February 2011/1

Almost $50mn of additional "cold-spot" industry loss warranties (ILWs) have traded in 2011 in the wake of losses in Australia and New Zealand, Trading Risk has learned.

US insurer Chubb's fourth East Lane Re cat bond more than doubled in size in marketing to close at $475mn, Trading Risk can reveal.

Veteran trader Dan Madison has left Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML), where he brokered a large portion of secondary cat bond trading, Trading Risk can reveal.

Risk Management Solutions (RMS) released a sweeping upgrade to its US Hurricane Model today (28 February) which is expected to significantly increase loss estimates for property catastrophe (re)insurers.

Catastrophe modelling firm AIR Worldwide has estimated that the (re)insurance industry could lose up to $8bn as a result of the second Christchurch earthquake, a loss which would roughly equal the Chilean quake that was the most costly cat last year.

US insurer The Hartford's latest Foundation Re cat bond closed at $135mn, paying investors 500 basis points (bps) above Treasury Money market returns.

Serial ILS issuer Chubb Corp is launching its fourth East Lane Re cat bond, seeking $200mn of cover against Northeastern US wind and quake losses.

London-based investment manager Securis Investment Partners plans to launch a new fund on the main London Stock Exchange (LSE) in March.

Cat bonds performed strongly in 2010, according to Swiss Re's basket of indices for the asset class, with the reinsurer hailing strong performance indicators as a sign the market has fully recovered from the financial crisis.

Swiss Re has opened the ILS scoreboard in 2011 in spectacular style, with its biggest Successor offering to date.

Further details have emerged on the latest Foundation Re issue from US insurer The Hartford, which is revisiting the cat bond market for the fourth time after raising $675mn since 2004.

Clariden Leu - which launched the first UCITS III-compliant cat fund in November last year - has teamed up with German distributor Fundmatrix.