Best of Artemis, week ending 30th October 2011

Last week was peppered with news of catastrophe and weather events once again, as the flooding in Thailand and earthquake in Turkey dominated much of the industries thoughts. The last week also saw a new catastrophe bond issuance from Swiss Re, closure of the latest Munich Re cat bond and discussion of the best reinsurance-linked investment strategies.  Here, to give our readers a chance to catch up on any news they have missed, are the top ten most read stories of the last seven days.

Top ten most viewed articles on Artemis.bm, week ending 30th October 2011:

1. Nephila says their business model means cheaper reinsurance for primary carriers
   Nephila Capital discuss their strategy and belief that their business model means they can offer more cost-effective reinsurance to primary carriers.
2. Thailand flood losses rise, over $3.3 billion insurance claims, and rising
   The worst floods in years to hit any major city on the planet are destined to leave a large re/insurance bill behind.
3. Risks, returns and volatility of insurance and reinsurance linked investments
   A new report provides an easy way to visualise and understand the risks, returns and volatility of the spectrum of reinsurance-linked investment opportunities.
4. Investors suggest Ianus Capital loss from Turkey quake unlikely
   After the earthquake in Turkey cat bond investors suggest that the quake won’t have been severe enough to cause a loss to the Ianus Capital catastrophe bond.
5. Swiss Re quantifies Canadian longevity risk in new report
   Reinsurer Swiss Re reports that the Canadian pension market has over $1 trillion in longevity risks and needs to look at the best ways to insure and hedge those risks.
6. Hurricane Rina unlikely to trigger MultiCat Mexico 2009 catastrophe bond
   Hurricane Rina threatened the Yucatan Peninsula as a Category 2 storm but by the time it made landfall it had weakened significantly meaning it was no threat to the MultiCat cat bond.
7. New Successor X Series 2011-3 cat bond being marketed for Swiss Re
   Swiss Re returns to the catastrophe bond market with their latest deal in the Successor series.
8. How the California Earthquake Authority finds value in catastrophe bonds
   We spoke with the CEA to better understand their reasons for using cat bonds and when they would look to return to the cat bond market with another Embarcadero Re deal.
9. Queen Street IV Capital Ltd. catastrophe bond completes upsized at $100m
   Munich Re’s latest cat bond upsizes by a third to $100m at close.
10. Earthquake catastrophe bonds being assessed by the Insurance Bureau of Canada
    Canadian regulators are performing a major study into the earthquake risks that the country faces, part of that study will involve an assessment of the viability of cat bonds.