Archive for December, 2010

Loss estimates for the New Zealand earthquake earlier this year have been rising steadily as more and more claims get filed. Only a couple of months ago the loss estimates were for an industry loss of around $3 billion, to which some said that certain industry-loss warranty (ILW) contracts would be triggered.

The UK governments Department for Work and Pensions has released some data showing their latest projections for how many citizens living in the UK will make it to age 100 and how many centenarians there will be in the future. The stark figures show longevity increasing rapidly and should serve as a warning to pension […]

The recent Montana Re Ltd. cat bond issued for Flagstone Re was the first deal to feature five different perils all of which utilise a Risk Management Solutions (RMS) Paradex index trigger. The deal also features a unique parametric ‘cat-in-a-circle’ arrangement for Cayman Islands hurricane risk. The RMS press release is below.

Flagstone Re have recently completed their third catastrophe bond transaction, Montana Re Ltd. They used their Cayman Islands based SPV Montana Re to issue $210m worth of catastrophe bond notes to secure three years multi-peril cover. The notes from the deal have been listed on the Bermuda Stock Exchange. The BSX press release follows below.

The latest catastrophe bond to hit the market and complete successfully in this busy Q4 of 2010 is a second issuance from Montana Re Ltd., Flagstone Re’s Cayman Islands domiciled SPV. Flagstone Re first tapped the capital markets for cover using Montana Re in November 2009 for $175m of multi-peril cat bond cover and have […]

Earlier this month we wrote that Moody’s Investor Services had placed the senior tranche of notes from the Avondale Securities SA life insurance-linked securities on review for potential downgrade due to their close link to Ireland and the Bank of Ireland (who are facing economic difficulties). Now Moody’s has taken the next step and downgraded […]

As the year comes to a close its great to see such activity in the insurance-linked securities and catastrophe bond market as another deal closes. And its another innovative transaction, Vitality Re Ltd.,  which is a first in the market as it transfers medical benefit claims risk to the capital market on behalf of Aetna […]

Swiss Re has announced the completion of the first ever longevity trend catastrophe bond with the completion of Kortis Capital Ltd. The deal transfers $50m of longevity trend risk over to the capital markets for Swiss Re using the familiar structure more commonly utilised for natural catastrophe risk.

Guy Carpenter have published an interesting graph as part of their 2010 Catastrophe Update (which you can read on their GCCapitalIdeas.com blog). The graph displays insured losses for man-made disasters and natural catastrophes by year and also shows the 10 year moving average.

At this time of year retailers all over the world are hoping it doesn’t snow. If you’re a UK retailer you may be a little disappointed and be glancing up at the sky nervously. Why? Well there’s a chance you’re running a weather refund promotion which means you could be literally giving your products away […]