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Insurance technology veteran Sandra DeSilva has announced the launch of Mythen, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered parametric insurance platform and reinsurer, based in Bermuda and Texas, that specialises in writing natural catastrophe risks.

Mythen, is comprised of a team of global insurance, reinsurance and technology experts who aim to leverage advanced technologies in order to provide liquidity and coverage for otherwise difficult to insure risks.

According to the announcement, Mythen’s multi-disciplinary team of industry veterans will use AI, machine learning, underwriting, modelling, remote sensing, and other technologies for developing insurance products, structuring coverage, and taking risk.

“We are using the latest technologies and working with highly-skilled partner companies to penetrate deeper into the insurance market with products across the natural and other catastrophe risk spectrum,” commented DeSilva.

She continued: “We are motivated to help combat climate change and close the widening insurance gap by providing the technology to administer global portfolios subject to climate risk and uncertainty.

“I am delighted with the team as we are addressing critical social and environmental needs.”

Moreover, Mythen Holdings Bermuda oversees Mythen Insurance Services, and is made up of a Texas-based managing general underwriter (MGU), as well as a claims service unit, Mythen Claims Services, and Mythen Re, which is a Bermuda Class 3a insurer which has a fully collateralized Bermuda segregated cell, Eiger 2025.

The organisation has ambitions to help alternative reinsurance capital sources, including those from the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market, access more risk in parametric form.

Therefore, by offering structured parametric solutions, Mythen seeks to bridge the gap between ILS investors and natural catastrophe risk, which will ultimately help create new opportunities for efficient capital deployment.

In addition, Mythen has also partnered with Texas-based insurer Southlake Specialty Insurance Company, which provides paper, fronting, and leverage, while the MGU enjoys quota share coverage from partners in the wider reinsurance market.

“Mythen’s parametric solution is a prime example of Southlake’s dedication to innovation and the use of technology to drive the insurance industry forward. Sandra’s team is addressing the critical challenge of providing first-dollar coverage in a complex market. After seeing the demo, we immediately recognized its potential to revolutionize how businesses manage wind exposure—and knew we had to be part of it,” said Yogesh Kumar, CEO of Southlake.

At the core of Mythen Insurance Services is a technology platform that links data, risk analytics, and forecasting expertise to manage portfolios and covering insurance risk.

The company has begun underwriting windstorm risk, namely US hurricane risk, utilising parametric trigger products designed to minimise the time time to pay claims as well as keeping internal expenses low.

Engineered for simplicity and accessibility, the product is tailored for brokers and clients, ensuring seamless adoption.

At the same time, Mythen’s WindSpeed™ technology and online platform enables instant quoting, portfolio management, while also allowing for upscaling risk and seamless hedging.

AI-powered parametric platform Mythen launched by DeSilva in Bermuda was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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Urs Ramseier, Chief Executive Officer of insurance-linked securities (ILS) manager Twelve Securis, expects significant growth in the parametric ILS market as technological advances enhance data quality, modelling, and trigger precision, creating new opportunities for business interruption coverage and protection where traditional insurance and reinsurance solutions are lacking.

twelve-securis-ils-manager-logoAt the Artemis ILS NYC 2025 conference, AM Best spoke with Ramseier about the current state of the parametric ILS marketplace.

He explained that parametric ILS has primarily been part of the catastrophe bond space, including those issued by the World Bank. However, a growing number of private parametric ILS transactions are now entering the market, which Ramseier views as a positive development offering new opportunities for investors.

Ramseier highlighted the advantages of parametric ILS structures over traditional ones.

“Parametric is clear in terms of trigger,” said Ramseier. “There is no risk of trapped collateral, and this means that internal rate of returns are superior to indemnity transactions, because you don’t have the dilution of the risk premium when the collateral is trapped, you have certainty on the liquidity.”

He added, “So basically, we can offer higher liquidity terms for our investors on the fund level, and you don’t have side pockets on commingled ILS funds.”

Ramseier also emphasised the role of technology in driving the growth of parametric ILS.

“I think technology is the key driver behind it. More power to compute these models, better data—this is really the driver of parametric development in insurance, reinsurance, and also the ILS space,” he noted.

