Best of Artemis, week ending 15th July 2012

It’s been a busy week of news in the ILS, catastrophe bond and reinsurance markets thanks to a number of mid-year reports which have been published. The reports are all positive for further expansion of the capital markets funded risk transfer and reinsurance sectors and observers see continuing interest from major sources of investment capital. Here are the ten most popular articles from the last seven days on Artemis.

Top ten most viewed articles on Artemis.bm, week ending 15th July 2012:

1. SAC Re launches bringing another $500m of capital to the reinsurance market
   The reinsurance market has another $500m of capital to help temper rates from the launch of Bermuda based SAC Re. The reinsurer launched a week ago announcing it had raised $500m of capital in a private placement of the equity securities of its parent, S.A.C. Re Holdings, Ltd.
2. Vita Capital V Ltd. marketing, new mortality-linked catastrophe bond from Swiss Re
   Reinsurer Swiss Re has begun marketing their latest insurance-linked security transaction and this time it’s a deal that the wider ILS investment market should appreciate as it’s a diversifying opportunity and a life transaction. Swiss Re are bringing their latest Vita Capital mortality-linked catastrophe bond to market, their fifth such transaction.
3. Insurers, reinsurers and investors show commitment to insurance-linked securities in 2012: Swiss Re
   The first-half of 2012 was the second most active such period of insurance-linked securities and catastrophe bonds issuance since 2007. The approximately $3.6 billion of newly issued ILS, predominantly cat bonds, in the first-half is evidence of insurers, reinsurers and investors all showing their commitment to the ILS market, says reinsurer Swiss Re
4. Twelve Capital bolsters insurance-linked securities team with underwriting and modelling hires
   Zurich, Switzerland based insurance-linked securities investment manager Twelve Capital has bolstered its ILS team with the addition of two new hires.
5. Catastrophe bond market grows further in Q2 2012, nears all time high
   During the first six months of 2012 catastrophe bonds have continued to play an important, and growing, role in the property catastrophe risk transfer market, says a latest quarterly reinsurance market report published today by broker Guy Carpenter.
6. CATCo publish update on Japan and New Zealand earthquake exposures
   CATCo Investment Management has published an update to the stock market and their investors on their expected losses and exposure to investors from the earthquakes in New Zealand and Japan in 2011 through their investment in the collateralized reinsurer and retrocession underwriter CATCo Re.
7. Excess capital means supply outstrips demand for reinsurance globally: Aon Benfield
   A report from Aon Benfield states that reinsurance capacity, measured by capital, reached its all time high point of $470 billion at the end of the first quarter of the year and this has led to supply of reinsurance continuing to outstrip demand globally.
8. Japanese pension funds need to begin hedging longevity risk
   The largest public pension fund in the world, Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), is becoming a perfect example of the need for Japan to adopt longevity risk management and longevity hedging strategies urgently in order to be able to meet their growing liabilities.
9. Capital market participation in reinsurance to grow quicker than traditional capacity: LGT
   The LGT ILS team say that they expect significant growth of the insurance-linked investments universe in the coming years as the amount of capital markets participation in the reinsurance market increases.
10. Munich Re target $100m for Queen Street VI Re catastrophe bond
    Munich Re’s latest catastrophe bond Queen Street VI Re Ltd. is getting closer to completion and we now have some more details on the expected size of the transaction and the pricing of the notes.