Archive for May, 2011

USAA are seeking a return to the catastrophe bond market with the latest in their Residential Reinsurance series of transactions. Three tranches of Series 2011-1 notes are being issued by Cayman Islands domiciled special purpose reinsurance vehicle Residential Reinsurance 2011 Ltd. It will be their 16th natural catastrophe securitization to date.

Clariden Leu, one of the leading investment managers targeting catastrophe bond opportunities, has again closed some of its insurance-linked securities and cat bond funds as primary market issuance has failed to deliver enough capacity to keep up with capital inflow. In June 2010 Clariden Leu closed their flagship cat bond funds to new subscriptions citing […]

Ratings agency Moody’s have today confirmed the rating on two tranches of notes issued by Avondale Securities SA. The life insurance-linked notes issued by Avondale Securities, a special purpose vehicle set up in Luxembourg by the Bank Of Ireland, were issued to transfer, or securitize, a block of life insurance risk to the capital markets […]

Research undertaken by MetLife Assurance shows that pension fund trustees looking to de-risk their pension schemes are more interested in bulk annuity buy-ins and buy-outs than longevity hedging and longevity swaps, says an article in Professional Pensions. Last year their study showed longevity risk hedging as the second most popular de-risking strategy, this year it […]

We were incorrect in our assessment earlier that the Mariah Re Ltd. catastrophe bond, which is exposed solely to severe thunderstorm risks (including tornado), was unlikely to be affected by the recent spell of severe convective weather in the U.S. It transpires that due to exposure in the state of Missouri losses have qualified as […]

Insured losses from the flooding in Queensland, Australia have resulted in US$3.9 billion in claims so far according to the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA). The organisation revealed figures today showing that the insurance industry had assessed over 118,000 claims valued at AU$3.6 billion (US$3.9 billion).

You would be forgiven for thinking that the recent spate of catastrophes and natural disasters had left re/insurers sobbing quietly as they contemplated the prospects of an unprofitable year in 2011. That’s not the case though, as recent quarterly reports have shown many re/insurers predicting the return of rising reinsurance rates this summer.

The tornado and severe thunderstorm outbreak which struck southern and midwestern States in the U.S. between the 22nd to 28th April could cost as much as $5.5 billion in insured losses according to risk modeller AIR Worldwide. This estimate includes damage to residential, commercial and industrial properties and auto losses.

Risk modeller EQECAT have issued an update to their estimate of the insured loss due to the Tohoku earthquake which struck Japan on the 11th March causing massive damage from the widespread shaking and tsunami that followed. Now, almost two months after the earthquake, they have had time to gather data and perform greater analysis […]

It’s time for another look at the Swiss Re Cat Bond Performance Indices to see how they have performed over the past two weeks. The market continues to digest the effects of the earthquake in Japan and we are now into the month prior to the start of the Atlantic hurricane season which always has […]