Trading Risk July 2017

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned that Tropical Storm Emily was expected to produce rainfall of 2 to 4 inches along the west coast of central Florida as it passes over the state this afternoon

Artex has issued its second cat bond lite of the year on the Bermuda Stock Exchange, raising a total of $8.31mn.

The ILS market has well and truly put its foot on the accelerator this year - with cat bond volumes setting new records and ILS managers competing hard in Florida

Average returns posted by a group of cat bond funds came to 0.68 percent in the second quarter of 2017, taking year-to-date gains to 1.36 percent

The Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund (OPERF) reported a $145.1mn holding in two Nephila funds as at year-end 2016

The ILS portfolio managed by Swedish state pension fund AP3 grew by more than 40 percent in the second half of 2016, according to its most recent report

The UK Treasury's final version of regulations that will establish a framework for local ILS issuance have gone some way to addressing industry concerns

The World Bank, UK and Germany pledged resources to help expand disaster insurance cover in developing countries at the Global Insurance Forum in July

Axis Capital CEO Albert Benchimol said the carrier could look to share more property cat risk with third-party capital providers after its $604mn acquisition of Lloyd's insurer Novae

RenaissanceRe and Swiss Re remained the two biggest carriers on the $1bn reinsurance programme bought by the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (FHCF) in 2017.

PGGM has recruited Youssef Sfaif to join its ILS investment management team. He joins the firm from Scor, where he spent the past two years as an actuary.

Markel Catco Investment Management CEO Tony Belisle has extended his contract with the company until 31 December 2020.