We have now sourced additional details about the recent $1.5 billion of catastrophe bond’s sponsored by US insurer State Farm. We’ve learned that the entire meaningful reinsurance limit provided by these newly issued notes is designed to provide the insurer with multi-year and multi-peril annual aggregate protection.We broke the news last week that State Farm had secured a significant $1.5 billion of reinsurance limit from its latest venture into the catastrophe bond market with a Merna Re 2026-1 issuance. However, at the time we got the issuing entity’s name slightly wrong, originally citing it to be Merna Re Enterprise Ltd.,…
Author: Awais
RenaissanceRe Group Chief Underwriting Officer (CUO) David Marra highlighted during the firm’s Q1 2026 earnings call, that new demand for reinsurance protection ahead of the key mid-year renewals was trending higher than the company initially projected at the January 1st renewals.In their Q1 2026 results, RenRe reported a 209% increase in fee income earned from its range of reinsurance joint venture vehicles and insurance-linked securities structures, while investors also benefitted from meaningful income and opted to take profits after the strong performance of these strategies. During the firm’s earnings call, Marra outlined that the Bermuda-based reinsurer and third-party capital management…
High costs and other stressors have made it difficult for the regional nonprofit to continue offering coverage, the company said. About 42,000 members will be affected by PacificSource’s exits.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said on Tuesday the rapid development and adoption of AI would not lead to a global “jobs apocalypse” and the technology had not claimed as many white-collar jobs as he had feared. Speaking virtually at a Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) conference in Sydney, Altman said he was initially concerned about the impact AI would have on global employment levels. He said he and his executives had been “roughly right” on the technological predictions made by OpenAI when it launched ChatGPT in 2022. But he said they were “pretty wrong” on the social and economic implications.…
In recent years, the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market has expanded from a niche property catastrophe tool into a broader and more complex asset class, and with that evolution, valuation has also moved from a reporting exercise into a core determinant of market credibility, according to Andy Smyth of Nascent Group.Smyth, the former EY executive, joined the Bermuda headquartered insurance management, ILS servicing and reinsurance transformer specialist in October 2025 as a Senior Consulting Actuary following Nascent’s strategic investment in his firm, Sephira Risk Solutions Ltd. “The ILS market has evolved from a niche property catastrophe tool into a broader, more…
The US government has joined the line of creditors impacted by alleged fraud at bankrupt autoparts maker First Brands, in this instance for accusations the company cheated on how much it should have paid on tariffs. First Brands was hit with a formal claim for $285.5 million related to allegations that it underpaid levies on parts imported from China. The figure includes a demand for penalties as well as the unpaid tariffs. That claim, which has not been previously reported, adds to the $11.8 billion in debts the company cannot fully repay. To pay creditors at least some of their…
President Donald Trump said he called off the signing of an executive order that would address cybersecurity concerns raised by powerful new artificial intelligence models because he objected to parts of the directive, casting doubt on US efforts to respond to new risks posed by the emerging technology. “Because I didn’t like certain aspects of it. I postponed it,” the president said during an event Thursday at the White House. “I really thought that could have been a blocker, and I want to make sure that it’s not.” The directive was set to be signed later Thursday by the president,…
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing online messaging platform Discord, accusing the tech company of exposing children to predators using the service and deceiving users about the safety of the platform. Paxton filed the lawsuit Friday in a Collin County state district court, the latest in a recent flurry of lawsuits by Paxton’s office against tech companies and other businesses ahead of his U.S. Senate GOP runoff against incumbent John Cornyn on Tuesday. Texas joins Nevada, Indiana and New Jersey as states that have recently sued Discord. Florida announced its investigation of the company in March. Many private lawsuits…
Inszone Insurance Services announced the acquisition of Kevin Taylor Insurance Agency, LLC. Operating as Taylor Insurance Agency, the firm brings a personal lines portfolio to the Inszone umbrella, further expanding its footprint in San Antonio, Texas. Originally founded in 2011 as a captive agency, Taylor Insurance Agency transitioned to a fully independent model in January 2014. Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Texas Was this article valuable? Yes No Here are more articles you may enjoy. Interested in Mergers? Get automatic alerts for this topic.
The JPMorgan Chase & Co. banker named in a graphic sexual harassment suit that went viral last month hit back at her accuser with a defamation counterclaim, calling his allegations “entirely false” and “malicious.” Lorna Hajdini last Tuesday night countersued a former colleague on the bank’s leveraged finance team who claimed that she forced him to be her “sex slave” and used racist language to demean him. She “categorically and unequivocally” denied his “disgusting” claims, saying they have “ruined her reputation and destroyed her life.” The April 27 suit against JPMorgan and Hajdini was filed by a John Doe plaintiff,…
Inszone Insurance Services announced the acquisition of Michigan-based Legacy Partners Insurance Services. Founded in 2013 by Joe Graham, Legacy Partners has spent the last decade growing exponentially throughout Southeast Michigan. Operating out of its Harrison Township headquarters, the agency built its reputation on comprehensive service and a close-knit, highly experienced team Following the acquisition, the Legacy Partners team will maintain its strong roots in Southeast Michigan, continuing to operate primarily from its Harrison Township hub. Founder Joe Graham will remain actively involved as an Agency Partner, working on continued growth in the state of Michigan as well as growing carrier…
Orville Williams has had a healthy wheat crop on his 2,600-acre farm in Montezuma, Kansas, every year since he was a teenager. It hasn’t always been easy. For instance, there were challenging economic times through the 1980s and various degrees of drought affecting his yield through the years. But this season feels different. “All in all, it’s not going to be a good year,” said Williams, 76. Record-setting drought and hotter-than-average temperatures mixed with sharp drops have impacted much of the U.S. early this year, including the Plains region. Drought conditions have worsened the spread of the wheat streak mosaic…
Gálapagos Capital Sociedade Seguradora de Propósito Específico S.A., the Brazil based SSPE or special purpose reinsurance vehicle that can issue Letra de Risco de Seguro (Insurance Risk Letters) and is owned by global investment company Galapagos Capital, has completed issuance of the largest transaction under Brazil’s insurance-linked securities regime so far.Gálapagos Capital SSPE has issued a R$126 million offering of LRS which is the first broadly distributed LRS arrangement since Brazil put its own ILS regulations into law and activity commenced in the country. This particular transaction saw Gálapagos Capital collaborating with Avla Seguros, one of the top five financial…
There is no longer a risk of a compromised chemical tank exploding in the suburbs of Los Angeles and evacuation orders for some of the more than 50,000 people were lifted, according to the Orange County Fire Authority. The county’s fire department has worked since Friday to contain a chemical tank at a GKN Aerospace plant in Garden Grove, about 35 miles southeast of Los Angeles, after it overheated and leaked. Officials at the site have warned throughout the weekend that the tank could explode or leak toxic substances. On Monday, the Orange County Fire Authority interim chief said the…