ILS
News in brief
With many new products being launched, and re/insurers scrambling to attract executives to help them meet demand, there has been plenty of ILS news to keep up with at Bermuda:Re+ILS. Here are some of the top stories we have covered in recent weeks.
New Bermuda ILS marketplace
A new ILS marketplace called Blackbird has registered with the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) as an “innovative intermediary” insurance marketplace provider under its Regulatory Sandbox programme.
According to the BMA website, Blackbird will be a “closed-end liquid market for structured, syndicated and modelled cyber exposure and other specialty risk as fixed-income products”.
ILS Capital Management insurtech
ILS Capital Management has announced that it is investing in a new insurtech incubation platform, MLTPLY.
Launched in October 2021 with the intention of creating a new offering every six months, MLTPLY provides startups with venture funding, operational infrastructure, insurance product delivery and support, plus fronting and reinsurance capacity.
Markel buyouts
Markel has announced a buyout to give an accelerated return for investors in two ILS funds, the private Markel CATCo Reinsurance Fund and its public CATCo Reinsurance Opportunities Fund.
It has also filed applications with the Supreme Court of Bermuda for the appointment of joint provisional liquidators to implement the buyout transaction. Markel Corporation will put in up to $150 million to fund the deal.
Convergence 2021 cancelled
ILS networking event Convergence 2021 will not go ahead after the organiser, ILS Bermuda, announced it was scrapping plans for a hybrid event.
The trade body had planned for live sessions at Bermuda’s Hamilton Princess Hotel & Beach Club as well as online attendance but concerns over COVID-19 meant it was unable to go ahead.
Somerset Re hires
Based in Bermuda, Chris Smith will set client strategy for the structured reinsurance line, and lead reserve and capital financing transactions, embedded-value securitisations, sidecars and retrocessions. He will report to Somerset Re’s chairman and chief executive Jeff Burt.
Smith was SCOR Global Life’s global head of financial solutions in London, and head of group corporate finance and treasury for SCOR SE in Paris before that.
Randall & Quilter sidecar
Non-life legacy business specialist Randall & Quilter (R&Q) Investment Holdings has launched a new sidecar with about $300 million of capital. It announced that Bermuda-domiciled Gibson Re will allow R&Q to support some $2 billion of reserves.
Gibson Re will reinsure 80 percent of R&Q’s new qualifying legacy transactions for three years, with R&Q participating in 20 percent, “to promote alignment of interest”.
AXIS Capital Risk hires
AXIS Insurance has unveiled three key appointments within its Capital Risk Solutions team, which it claims will help enhance the unit’s London focus while, separately, continuing to invest in its presence in Asia-Pacific.
Jim Parker and Richard Jelf, both senior underwriters, have relocated to London from Bermuda and Singapore, respectively. They will focus on growing the project finance and aircraft finance portfolio as well as strengthening existing relationships and driving business growth.
