Ursa Re Ltd.

The California Earthquake Authority (CEA) is back with a $300 million Ursa Re Ltd. (Series 2016-1) catastrophe bond offering, as the provider of earthquake insurance cover in California seeks to continue its relationship with the capital markets through a new transaction.

The California Earthquake Association (CEA), the non-profit provider of over 76% of residential earthquake insurance policies in California, has reported a significant increase in policy uptake in 2016, which the CEO told Artemis will mean more risk transfer will likely be required.

The California Earthquake Authority (CEA) is set to increase the size of its reinsurance program with an April placement set to take its total risk transfer to $4.5 billion, but ILS investors have not seen a new catastrophe bond as currently they are hard to justify due to the cost.

The California Earthquake Authority’s latest visit to the catastrophe bond market for the issuance of Ursa Re Ltd. (Series 2015-1), has been well-received by investors, with the cat bond set to grow in size by two-thirds to $250m, while the pricing has settled at the top-end of guidance.

The California Earthquake Authority is back in the catastrophe bond market, seeking at least $150m of fully collateralized, capital market-backed reinsurance protection, with the issuance of Ursa Re Ltd. (Series 2015-1).

Catastrophe bonds now contribute more than 20% of the California Earthquake Authority’s risk transfer and reinsurance coverage and there will likely be more to come as the organisation looks to leverage its transformers again in 2015.

The growing participation of the capital markets and ILS investors in the transfer of natural disaster risks is positive for the California Earthquake Authority and its customers according to its CEO Glenn Pomeroy, as evidenced by its latest cat bond Ursa Re Ltd. (Series 2014-1).

In another sign that investors will not keep lowering the relative returns on catastrophe bonds the Ursa Re Ltd. (Series 2014-1) cat bond, sponsored by the California Earthquake Authority, has been priced above the original mid-point.

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.

The California Earthquake Authority is returning to the catastrophe bond market with its latest issuance under a newly registered vehicle. The Ursa Re Ltd. (Series 2014-1) cat bond is targeting at least $350m of collateralized California quake reinsurance.