Catastrophe bond news

Here are the ten most popular news articles, week ending 16th November 2014, covering catastrophe bonds, ILS, reinsurance capital and related risk transfer topics. To ensure you never miss a thing  subscribe to the weekly Artemis email newsletter updates.

The World Bank is exploring potential new transactions as part of its Capital-at-Risk Notes Program, where it issues catastrophe bonds on behalf of sovereign entities. The Bank is also considering ways to use the facility to provide health risk transfer as well.

In a clear demonstration of the maturation of the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market, participants at the ILS Bermuda Convergence 2014 event in Bermuda this week called for it to move beyond being considered an alternative to reinsurance.

It’s interesting to note that even in the currently low-priced, buyers reinsurance market and with ever greater quantities of alternative and ILS capital ready to take on risk, attitudes to reinsurance and retrocession buying can differ wildly.

The anticipation of a brisk last two months of the year, with reports that a number of billion dollars worth of new catastrophe bonds may come to market, stimulated secondary ILS trading activity in October despite the primary market remaining quiet.

The Ursa Re Ltd. (Series 2014-1) catastrophe bond, sponsored by the California Earthquake Authority, has benefited from investor demand helping it grow in size taking the total issuance to $400m, while pricing has narrowed towards the mid-point of guidance.

Everest Re’s latest catastrophe bond, the now $500m Kilimanjaro Re Ltd. (Series 2014-2), has been priced with the coupon settling at the mid-point. The cat bond notes have also received their rating and a little more detail on the transaction has emerged as a result.

UK-based weather forecaster the Met Office has turned its focus to the capital markets with a new Euro Windstorm Event Response service to provide insurers, reinsurers, insurance-linked security (ILS) players and brokers with a comprehensive view of European weather-related risk.

U.S. primary insurer USAA returns to the catastrophe bond market with a Residential Reinsurance 2014 Ltd. (Series 2014-2) deal, which again features some more of the unusual perils that featured in its deal earlier this year, meteorite impact and volcanic eruption risks.

Here are the ten most popular news articles, week ending 9th November 2014, covering catastrophe bonds, ILS, reinsurance capital and related risk transfer topics. To ensure you never miss a thing  subscribe to the weekly Artemis email newsletter updates.