Archive for March, 2012

The Inter-American Development Bank has been discussing new disaster risk financing instruments to assist countries in Latin America and the Caribbean to recover after major natural disaster or weather events. A disaster fund has been discussed and is one of the options on the table. Other instruments which have been discussed are contingent capital type […]

Reinsurer Swiss Re has issued a press release discussing the completion of the Combine Re Ltd. catastrophe bond which priced, was rated and listed in the Caymans recently. Combine Re Ltd. is cited as a first for the market as it combines two reinsureds parties risks into a single cat bond transaction. Of as much […]

The downward trend in the catastrophe bond price return index has been a feature of the market since late October 2011. Price returns of outstanding catastrophe bonds have been declining steadily ever since and in 2012 the downward decline has accelerated somewhat with some steeper drops. It’s been forecast that the price return index would […]

It’s been another busy week for news here on Artemis. With a cat bond threatened by an earthquake and saved by the parametric zones which had been defined, the completion of Combine Re Ltd., news of a new firm wanting to make liability cat bonds a viable proposition and more developments in the longevity risk […]

In another move which should help to increase the attractiveness of Bermuda as a domicile for catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities issuers, the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) has announced a reduction in the licence fees for Special Purpose Insurers (SPI’s). The annual registration fee for an SPI has been almost halved from $11,600 down to […]

The Combine Re Ltd. catastrophe bond which is sponsored by Swiss Re America but combines two reinsured parties (Country Mutual Insurance Company and the North Carolina Farm Bureau’s mutual insurance arm) risks into a single cat bond transaction has completed successfully at its target of $200m. $150m of the notes, in two of the three […]

Regular readers of Artemis and those actively involved in the catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities market will be fully aware that secondary market cat bond prices have been sliding in recent months. We’ve written many articles in recent months which references this downward pressure on cat bond price returns which has been a feature of […]

Colorado State University hurricane forecasters Klotzbach & Gray have published a discussion of the outlook for Atlantic basin hurricane activity during the 2012 season which is fast approaching. In a statement which the re/insurance industry will be encouraged by they forecast that the 2012 Atlantic basin hurricane season will see below average activity compared with […]

Here’s a video from ratings agency A.M. Best in which their managing senior financial analyst of insurance-linked securities, Asha Attoh-Okine, discusses the brisk start to 2012 for the catastrophe bond market and what the rest of the year could bring for the asset class. The video was published on the 19th March, and begins by […]

Bermuda based re/insurance group Alterra Capital Holdings is on the verge of launching another reinsurance sidecar vehicle according to a filing with the SEC. New Point V will be Alterra’s latest sidecar vehicle, last year saw them launch New Point VI in the middle of the year after raising $200m of capital for it.