Archive for December, 2011

Argo Re have returned to the catastrophe bond market to issue their second deal during 2011 under their Loma Reinsurance Ltd. Cayman Islands based special purpose insurer. This transaction has been placed in the market without fanfare and without seeking a rating from any of the major ratings agencies as far as we are aware. […]

Of the approximately $108 billion of natural and man-made catastrophe insured losses experienced during 2011 the Asia-Pacific region accounted for over two-thirds of them, according to data published by Guy Carpenter today. This broke a historical trend of U.S. based events dictating the movement of property catastrophe reinsurance pricing, something borne out by the large […]

At the end of 2011 the catastrophe bond market continues to be dominated by exposure to U.S. hurricane risks. It’s a trend that has been increasing since 2007 as more deals focused on U.S. wind as a peril and was particularly exacerbated by the slow downs in issuance after the financial crisis which saw repeat […]

Some further details are gradually emerging on the Vecta I Ltd. embedded value life insurance securitization thanks to press releases from some of the transactions participants. The first embedded value deal to come to market since 2007, Vecta I Ltd. is also the first insurance-linked securitization of Canadian life insurance embedded value.

We hope all our readers have enjoyed or are continuing to enjoy a holiday break. We’re back to business as usual from tomorrow, with some catching up to do today. To bring those of you who are back at work up to speed with the market happenings from before Christmas, here’s a chance to catch […]

The first 144A embedded value life insurance securitization deal to be issued since 2007 (see graph below) has now completed. The Vecta I Ltd. transaction, which enables Aurigen Reinsurance to monetise the cash flows associated with life insurance and mortality business it has reinsured, was rated today by Standard & Poor’s as a C$120m tranche of […]

Amlin Plc have issued a press statement on the completion of their $150m U.S. hurricane, U.S. earthquake, and European windstorm catastrophe bond, Tramline Re Ltd. The deal completed this week and doubled in size from its initial $75m offering. This is Amlin’s first cat bond and is issued under a program which could see them […]

The recently completed Tramline Re Ltd. catastrophe bond, which doubled in size at close to secure Amlin $150m of cover, has been approved for listing on the Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX). The addition of this $150m of cat bond notes to the BSX takes the total volume of cat bonds listed on the exchange to […]

The Oregon Investment Council (OIC) which oversees and manages the investment of most of Oregon’s State Treasury funds, including the Public Employees Retirement Fund, has become the latest large organisation of its type to commit investment funds into insurance-linked securities and reinsurance linked investments. At its most recent public meeting on the 7th December the […]

For catastrophe bond issuance to reach $4.5 billion by the end of 2011 is “quite exceptional”, says Swiss private banking firm and ILS fund manager Clariden Leu in their most recent managers report. Given the low volume of issuance through the first half of the year, despite a good start in Q1, the fact that […]