Sector developments and company hires

Nephila taps LBR vehicle
Nephila Capital has funded its newly launched Syndicate 2358, which focuses on short- to medium-term insurance business lines, with capital provided through Lloyd’s London Bridge Risk PCC vehicle. The transaction provides reinsurance capital from a diverse group of investors, including four pension funds, to support underwriting beginning with the 2022 Year of Account.

Nephila has been active in the ILS market for over 20 years and at Lloyd’s for nine years, and by using LBR PCC to channel this investment, now brings part of its investment activity onshore in the UK.

In addition to this transaction, Lloyd’s has disclosed that Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan - which became the first investor to use LBR PCC (SCI 10 November) - has provided a second tranche of capital via LBR PCC to cover further risks in 2022.

In other news…

Italian country ceiling upped
Fitch has upgraded 57 tranches of 35 Italian RMBS, ABS and SME securitisations. The rating actions follow Fitch's recent upgrade of Italy's long-term foreign- and local-currency IDRs to triple-B from triple-B, with a stable outlook.

The rating agency maintains a six-notch differential between the sovereign IDR and the highest achievable structured finance ratings. Therefore, the Italian sovereign upgrade implies a maximum achievable rating for structured finance transactions in Italy of double-A. This rating cap reflects the risk of sovereign weaknesses increasing the likelihood of extreme macroeconomic events that could undermine the performance of the securitisations, according to Fitch.

North America
Richard Pennay has been appointed head of Aon Securities’ ILS team. Based in New York, he will report to Paul Schultz, ceo of Aon Securities.

In his new role, Pennay will formulate strategies to grow the ILS book of business, building on a record year of catastrophe bond issuance for the sector in 2021. He joins Aon from ILS fund manager Merion Square Capital, which he co-founded and served as managing partner and president. Before that, he co-founded Rewire Securities and was a director at Swiss Re Capital Markets.

Rothesay Asset Management has recruited Rahul Vishal Sinha as head of US ABS and structured credit, having worked previously as md of structured credit investments at Apollo Global Management. Sinha brings extensive structured finance experience from both Apollo and OneWest Bank.