He addressed a common misconception that parametric structures carry significant basis risk—the gap between an event occurring and a payout being triggered—explaining that technological advancements are helping to minimise this.

“A lot of people think there is a lot of basis risk for the buyer of ILS solutions, but I think with this technology, we can reduce or mitigate the basis risk a lot. Getting the trigger closer to the exposure is a development that has only become possible due to this better technology we have,” said Ramseier.

Looking ahead, Ramseier anticipates massive growth in the parametric space, opening up new demand for business interruption coverage and protection in areas where traditional insurance and reinsurance markets currently lack solutions.

The full AM Best interview with Twelve Securis’ CEO at Artemis ILS NYC 2025 is embedded below.



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Technology to drive growth in parametric ILS market: Ramseier, Twelve Securis was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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Porch Group, the owner of insurer Homeowners of America Insurance Company (HOA) which was impacted by the Vesttoo reinsurance letter of credit (LOC) collateral fraud, has agreed a $7.1 million settlement over constructive trust claims with the Vesttoo Creditors Liquidating Trust, court documents show.

porch-vesttoo-logoAn order has been entered in the Delaware bankruptcy court approving a Stipulation between the Vesttoo Creditors Liquidating Trust and Porch in the Chapter 11 case.

It relates to so-called constructive trust claims related to a reinsurance transaction for HOA that utilised a specific White Rock cell and under these claims, which had been disputed by the bankruptcy Trust, Porch had asserted entitlement to $15,011,392.70 in cash held by the Liquidating Trust.

The Trust continues to dispute Porch’s assertions, but the court order states that “to avoid the substantial risks and expenses of litigation, the Parties have negotiated this Stipulation in good faith and at arms’ length to resolve this dispute,” and so a settlement has been agreed.

The parties have agreed to a payment of $7.1 million for Porch to settle these claims, as a result of which Porch shall waive all future claims against the bankruptcy debtors and Liquidating Trust in the Vesttoo bankruptcy case, it seems, aside from any general unsecured claims that emerge which would then be subject to reduction due to this payment that is now seemingly due.

The settlement does not constitute any admission by any party, simply being a settlement to avoid the ongoing costs and challenges associated with any continuation of the litigation, is how we understand it.

Continuing the litigation over the constructive trust claims held by Porch could have resulted in additional costs for the bankruptcy trust, and other parties including Porch, hence finding a settlement agreement was deemed important to reduce this risk, it appears.

For Porch, the settlement adds to recoveries the company will make to cover some of the significant costs it has suffered due to the Vesttoo scandal.

For some background recall that, Homeowners of America Insurance Company (HOA), the Porch subsidiary, had been revealed as one of the first companies to be exposed to Vesttoo’s fraudulent reinsurance letters of credit (LOCs).

It has since pursued remedies in the courts to help the company recover some of the value destroyed by the Vesttoo fraud, saying it would vigorously pursue all damages caused to the firm by the incident.

We haven’t covered the Vesttoo debacle for some time, but parties impacted by the fraud, such as Porch, have continued to pursue damages in the courts to recover some of the value lost and destroyed.

Recall that Porch initially said its Homeowners of America Insurance Company (HOA) subsidiary had an exposure to reinsurance contracts arranged via Vesttoo, as a result of which the company realised a charge of $48.2 million in its second-quarter 2023 results and said it was pursuing $300 million of collateral from a letter of credit (LOC).

Porch had to replace significant HOA reinsurance limit that was affected by fraudulent letters of credit collateral and made additional investments into its Homeowners of America Insurance Company to help it recover from the episode.

The company had also agreed a $30 million strategic arrangement with Aon, that included releasing all claims related to the Vesttoo fraud that it had made against the broker.

Porch had also filed a law suit in New York against China Construction Bank Corporation, over the Vesttoo reinsurance collateral fraud, accusing the massive Chinese bank of “enabling its personnel to perpetrate a colossal fraud” on the plaintiffs.

