All Features articles – Page 10
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Investment Analysis
$5bn new cat bonds for 2008?
The cat bond market had a record year in 2007. What are prospects for the current year? David Sandham spoke to some of the leading players.
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Features
Renewals Review 2008
We review 11 classes of reinsurance business and gather the thoughts of some of the leading underwriters brokers and observers to gain an insight into the impending renewals season.
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CEO Q&A
CEO Q&A Anthony Taylor
An interview with Anthony Taylor, the former chief executive officer and current executive chairman of Montpelier Re.
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Analysis
Validus Re: From Bermuda to Lloyd’s
Bermudan reinsurer Validus had to fight hard to acquire Talbot, but in winning the Lloyd’s managing agent, for a reported $400m, it increased financial security through diversification, as well as its global distribution. Mairi Mallon looked into the background to the deal.
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Features
Surviving Monte Carlo
Love it or loathe it, the Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous is once again upon us. Helen Yates takes a look at the biggest conference in the reinsurance world and dusts off her crystal ball.
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Features
Enjoying Monte Carlo
Life, even at the Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous, is not all business. Vitali Vitaliev takes in the sights and sounds of Monaco, stops by at the Casino, and luxuriates at the Hotel de Paris.
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Country Analysis
Russia: Showing no fear
Russians often give a wry smile when they read advertising hoardings carrying the name of prominent (re)insurer Ingosstrakh. The brand name translates literally as ‘international fear’, an abbreviation of the Russian words for international and insurance (strakhsbor – ‘fear collection’).However, despite its Soviet-era origins and scary name, the giant company ...
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Features
Gambling with reserves
Reserve releases are keeping many insurers and reinsurers profitable, but have they gone too far and will the practice come back to haunt them? Some companies will soon have to make difficult decisions, says Steve Mathews of EMB.
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Features
Is the price right?
Faced with rate reductions across most classes of reinsurance, companies are addressing the problem of how to manage the softening insurance cycle. Stewart Mitchell takes the temperature of the market.
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Features
Washed away
Amidst continued recovery from the Midwestern floods and heightened concerns regarding the US levee and dam infrastructure, the insurance industry braces itself for the onset of the hurricane season
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Investment Analysis
Betting on the weather
Weather derivatives have shed their post-Enron reputation as risky and exotic instruments. Lindsey Rogerson charts their impressive growth and asks if the attraction for investors is sustainable.
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Country Analysis
Between two storms
Mexico is vulnerable to hurricanes on both coasts and flooding as far inland as the capital city. As Ana Paula Nacif discovers, catastrophe modelling in the country is progressing – and bringing with it a better understanding of the country’s exposures.
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Features
CAT modelling
The industry’s confidence in catastrophe models was tested in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina defied loss expectations. In our latest survey, Global Reinsurance asked readers how they feel about the models now. Helen Yates presents the results.
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Cover Story
Paying for catastrophes
Catastrophe losses are getting more and more expensive. Population growth and increasing wealth compound exposures while a changing climate causes more frequent and severe events. Ronald Gift Mullins asks, “Who should pick up the tab?”
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Editor's Note
Storm chasers
It’s that time of year again. On 1 June the North Atlantic hurricane season officially started. As a result, we’ve turned into an industry of storm chasers once again. We may not physically chase storms like the half-crazed enthusiasts racing around in their trucks in Tornado Alley, but we will ...
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GR Focus
Dammed in China
The recent magnitude 8 earthquake in Sichuan was the strongest and deadliest earthquake to strike China in over 30 years. Dr Milan Simic describes the additional threat from manmade dams and lakes formed by earthquake-induced landslides.
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GR Focus
Modelling future climate
The fourth assessment report from the UNEP Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) goes some way to predicting the impact of climate change on weather patterns.
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Analysis
Entering a Renaissance
RenaissanceRe has rebounded from the crisis it faced at the end of 2005 when founder and CEO James Stanard left the company. Today Bermuda’s only true monoline has its top-notch ratings back, and has been expanding and snapping up top talent, reports Mairi Mallon.
