Archive for March, 2011

Rating agency Moody’s has downgraded the notes of catastrophe bond Muteki Ltd. today as they believe the deal will be triggered (which we suggested was possible earlier) and they expect a total loss of principal to investors in the transaction. The $300m Series 2008-1 deal provided protection to Munich Re for certain reinsurance contracts they […]

We’ve received a number of reports over night from sources suggesting that the $300m Muteki Ltd. catastrophe bond, issued by Munich Re on behalf of Japanese cooperative Zenkyoren, has been triggered by the 11th March earthquake in Japan. The transaction is measured against the K-Net data, which we understood was still not complete, but sources […]

Rating agency Moody’s has placed the Class C catastrophe bond notes of Vega Capital Ltd. 2010-1 on review for possible downgrade due to the earthquake event in Japan on the 11th March. The $63.9m of cat bond notes issued by Vega Capital in December 2010 provide Swiss Re with cover against qualifying earthquakes in Japan […]

We’ve written a few times about the potential for insurance-linked securities and catastrophe bond type risk transfer transactions to be recognised under the new Solvency II regime as forms of capital relief (find one of our previous articles here). The reduction in risk they offer could be recognised in Solvency II calculations if that received […]

A press release issued today by Bermuda based reinsurer Flagstone Re seems to suggest that they believe it likely that the earthquake in Japan on the 11th March will count as an activation event for their Montana Re Ltd. catastrophe bond.

Yesterday we wrote about the launch of the ISO Casualty IndexTM by the Insurance Services Office. This could be an important piece of the evolution of the catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities markets that helps the markets broaden their scope to include casualty lines of insurance business.

The CATCo Reinsurance Opportunities Fund, which was listed on the London stock exchange late last year, has raised a further $7.4m by issuing shares to meet demand it has seen from investors. The fund is managed by CATCo Investment Management Ltd. who manage assets including insurance-linked securities.

The Insurance Services Office (ISO), a member of the Verisk group of companies and the provider of the PCS Catastrophe Loss Index which is used in many catastrophe bond deals, has today launched a new index product aiming to target the casualty insurance market. ISO Casualty IndexTM is a new service which will provide loss […]

Nigeria are the latest country we’ve heard of which has a desire to establish a scheme to help its farmers protect their livelihoods from the vagaries of the weather and changing climate patterns. Only 1% of farmers in Nigeria have access to insurance cover, this despite the fact that 90% of Nigeria’s agriculture is said […]

The California Earthquake Authority (CEA), the publicly managed organisation that provides residential earthquake insurance to Californian residents, is again looking to return to the catastrophe bond markets to transfer a portion of its earthquake risks to the capital markets. The CEA has in the past issued a number of catastrophe bonds through the Redwood Capital […]