The company had also sued broker Gallagher Re, claiming it “grossly mismanaged” the administration of the reinsurance, a case which seemingly remains in limbo at this time, while its aforementioned case against China Construction Bank had been combined with one filed by program services and fronting specialist Incline P&C Group.

The China Construction Bank and Gallagher cases continue, it seems, with no adjudication or any settlements to-date that we’re aware of. Other cases related to the Vesttoo fraud also continue, although with little progress and no further recoveries it seems at this time.

But, Porch has now secured this further $7.1 million settlement with the Vesttoo Creditors Liquidating Trust to cover some more of the damages its business has suffered, enabling it to make another recovery and close another thread in this saga for the company.

Read all of our coverage of news related to the fraudulent or forged letter-of-credit (LOC) collateral linked to Vesttoo reinsurance deals.

Porch agrees $7.1m settlement with Vesttoo Creditors Liquidating Trust was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, the state’s insurer of last resort, is aiming to purchase $2.94 billion of new traditional reinsurance and catastrophe bonds for the 2025 hurricane season, which would take its total risk transfer to $4.54 billion this year.

florida-citizens-reinsurance-cat-bonds-risk-transfer-tower-2025Florida Citizens still has $1.6 billion of catastrophe bonds outstanding to provide protection through the 2025 hurricane season.

There is $1.1 billion of aggregate reinsurance limit available from the Everglades Re II Ltd. (Series 2024-1) cat bond that Florida Citizens sponsored in 2024, which will run through both the 2025 and 2026 wind seasons for the insurer.

In addition, Citizens still has $500 million of industry-loss based reinsurance from its Lightning Re Ltd. (Series 2023-1) cat bond that it sponsored in 2023 and which will provide coverage through the next hurricane season only, maturing early next year.

The cat bond program has provided the insurer with added certainty from its multi-year protection, on top of which it will now venture into the market to secure additional reinsurance or cat bonds up to the targeted $4.54 billion of limit.

To secure the necessary risk transfer and reinsurance protection for 2025, Florida Citizens said it is budgeting for approximately $650 million of premiums.

For 2024, the insurer had budgeted $700 million initially, compared to a projection of $695.2 million for for 2023.

The decline in premium ceded that is being budgeted for comes with the reduction in exposure Florida Citizens has experienced, as its depopulation program has taken greater effect in the last year.

Because of this reduced level of exposure, the 1-in-100 year PML is estimated at around $12.86 billion as of the end of 2024, compared to an over $17 billion projection it had for that figure in late 2023.

Recall that, Florida Citizens had reported its policy count as falling below 1 million by the end of November 2024. That decline has continued, with the figure dropping to 847,571 policies by the end of February 2025 and so the exposure-base falling commensurately.

Florida Citizens staff as a result propose buying total risk transfer of $4.54 billion, with the $1.6 billion of in-force catastrophe bond protection and $2.94 billion of new private risk transfer, made up of both traditional reinsurance and catastrophe bonds.

Some of the traditional reinsurance may also be from collateralized sources, as it’s typical that ILS funds participate in these layers as well.

In fact, at its 2024 renewal Florida Citizens secured almost $1.3 billion of protection that came from insurance-linked securities (ILS) and collateralized markets participation in its traditional reinsurance tower.

The 2025 risk transfer tower is expected to feature a traditional reinsurance sliver layer that sits alongside and works in tandem with the mandatory coverage provided by the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (FHCF) amounting to $394 million.

FHCF coverage is projected to be $3.548 billion in size, down on the $5.02 billion utilised for 2024, again due to the reduction in exposure.

Above that will sit a layer featuring the $1.6 billion of in-force catastrophe bonds and roughly $2.55 billion of new reinsurance and cat bonds procured for 2025, which will all be annual aggregate in nature.

You can see the proposed 2025 risk transfer tower for Florida Citizens below:

florida-citizens-reinsurance-cat-bonds-risk-transfer-tower-2025

Beneath the private market risk transfer the surplus has been eroded compared to last year, effectively meaning reinsurance cover could attach from a projected $2.547 billion of losses in 2025.

At its 2024 reinsurance renewal, the Florida Citizens tower had $3.154 billion of surplus sitting in the bottom layer.

