23 November 2018ILS

Markel CATCo warns on cat losses

Bermuda-based Markel CATCo Investment Management has implemented a specific loss reserve to cover the potential losses arising from the 2018 events Hurricane Michael and Typhoon Jebi, while warning of exposure to the California wildfire and a loss creep from 2017 nat cat events.

The reserves for hurricane Michael and typhoon Jebi losses resulted in a 3.7 percent impact to the ordinary share net asset value (NAV) and 9.8 percent impact to the C Share NAV as of 31 October 2018.

Markel CATCo said that the reserves have been based on early industry estimates as the information on the insurance industry loss is still developing for these events and cedant loss notifications are not yet available.

The investment manager also warned over potential losses from the ongoing California wildfires, notably the Camp (Northern California) and Woolsey (Southern California) fires, which began in early November.

Based on early assessments of the industry loss potential due to the fires, it appears a material loss to the portfolio is likely in an amount that could exceed the impact of the 2017 California Wildfire events (2017: c.17 percent). The estimated impact to ordinary shareholders and C shareholders will be determined after the fires are fully contained and further industry information has been made available, the firm said.

In addition, the company is warning over a potential loss creep from the 2017 nat cat events.

The company said its ordinary shareholders continue to be exposed to losses arising from 2017 major events. Since the reserve provisions made in April 2018 for 2017 events, the insurance market has continued to report further loss deterioration. In addition, the industry loss estimates for the 2017 events have increased at least 9 percent over estimates reported in April 2018. As a result, further reserve strengthening is likely to be necessary. An assessment of third quarter cedant loss information is currently underway and an announcement of the estimated portfolio impact will be made prior to the release of the Nov. 30, 2018 NAV update, the company said.




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More on this story

News
26 November 2018   Fitch Ratings has claimed that Japanese non-life insurance groups Tokio Marine Holdings, MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings and Sompo Holdings have incurred their biggest annual catastrophe loss on record in the first half of the financial year ending March 2019 (FYE19). All three have offices or subsidiaries based on Bermuda.
ILS
7 December 2018   Markel CATCo, the retrocessional reinsurance investment specialist, is under investigation by regulators in US and Bermuda in relation to loss reserves recorded in late 2017 and early 2018, which proved to be inadequate.
News
1 March 2019   The board of Markel CatCo has announced that it has “recommend an orderly run-off” of the firm's portfolios, a move that raises a question mark over the future of the company.