Mortality catastrophe bond news

Global reinsurance firm Swiss Re’s latest catastrophe bond, the Vita Capital VI Limited (Series 2015-1) extreme mortality transaction, has remained at $100 million in size and the coupon pricing has been fixed at just below the middle of initial guidance.

One of the world’s largest reinsurance companies Swiss Re is returning to the capital markets with its first excess mortality catastrophe bond transaction since 2012, seeking at least $100 million of retrocession through a Vita Capital VI Limited (Series 2015-1) issuance.

The burgeoning $58 trillion mortality protection gap impacting Asia was highlighted by reinsurance giant Swiss Re recently, signalling an opportunity for capital providers in the insurance, reinsurance, catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) space.

Insurer AXA Global Life hailed the completion of its new mortality bond issuance Benu Capital Limited as an innovative transaction providing it with capital markets backed collateralized mortality reinsurance protection, the largest such deal since 2007.

For mortality linked catastrophe bonds, such as AXA Global Life’s €285m Benu Capital Limited deal that has recently completed, uncertainty as well as the potential for unmodelled risk impacts are always a factor.

AXA Global Life’s excess mortality catastrophe bond transaction Benu Capital Limited has upsized, as was expected, to a total size of €285m, as investors showed a greater desire to allocate capital to the higher risk and return layer of mortality risk.

The Benu Capital Limited extreme mortality catastrophe bond, which is being brought to market on behalf of sponsoring insurer AXA Global Life, looks like it may upsize due to investor demand while the pricing indication has moved towards the upper end of guidance.

AXA Global Life is seeking a source of fully-collateralized reinsurance coverage for excess mortality events from a catastrophe bond structure with a newly launched €250m transaction named Benu Capital Limited.

Global reinsurance firm Swiss Re is continuing its habit of redeeming mortality catastrophe bond notes the reinsurer had issued through its Vita Capital IV Ltd. vehicle, with two more tranches redeemed recently.

According to Reuters, French insurance group AXA is marketing a new 144A mortality catastrophe bond transaction, as it seeks to secure capital markets reinsurance protection for large increases in mortality experience under its life insurance portfolio.