If Florida Citizens is successful in placing the targeted $2.94 billion of new reinsurance and cat bonds, giving it $4.54 billion of private market risk transfer, it says that it would expose all of its surplus and have a potential Citizens policyholder surcharge of $559 million for a 1-in-100-year event in 2025.

Citizens staff are now engaging with brokers, advisors and market participants to design, structure and price its reinsurance and catastrophe bond placements for 2025.

It’s worth remembering though, that Florida Citizens had targeted $5.5 billion of reinsurance and risk transfer in advance of the 2024 hurricane season, but only ended up buying just under $3.6 billion as it found pricing too high to maximise its protection last year.

Citizens explained that its proposed risk transfer tower for 2025, “is structured to provide liquidity by allowing Citizens to obtain reinsurance recoveries in advance of the payment of claims after a triggering event while reducing or eliminating the probabilities of assessments and preserving surplus for multiple events and/or subsequent seasons.”

Given the attractive execution seen in the catastrophe bond market for recent deal sponsors, it’s anticipated that Florida Citizens could come to market with another large new issuance in the coming weeks.

Florida Citizens targets $2.94bn of new reinsurance and cat bonds for 2025 was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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Third-party capital in the reinsurance market reached record highs in 2024, as broker Guy Carpenter, alongside rating agency AM Best estimated that it reached a substantial $107 billion at year-end, however, a key driver of the increase is the continued growth of the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market, which is the major component of third-party capital across reinsurance.

am-best-logoAM Best recently hosted a webinar which featured notable figures across the reinsurance industry, who discussed their reactions to the 1/1 renewals, as well as what they expect to see happen across the sector in 2025.

During the webinar, Carlos Wong-Fupuy, senior director, AM Best, highlighted third-party capital’s record performance in 2024, and then focused attention towards the role that ILS plays towards reshaping reinsurance capacity and pricing dynamics.

“I think that if ten years ago we were talking about ILS being a significant competitor to traditional capital, these days they are more in a converging role and working together,” said Wong-Fupuy.

He continued: “We see a lot of this increase on ILS capacity is actually from affiliated ILS funds, and a number of large-rated balance sheets actually have a ILS platform, which means that companies are working in such a way that they’re offering is sometimes actually contingent to having ILS capacity where they can reallocate risks depending on infrastructure appetite.”

Moreover, a recent report from AM Best highlighted how underlying ILS capital expanded throughout 2024 due to a large quantity of investors reinvesting their earnings across the market, which ultimately further expanded deployable ILS capacity.

In addition, Wong-Fupuy also commented on what role the hardening property reinsurance market plays towards shaping investor confidence going into 2025.

“I think that with the investors, especially on the ILS side, we have seen this reinvestment of returns. So, let’s remember, this is a segment that in the last few years is producing double digit returns, as close or in excess of 20%. Even with all the issues that we have been discussing, we are projecting something around probably around 15% or 17%, for the next couple of years,” he said.

“I mentioned earlier the risk premium that investors are assigning to that, so they are not expecting this to last for too long. Having said that we have a much higher interest rate environment as well.”

Wong-Fupuy also emphasized the need for a balanced approach to deploying capital and managing investor expectations.

“So, on the one hand, I think that the high returns that the segment is showing are achievable, but we have a cause of opportunity, which means that from an investor’s point of view, there are probably other lower risk alternatives which show the strong returns as well.”

ILS and reinsurance increasingly working together: Wong-Fupuy, AM Best was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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Paul Gregory, Chief Underwriting Officer (CUO) of insurance and reinsurance firm Lancashire Holdings Limited, has revealed that the company wrote a smaller retro book at the January 1st 2025 reinsurance renewals, which according to the CUO, resulted in a marginally better outcome for the organisation.

lancashire-logoIt’s worth noting that Lancashire is primarily a buyer of retrocession, rather than a seller.

Speaking during Lancashire’s full-year 2024 earnings call, the CUO explained that the company cut its inwards retro writings at the January renewals, as market conditions were “reasonably competitive”.

