Archive for April, 2011

After the success of their first medical benefit insurance-linked security transaction Vitality Re which came to market in December last year, Aetna are seeking to secure additional catastrophe bond type cover for their Health Re Inc. subsidiary through a second transaction.

Catastrophe bond and catastrophe insurance-linked security pricing has dipped in recent weeks as the market comes to terms with the possible losses triggered by the earthquake in Japan on 11th March. Cat bonds are generally trading at lower prices than before the disaster and some deals which are most exposed to the events in Japan […]

The Baldwin & Lyons Insurance-Linked Securities (ILS) Fund dropped 4.37% in March in the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami according to their latest market report, published yesterday. The fund is a good indicator of the price adjustment and market nerves which have dominated since the disaster in Japan on the 11th March. The […]

Insurance-linked security specialist fund manager Securis Investment Partners has put on hold its plans to list a new £200m ILS and cat bond fund on the London Stock Exchange.

PERILS AG, the independent Zurich-based company providing industry-wide European catastrophe insurance data, has released an updated version of its PERILS Europe Windstorm Industry Exposure Database.

Some Japanese insurers chose to extend their current reinsurance programs rather than renew at the recent 1st April renewals date. With prices in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami rising significantly, some insurers have chosen to hold off while losses continue to be assessed.

Swiss Re have redeemed the €108m Class A tranche of Crystal Credit Ltd., their beleaguered catastrophe bond type deal which securitized payments related to an indemnity-based excess-of-loss retrocession agreement between Swiss Re and Crystal Credit. The transaction is a cat bond type deal which covered a defined portfolio of credit reinsurance treaties for Swiss Re.

As we’ve discussed a number of times on Artemis since the flood disaster in Queensland, Cyclone Yassi and the earthquake in New Zealand; it’s likely that we will begin to see more catastrophe bond deals with exposure to risks in Australia coming to market. Insurers in the region have suffered significant losses, some of which […]

The Swiss Re Cat Bond Performance Indices have continued to decline for the fourth consecutive week since the market began to take in the devastating effects of the 11th March earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The impact on catastrophe bonds is starting to become clearer as information emerges from ratings agencies and issuers which suggests […]

A number of high profile organisations within the risk transfer and reinsurance industries have teamed up to help bring affordable catastrophe insurance to the Caribbean island of Haiti. The innovative, donor-capitalised insurance facility called the Microinsurance Catastrophe Risk Organisation (MiCRO), has been set up to target the country’s ‘informal sector’ – the organized poor who […]