April 2014/1

Q What leads ILS premium multiples to vary?

Rules aimed at clamping down on US tax dodgers will land cat bond issuers with new disclosure requirements, but the burden could be lighter than anticipated

Capital market carriers did not really make inroads into the Japanese market at the 1 April renewals, Willis Re International chairman James Vickers told Trading Risk.

A number of Bermudian reinsurers have significantly reduced their net probable maximum loss (PML) figures for major catastrophe events as of 1 January 2014 after topping up on retrocession cover, analysis by sister publication The Insurance Insider's Data Room shows.

The reinsurance market may not have been counting on new demand from the state-backed Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (FHCF) coming to fruition, but the news that the fund did not expect to purchase cover for the 2014 season was still an early negative sign for the June renewals.

Premiums softened by more than expected at the 1 April reinsurance renewals as reinsurers showed they were not prepared to be beaten on price by alternative capital, brokers said.

Southport Re sale; US leads 2013 cat losses; El Niño subdues hurricane outlook; Data developments;

Karen Clark & Company (KCC) is targeting its new RiskInsight platform at users that want to build their own catastrophe risk models, as the market is set to move away from its current reliance on the big three modelling agencies.

Oxbridge Re plans to write collateralised property cat covers for Gulf Coast insurers after raising $26.4mn of net proceeds from its initial public offering on the Nasdaq SmallCap Market.

The AlphaCat-managed PAC Re sidecar is exploring the possibility of expanding beyond property cat into other business lines including casualty treaty, sister publication The Insurance Insider has reported.

Former Max Capital CEO Bob Cooney is working on a reinsurance start-up with former colleague Adam Mullan as Bermuda's hedge fund rush continues, sister publication The Insurance Insider reported.

Comparing two recent soft markets in ILS - northern hemisphere spring 2011 and autumn 2013 - highlights the need to consider other ways of measuring risk than on a straightforward multiple basis, according to a recent report from Lane Financial.