“We did take the opportunity to cut our retro book back. There was more rating pressure in that market, and as I said earlier, we’re a bigger buyer than seller so at the margin that’s better for us,” Gregory said.

“But, we took the opportunity to cut back some of our inwards exposure, given the rating environment.”

Also during the call, Gregory explained that Lancashire expects there to be less property catastrophe reinsurance rate softening than initially anticipated for the reminder of 2025, following the impacts of the wildfires in Southern California.

Industry losses for the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires are currently centered around the $40 billion mark, however some companies have suggested the total loss could reach as high as $50 billion, while economic losses are expected to exceed $250 billion by some margin.

For Lancashire, the wildfires are estimated to drive net losses of between $145 million and $165 million, while the firm recently revealed that the event has eroded “a good portion” of its annual aggregate reinsurance coverage placed at the 1/1 2025 renewals.

Gregory commented on the potential impact of the fires on rating for the rest of 2025 for different classes and regions.

He said: “For property catastrophe reinsurance, we would expect there to be less rate softening than we originally anticipated. We would expect to see a flattening of rate in the US and more measured rate softening in other territories.”

“There are, of course, a number of territories still to renew through the year that are loss impacted, and these will see year on year rate increase. So, overall, the rating environment will now be more favorable than originally expected,” he added.

Outside of property cat reinsurance, Gregory explained that Lancashire does not foresee any significant change from the firm’s original rating outlook, other than if directly impacted by wildfires.

“What the California wildfires do is act as a reminder that our industry is always subject to large loss events. It is also a reminder of the value of our product. Usually, large loss events of this nature are a catalyst for future demand, and any increased demand for the product will only help further stabilise the rating environment,” commented Gregory.

Lancashire wrote less retro at 1/1 amid ‘reasonably competitive’ market conditions: CUO was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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Oxbridge Re Ltd., the Cayman Islands based reinsurance company, has now confirmed its two tranche offering of tokenized reinsurance securities that will fund its collateralized reinsurance sidecar vehicle Oxbridge Re NS for 2025, with 20% and 42% return targets.

oxbridge-re-token-suranceplusOxbridge Re launched is Web3-focused venture SurancePlus back in 2022, utilising digital ledger technology to create tokenized reinsurance securities using the Avalanche blockchain.

These tokenized reinsurance securities act as a funding mechanism to support the firm’s collateralized reinsurance sidecar vehicle Oxbridge Re NS, with investors that buy into the securities gaining access to reinsurance-linked returns generated through the sidecar and its quota share arrangements with Oxbridge Re.

The reinsurer raised $2.4 million through its first sale of digital or tokenized reinsurance securities, which were named DeltaCat Re in 2023.

That $2.4 million of capital was used to support collateralized reinsurance contracts, underwritten via its sidecar structure, Oxbridge Re NS.

The DeltaCat Re tokenized reinsurance sidecar securities realised a 49% return for their investors, surpassing initial and updated expectations.

In early 2024, Oxbridge Re raised $2.88 million for its sidecar structure through a series of EpsilonCat Re tokenized reinsurance securities, issued by its subsidiary SurancePlus Inc, which had a target return of 42%.

Those EpsilonCat Re digital reinsurance securities run through till the mid-year of 2025, at which point their returns will be known.

We then reported in November 2024 that Oxbridge Re was planning to expand its tokenized reinsurance securities offering, with the launch of a second tranche of notes that had a lower risk-return profile, saying at the time that a high yield token would target a 42% return, and a balanced yield token would target 22%.

That latest offering, for the 2025 to 2026 reinsurance contract year, has now opened and Oxbridge Re has confirmed this two tranche approach, one being higher-yield and one a lower-yielding reinsurance investment opportunity.

Oxbridge Re is launching offerings for EtaCat Re securities that will have a 20% return target and ZetaCat Re securities that have a 42% return target, with both supporting its provision of reinsurance to property and casualty insurers in the Gulf Coast region of the United States through the 2025 to 2026 wind season.

