe bonds continued through the first quarter after last year’s record new issuance. More than $3 billion of coverage has been issued in the 144A cat bond sectors since the beginning of the year, said Philipp Kusche, New York-based global head of ILS and capital solutions for TigerRisk Partners Inc. That follows […]
UnipolSai seeks €100m cat bond quake reinsurance with Azzurro Re II 2022
Italian primary insurance company UnipolSai Assicurazioni S.p.A. has returned to the catastrophe bond market for what will be its fourth issuance, with a €100 million Azzurro Re II DAC (Series 2022-1) issuance that seeks to extend its sources of earthquake reinsurance protection from the capital markets. This new Azzurro Re catastrophe bond from UnipolSai is very […]
USAA targets $375m+ Residential Re 2022-1 aggregate cat bond
USAA, the U.S. primary mutual insurer, is sponsoring a $375 million plus aggregate catastrophe bond transaction, with a Residential Reinsurance 2022 Limited (Series 2022-1) deal being marketed to cat bond funds and investors. This is USAA’s regular May sponsorship of an annual aggregate catastrophe bond, as the insurer continues to place the capital markets at the […]
Catastrophe bond market hits new high on busy start to 2022: Report
The outstanding market for catastrophe bonds and related insurance-linked securities (ILS) reached a new all-time high at the end of the first-quarter of 2022, as a busy start to the year took Artemis’ measure of the sector to $37.5 billion. This is according to the latest quarterly report on the catastrophe bond and related insurance-linked securities […]
PGGM ILS portfolio at ~$8.2bn, as Aeolus, SCOR & Nightingale Re added
PGGM, the Dutch pension fund investment manager that continues to be the largest single investor in the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market, increased its ILS portfolio to roughly US $8.2 billion, while adding new mandates with Aeolus, SCOR and a managed account structure named Nightingale Re. PGGM’s ILS portfolio reached EUR 7.2 billion at the end […]
Being viewed as ESG positive is not enough for ILS: Prabis, Hiscox ILS
Interest in the relevance of insurance-linked securities (ILS) from an ESG standpoint continues to grow, but while there’s consensus that the market has a role to play, being viewed as positive is not enough, according to Vincent Prabis, Managing Principal at Hiscox ILS. We spoke with Prabis as part of our series of sponsor showcase video […]
Asia: Region exposed to biggest gap in flood protection
Extreme flood events once again drove high losses in 2021, accounting for 31% of global economic losses from natural catastrophes. Yet, 75% of flood risks remain uninsured, Swiss Re Institute reveals. FULL PUBLICATION HERE
Australia passes cyclone reinsurance pool legislation
Australia has passed legislation to enable the establishment of a reinsurance pool for cyclone and cyclone-related flood for homes, strata corporations and small businesses, in a move welcomed by the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA). The ICA says it is now incumbent upon the Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation (ARPC) to release its pricing schedule to […]