International insurance transactions can be significantly accelerated and simplified, suggests a trial by Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) involving the successful implementation of a blockchain prototype for the captive insurance market. “We are currently seeing many blockchain applications in…
Catastrophe bond issuance during the second quarter of 2017 totalled US$6.38 billion across 20 transactions, a new record for quarterly issuance that easily surpassed the previous record of US$4.49 billion set in Q2 2014, Aon Securities said in a new…
The volume of completed mergers and acquisitions (M&A) worldwide in the insurance industry continued its downward trend, with 170 deals in the first six months of 2017 compared to 186 in the preceding period, according to a new report from…
Sponsors completed six catastrophe bonds with coverage for Canada in the first half of 2017, raising $2.7 billion through transactions that included Canada, Property Claim Services (PCS) said in its PCS H1 2017 Catastrophe Bond Report. The first cat bond,…
Global insurance mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity slowed across all sectors in 2016, according to a new study from global investment management firm Conning. The Conning study, 2017: Global Insurer Mergers & Acquisitions in 2016 – Activity Slows, but Pressures…
Insurtech funding in the first quarter of this year saw funding volume of US$283 million, a 64% drop from the first quarter of 2016’s total of US$783 million, likely the result of “start-ups moving from fundraising to product launch stage,”…
The frequency of insurance claims related to mergers and acquisitions (M&A) is rising as large deals prove risky and the average payout on the most severe category of claims tops US$20 million, according to a new global study from American…
Sponsors completed one catastrophe bond with coverage for Canada in the first quarter of 2017 (Galilei Re), according to Property Claim Services’ (PCS) first-quarter cat bond report released on Wednesday. As it was a large transaction, capital raised by cat…
While the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market for insurance distribution and services “cooled slightly” in 2016 from the prior year, market conditions continue to support high levels of M&A activity going forward, according to a new study from Hartford, Conn.-based…
New issuance volumes for insurance-linked securities (ILS) were atypical in 2016, Swiss Re reported on Friday, noting that for the first time, the third quarter was larger than the second quarter. While the second quarter is typically the busiest of…
Canadian risk has begun to feature “fairly prominently” in the catastrophe bond market, with three cat bonds issued last year, according to Property Claim Services’ (PCS) full-year cat bond report for 2016. The report, titled Strong Finish: PCS FY2016 Catastrophe…
Five insurers and reinsurers – Aegon, Allianz, Munich Re, Swiss Re and Zurich – have launched the blockchain insurance industry initiative B3i, aimed at exploring the potential of distributed ledger technologies to better serve clients through faster, more convenient and…