The company said, “These blockchain-powered offerings open access to an asset class that was previously exclusive to institutional investors and ultra-high-net-worth individuals. Now, a wider range of investors can access SurancePlus’ tokenized reinsurance securities, targeting high-yield returns backed by Real-World Assets (RWAs) through real-world reinsurance contracts.”

Denominated in shares of $10 each, the funds raised through the offering of these securities will be invested into collateralized reinsurance contracts supporting the Cayman Islands sidecar structure Oxbridge Re NS.

Jay Madhu, CEO of Oxbridge, said, “We are excited to launch this year’s offering, especially with the introduction of our balanced-yield, security-backed token, which targets a broader investor base with a projected 20% return. SurancePlus is democratizing an asset class that was once exclusive to high-net-worth individuals, now allowing investors to participate with as little as $5,000.”

Oxbridge Re is utilising digital asset technology and architecture, in order to facilitate fractionalised investments into reinsurance-linked securities, which is an interesting approach.

These remain small, in issuance terms of tranches seen so far, but the reinsurer continues to plough ahead with this technology-based approach to reinsurance investments and it will be interesting to see what can be raised for the 2025 contract year.

Oxbridge Re confirms 20% & 42% return targets for tokenized reinsurance sidecar tranches was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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Artemis has learned that direct-to-consumer insurtech company, Kin Insurance, has now successfully priced its latest catastrophe bond transaction, securing the 50% upsized target of $300 million of Florida named storm reinsurance protection from the Hestia Re Ltd. (Series 2025-1) issuance, which marks the company’s largest cat bond yet.

kin-insurance-logoAt the same time, we’re told the final pricing of the two tranches of Series 2025-1 notes were at the low-end of the already reduced guidance range.

Kin sponsored its debut $175 million Hestia Re Ltd. (Series 2022-1) catastrophe bond cover back in April 2022.

The company then returned to the cat bond market with a $100 million Hestia Re Ltd. (Series 2023-1) issuance in March 2023.

Kin then ventured back to the catastrophe bond market in early February, looking to secure $200 million or more in Florida named storm protection from this Hestia Re 2025-1 deal.

As we reported in our first update on this new deal, the target size was increased to as much as $300 million, while at the same time the price guidance range was lowered for both tranches of cat bond notes.

Now, sources have told us that the upsized target of $300 million has been secured, with the notes priced at the bottom of reduced guidance.

As a result, Hestia Re Ltd., Kin’s Bermuda-based special purpose insurer (SPI), will issue $300 million in two tranches of Series 2025-1 notes.

These notes will provide the sponsor with a three hurricane season source of fully-collateralized Florida named storm reinsurance, on a indemnity trigger and per-occurrence basis, running from June 1st this year to three years after the issuance completes.

The Class A tranche of notes of Series 2025-1 notes, which were originally $100 million in size, were then lifted to a targeted $175 million to $200 million in size, has now been priced at $200 million, so the top end of its upsized guidance.

The Hestia Re 2025-1 Class A notes have an initial base expected loss of 1.51% and were first offered to cat bond investors with price guidance in a range from 7.25% to 8%.

That priced guidance was updated at a lower level, with a spread of between 6.75% to 7.25% then being offered to investors, and we’re told the pricing has now been finalised at the low-end of the spread at 6.75%.

The riskier Class B tranche have been priced at $100 million in size, which is the same price they were originally being offered to investors.

The Hestia Re 2025-1 Class B notes have an initial base expected loss of 2.03% and were first offered to cat bond investors with price guidance in a range from 8.25% to 9%.

In our last update on this deal, we revealed that the priced guidance had also fallen and had been fixed at the low-end of 8.25%.

This is a strong result for Kin, as this latest cat bond builds on the company’s previous success across the market. Kin has maximised its opportunity to increase its reinsurance protection from the capital markets with this Hestia Re 2025-1 deal, capitalising on the strong demand being seen from the cat bond investor base, while also securing the coverage at attractive pricing.

As a reminder, you can read all about this Hestia Re Ltd. (Series 2025-1) in the extensive Artemis Deal Directory that includes details on almost every cat bond ever issued.

