AM BestTV: Twin Catastrophe Years Bring Caution, Hope to ILS Markets

Business Wire

OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- In this episode of ^AMBestTV, attendees at Artemis’ ILS NYC 2019 conference in New York, NY, said a string of catastrophe losses dampened the enthusiasm of some investors in insurance-linked securities (ILS), but signs point to continued sector growth and evolution, including hybrid business models. Click on http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=ils1219 to view the entire program.

At the third annual Artemis conference, executives pointed to the 2016-2017 catastrophe events as a reason to temper optimism about growth in the ILS market.

“We are coming up on a June 1 renewal that as always will come up faster than everybody is ready for, and we need to get a sense of how these historical losses of the last two years are really coming to bear on the industry,” said Tom Johansmeyer, assistant vice president, PCS, Verisk Insurance Solutions.

Brad Adderley, partner, Appleby, said several ILS providers have moved up to become on par with established reinsurers. “I think we are going to see a lot more rated ‘Re’s’ being formed,” Adderley said. “The ILS player is growing and competing directly with commercial reinsurers.”

Robert DeRose, director, AM Best, said he expects alternative capital to remain in the market for the long term.

“Alternative capital is going to ebb and flow as opportunities present themselves,” DeRose said. “Coming off the two busy years of natural catastrophe events, alternative capital is looking for incremental price improvements. As it is able to achieve those increases, additional capital could potentially flow into the market at mid-year.”

Other executives appearing in this video include:

Aditya Dutt, president, Renaissance Underwriting Managers, Ltd.;
Judy Klugman, global co-head of ILS, Swiss Re; and

Steve Evans, owner, editor-in-chief, Artemis.

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^AMBestTV covers exclusive AM Best and insurance industry information and reports, targeted topics and key developments in the insurance, reinsurance and related sectors daily. Sign up for alerts of episodes at http://www.ambest.com/multimedia/ambtvsignup.html. View ^AMBestTV episodes at http://www.ambest.tv.

AM Best is a global rating agency and information provider with a unique focus on the insurance industry. Visit www.ambest.com for more information.