Best of Artemis, week ending 1st July 2012

So July has now begun and we’re well into the period when the catastrophe bond market slows down and issuance becomes scarce. So it might come as a surprise to some to learn that two catastrophe bond deals hit the news in the last week. Oak Leaf Re Ltd. (Series 2012-1), a repeat of the private transaction Towers Watson Capital Markets facilitated last year, and Queen Street VI Re Ltd., the latest cat bond from Munich Re. Here are the ten most popular articles from the last seven days on Artemis.

Top ten most viewed articles on Artemis.bm, week ending 1st July 2012:

1. Reinsurance-linked investments and catastrophe bonds ‘truly uncorrelated’
   Hedge fund managers meet in Monaco and insurance-linked securities, catastrophe bonds and the broader spectrum of reinsurance-linked investment opportunities were the subject of much discussion.
2. Have catastrophe bonds become competition for traditional reinsurance?
   The catastrophe bond market seems to be on the cusp of becoming more competitive with traditional reinsurance, with many recent reports that cat bonds have been cheaper than the traditional alternatives. We look at rating agency Moody’s comments on the recent Everglades Re deal and what that transaction shows us.
3. DCG Iris raises £40.1m in share issuance for insurance-linked securities fund
   Fund raising for the DCG Iris ILS and cat bond fund finishes but only manages to raise just over £40m. As an equity wrapped fund the current financial market crisis impacted the launch of this new ILS fund.
4. Tropical storm Debby brings significant flooding to Florida
   The fourth named storm of the Atlantic season drenched Florida and caused quite widespread damage for a storm which didn’t reach hurricane status. We haven’t yet seen any insured loss estimates for the storm.
5. Companies who engage in weather hedging see increase in firm value
   A study attempts to prove the link between companies who engage in hedging activities and those who see an increase in fair value. It looks at weather derivatives and the impact they have on balance sheets for energy utilities.
6. Catastrophe bond price return index continues unseasonal recovery
   Cat bond price returns continue to rise in June despite them typically declining at this time of year due to the start of the hurricane season.
7. Fund managers and investors would welcome new insurance-linked security or catastrophe bond deals
   There is significant appetite in the investor community for new cat bond or ILS transactions making right now a good time to issue.
8. Munich Re brings Queen Street VI Re Ltd. catastrophe bond to market
   A new cat bond comes to market from long-term sponsor Munich Re. Their sixth Queen Street deal, Queen Street VI Re Ltd., see’s them try to offload some of their U.S. hurricane risks and European windstorm risks to the capital markets.
9. Oak Leaf Re Ltd. 2012-1 catastrophe bond privately placed by Towers Watson
   Towers Watson Capital Markets facilitate another private Oak Leaf Re deal for a Florida homeowners insurer. Oak Leaf Re Ltd. (Series 2012-1) was double the size of their 2011 deal and shows further broadening of the ILS market to those seeking smaller levels of risk transfer than typical deal size.
10. GAM to operate waiting list on subscriptions to catastrophe bond fund
    GAM have chosen to throttle new subscriptions to their Star Cat Bond fund by operating a waiting list, citing primary market capacity constraints and lack of issuance as the reason.