All Global Reinsurance articles in July 2008
View all stories from this issue.
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Online only
Iselle staying offshore
Tropical Storm with 45 mph winds likely to remain offshore today and on Friday
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Online only
Validus shelf rated
A.M. Best assigns indicative ratings of "bbb-" on senior debt, "bb+" on subordinated debt and "bb" on preferred stock. No plans to offer securities currently.
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Features
Pooling together
With the rising cost of natural catastrophes around the world, public private solutions could provide a model for the future. Dr Simon Young explains how the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility has set a precedent.
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Industry Matters
When storms turn political
With the prospect of high hurricane activity and pressure to keep rates low, reinsurers face a growing need to mitigate their risks, as Bob Ward explains.
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Features
Lubricating the wheels
It’s time for change in the global reinsurance industry, argues Dr Kai-Uwe Schanz. Globalisation, deregulation, consolidation and new risk transfer options are challenging the industry’s traditional way of doing business.
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GR Focus
Modelling for investors
As the market for insurance-linked securities takes off, catastrophe modelling agencies are striving to make their products simpler for investors to understand and easier for issuers to apply. David Banks reports.
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Features
Insuring the uninsurable
Reinsurers face a future of ever-increasing catastrophe losses. The World Bank’s Eugene Gurenko discusses the industry’s role in an age of climate change.
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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.
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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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Industry Matters
Dealing with a surge of claims
Reinsurers need their own cat management plan to avoid being overcome by the volume of claims arising from a major catastrophe, says Mark Sullivan.
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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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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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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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Industry Matters
Commodity inflation heightens catastrophe risk
Chris O’Kane looks at why the industry urgently needs to wake up to the real possibility of “commodity surge”.
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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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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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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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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
