This week, the annual Monte Carlo Rendezvous was the highlight, not for the first time coinciding with a major hurricane. It will take some time to assess the insured losses through Hurricane Irma. AIR Worldwide's latest estimate is between $20-40bn less than first thought. Munich Re reported that it may make a loss in the third quarter, but other reinsurers have still to provide an assessment.

As the annual Monte Carlo Rendezvous begins, the Atlantic hurricane season is in full swing, with Hurricane Harvey rapidly followed by Irma which is about to hit Florida as we write. Insurers, reinsurers, and ILS may be in for a major pounding. Air Worldwide and CoreLogic provide latest estimates of potential insured losses.

This week, Fitch Ratings said it expected consolidation in the reinsurance market. According to Consumer Intelligence, UK home insurance premiums are rising at their fastest rate for three years.

This week, Hurricane Harvey hogged the headlines. CoreLogic, Air Worldwide, and RMS reported their estimates of economic losses but it is still far from clear how much it will cost the insurance industry.

Populism? That was very 2016 wasn’t it? The vote for Brexit and the election of Donald Trump had many warning that 2017 could be even worse.

The conventional wisdom for generations has been that life expectancy will continue to increase much at the same rate as it did for most of the 20th century.