Kin secures 50% upsized $300m Hestia Re 2025-1, its largest cat bond yet was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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Direct-to-consumer insurtech company Kin Insurance is looking to upsize its new Hestia Re Ltd. (Series 2025-1) catastrophe bond transaction, with now as much as $300 million of Florida named storm reinsurance being targeted from the deal, we can report.

kin-insurance-logoKin returned to the cat bond market in early February looking to secure $200 million or more in Florida named storm protection from this Hestia Re 2025-1 deal.

Kin had sponsored its debut $175 million Hestia Re Ltd. (Series 2022-1) catastrophe bond cover back in April 2022.

The company then returned with a $100 million Hestia Re Ltd. (Series 2023-1) issuance in March 2023.

Kin’s 2022 Hestia Re cat bond is still marked down around 10 points in secondary broker pricing sheets, on exposure to potential losses from hurricane Ian. But it is due to mature in April this year, so as we said it will be interesting to see if those notes draw to par, or are extended to allow for further development.

With this new issuance, initially Hestia Re Ltd. was looking to issue two tranches of Series 2025-1 notes with a preliminary target of $200 million in size, to provide Kin with a three hurricane season source of fully-collateralized Florida named storm reinsurance, on a indemnity trigger and per-occurrence basis, running from June 1st this year to three years after the issuance completes.

Now, sources have told us that Kin’s target has lifted, with from $275 million to as much as $300 million of reinsurance sought from this two tranche Hestia Re 2025-1 issuance.

What was a $100 million tranche of Hestia Re Series 2025-1 Class A notes are now targeted at from $175 million to $200 million in size, we are told.

The Hestia Re 2025-1 Class A notes have an initial base expected loss of 1.51% and were first offered to cat bond investors with price guidance in a range from 7.25% to 8%, but that has now fallen to a revised and lower range of 6.75% to 7.25%.

The $100 million Class B tranche which are riskier remain at that size, we understand.

The Hestia Re 2025-1 Class B notes have an initial base expected loss of 2.03% and were first offered to cat bond investors with price guidance in a range from 8.25% to 9%, but that has also fallen and now been fixed at the low-end of 8.25%.

Both tranches of notes look set to price with lower multiples-at-market than Kin’s previous catastrophe bond deals, as the insurer looks set to benefit from the strong deal execution seen in the cat bond market this year.

You can read all about the Hestia Re Ltd. (Series 2025-1) catastrophe bond from Kin and every other cat bond deal issued in our extensive Artemis Deal Directory.

Kin looks to upsize Hestia Re 2025-1 cat bond to as much as $300m was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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Descartes Underwriting, the parametric risk transfer specialist, has announced the appointment of Blanca Berruguete as Head of Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Distribution and Client Management, where she will be based in Madrid, and report to Descartes’ co-founder and Chief Insurance Officer Sébastien Piguet.

descartes-underwriting-logoIn her new role, Berruguete will be responsible for EMEA business development and client services, as well as leading Descartes’ European commercial team.

Berruguete has spent 25 years serving clients and brokers across the commercial insurance sector, which has allowed her to develop a keen focus on building value for clients.

Most recently she served as Global Industry Solutions Director for Construction at Allianz Commercial, part of global insurer Allianz, where she worked closely with underwriters and key account executives to build industry specific expertise and best practices.

Furthermore, Berruguete has also previously served in leadership roles in broking and underwriting, both in London and Madrid, at notable firms, including Generali, the Corporation of Lloyd’s of London, AIG, Zurich Insurance, as well as brokers Heath Lambert and AJ Gallagher.

Addressing her appointment, Berruguete said: “I have worked with many of Europe’s leading commercial insurers to support clients with large, challenging risk transfer requirements, but Descartes’ tech-based approach gives me much greater flexibility. Through Descartes I will be able to provide much more bespoke coverage that better matches the specific needs of each of our brokers and their clients.”

Piguet, added: “We are fortunate to attract a business development leader such as Blanca. Her strong commitment to providing value to clients while building long-term relationships aligns perfectly with Descartes’ mission of offering, in partnership with carriers and brokers, the best coverage for each and every client.”

Descartes hires Berruguete as Head of EMEA Distribution & Client Management was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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