April 2009/1

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has acquired the Carvill Hurricane Index from the erstwhile broker, renamed it CME Hurricane Index (CHI) and appointed risk modeller EQECAT as calculation agent

Allianz’s 2008 Blue Coast cat bond has been placed on negative watch due to fears that hurricanes Ike and Gustav will trigger a loss on it. If the bond were to suffer a loss it would be the six

An anticipated $3bn in insurance linked securities (ILS) issuance for 2009 will not provide much-needed net growth to the market, but will only replace capacity from maturing deals, according to indu

Nephila-backed weather risk service WeatherBill has launched a screen-based underwriting and trading platform. The WeatherBill White Label platform enables any third party to offer weather coverage t

Temporarily distracted by tempting returns in other asset classes, multi-strategy investors consider insurance-linked securities (ILS) as a solid diversifying asset and demonstrate a high tolerance o

Investors in the $33.5mn class G notes of closed sidecar Puma Capital are still vulnerable to losses from Hurricane Ike, despite the vehicle ceasing to write new business in April of last year. The $

The ILS sector is maturing and now offers sufficient breadth and depth – through sidecars, catastrophe bonds, insurance-linked derivatives and other products – to provide real risk transf

Nephila-backed weather risk service WeatherBill has launched a screen-based underwriting and trading platform. The WeatherBill White Label platform enables any third party to offer weather coverage t

Dedicated insurance-linked derivatives broker Myrias LLC is developing a screen-based trading platform, aimed at standardising the trading of industry loss warranties (ILW) and cat bonds in the secon

The latest cat bond to hit the market – Allianz’s upsized $180mn Blue Fin II – has eschewed the traditional total return swap (TRS) structure to invest collateral in notes issued b

Bermudian insurance-linked investment manager Pentelia Capital Management has tapped the Japanese investor market to raise $132mn for a new dedicated cat fund – Eolia Diamond Ltd. Pentelia R

A dislocation in pricing between cat bonds and the traditional reinsurance market may dampen the appetite of potential new ILS sponsors in 2009, according to Ming Lee, president and CEO of modelling

The secondary market for insurance-linked securities (ILS) has seen disproportionate trading in short-dated cat bonds as investors strive to hold liquid positions. During brisk trading in the fourth

Texan lawmakers are weighing up a raft of proposed legislation that could overhaul the state’s loss-struck wind pool – triggering an increased reinsurance spend – or even establish

The Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) – the multi-country catastrophe risk pool backed by the World Bank – has had its reserves boosted by a EUR12.5mn donation from th

The three remaining cat bonds affected by the collapse of Lehman Brothers have met their March interest payments. However, a default risk remains on troubled Ajax Re, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) sa

UK insurance giant Aviva closed a £475mn longevity derivative transaction with a group of investors led by Bermuda-based PartnerRe, in a specially-tailored deal that opened the life insurance market

A hardening market at 1 April – fuelled by reinsurer capital constraints and the ever-present Florida question – has caused insurers to enter the market early for 1/6 and 1/7 renewals, i

Juniperus Capital Limited (JCL) chief executive Michael Cash has left the Aon Benfield-backed investment firm just nine months after its launch, prompting a management reshuffle. Executive chairman P