Karen Clark & Co. (KCC) News

Risk Models Behind Insurance-Linked Securities Are Getting a Lot Harder to Crack

As the best hedge fund strategy of 2023 becomes a magnet for mainstream investors, the risk models it relies on are getting a lot tougher to crack. The strategy in question is tied to insurance-linked securities, which are dominated by …

After $70 Billion Hit, Insurers Wake Up to Growing Risks of Severe Convective Storms

The insurance industry is grappling with a new kind of weather risk that’s increasingly driving its biggest loss category. While no single weather event caused more than $10 billion in losses for insurers last year, there were 37 thunderstorms that …

Hedge Funds Rake in Huge Profits Betting on Catastrophe Risk

For hedge funds, the science of catastrophes helped generate the best returns of any alternative investment strategy last year. The calculus around natural disasters such as hurricanes and cyclones fed record gains at funds managed by firms including Tenax Capital, …

AM Best: Japan Quake’s Effect on Insurers ‘Manageable; KCC Says Losses to Hit $6.4B

The earnings impact on the major domestic non-life insurers of claims from the Jan. 1, 2024 earthquake in Japan is expected to be manageable relative to the sector’s net profit, according to AM Best in a market commentary. Japan’s four …

The Care and Feeding of Property-Catastrophe Models

Executive summary: The key to getting useful model results is working with models that fit specific underwriting needs and making sure the models are regularly updated while employing qualitative analysis (in addition to the models’ quantitative analysis), say experts from …

About $2.2B Insured Losses From Hurricane Idalia, Says KCC

Though it made landfall as a Category 3 storm, Hurricane Idalia impacted an are of low population and is expected to cause private insured losses of about $2.2 billion, according to catastrophe modeler Karen Clark & Co. “Idalia made landfall …

KCC Estimates Storm Hilary Caused Nearly $600M in Insured Losses

Catastrophe modeler Karen Clark & Co. said privately insured losses in the U.S. from Hurricane Hilary will be near $600 million. Once a Category 4 storm, Hurricane Hilary weakened to a tropical storm before it made landfall near Baja California …

Hail and Wind from Thunderstorms Caused $5.5 Billion in Damage, KCC Says

Severe weather created when a stationary front trapped warm, humid air over Texas and the Southeast caused an estimated $5.5 billion in insured losses, Karen Clark & Co. said in a briefing on Tuesday. KCC said there were dozens of …

Markets/Coverages: Resolute Global Partners Launches New Type of Reinsurance Contract

Resolute Global Partners, an investment adviser specializing in insurance and reinsurance, announced the launch of “Footprint,” a new type of reinsurance contract, which the firm created in collaboration with global reinsurance broker Gallagher Re and catastrophe modeling firm Karen Clark …

Moody’s RMS Estimates $5B Insured Losses From Turkey Quake as Costs Keep Mounting

The economic and insured losses from the earthquakes that hit southern Turkey on Monday, Feb. 6 continue to escalate as damage information and data keeps pouring in. The catastrophe risk modeling firm Moody’s RMS estimated on Feb. 23 that economic …