December 2009/1

As the year-end inches closer, the tally of ILS issuance has reached $2.5bn. And with a healthy pipeline of deals, total issuance for the year is set to exceed the $2.8bn of deals placed in 2008.

The resilient performance of catastrophe bonds has enabled Amlin's ILS fund manager, Leadenhall Capital Partners, to post an 11.5 percent return on its portfolio this year.

Moody's Investors Service has confirmed the Baa1 rating of $95mn of Unum's Tailwind life securitisations and withdrawn the ratings on $575mn of Protective's Golden Gate II life securitisations, following the February downgrade of monoline insurer MBIA Insurance Corporation.

Moody's downgraded Nelson Re's $67.5mn Class G notes to Ca from B3 on 24 November, concluding a review for downgrade initiated in March this year.

A desire by investors for transparency and greater regulatory oversight following last year's Bernard Madoff fraud is causing more European hedge funds to head onshore, according to research by HedgeFund Intelligence.

The world's largest reinsurer, Munich Re, has set out its plans to develop the ILS sector by championing lower returns and less concentration on peak US wind perils.

Ratings agency Fitch said its concerns overreinsurers' ability to tap capital markets following a significant catastrophe have "sufficiently eased", after revising its outlook on the global reinsurance sector from negative to stable.