Hurricane

The gamble of being one of the last cat bond issuers to market ahead of the US hurricane season paid off for Travelers this year as it was the only sponsor to see prices on its offer narrow during the marketing process.

Where did the past six months go? Hurricane season is already upon us, it's the Trading Risk awards next week and Monte Carlo bookings are starting to go in the diary.

Pricing on the new Longpoint Re cat bond from Travelers finished at the lower end of guidance, Trading Risk understands.

The 16 Caribbean governments that belong to the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) insurance pool have renewed their hurricane and earthquake cover for the 2012-2013 year, after receiving a 25 percent rebate of the previous year's premium.

Defunct Swiss reinsurer Glacier Re has extended the maturity date of its Nelson Re cat bond by another three months until 6 September 2012, as the dispute over a potential payout from the bond has yet to be settled.

USAA is set to close its Residential Re 2012 cat bond at $200mn after successfully tapping the market for a $40mn tranche of high-risk annual aggregate cover against multiple US perils, Trading Risk can reveal

$30mn of hurricane options have traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) in the largest single order since 2009, taking the value of deals traded on the exchange this year to $45mn.

ILS traders are blaming strong primary issuance levels, seasonality and an increasingly US-wind exposed market for continued declines on the secondary cat bond market ahead of hurricane season.

Two massive US wind deals have pushed second quarter cat bond issuance to $1.65bn, already surpassing the first quarter.

ILS veteran USAA has launched another of its long-running Residential Re (Res Re) cat bonds, seeking more than $150mn of cover against US hurricane, quake, thunderstorm, winter storm and wildfire losses, Trading Risk understands.

Swiss Re's latest cat bond, Mythen Re, has upsized more than two and a half times to $400mn of cover from the original target of $150mn, Trading Risk understands.

Swiss Re has brought cat bond Mythen Re to the market, another North Atlantic hurricane and European windstorm offering with an added second event structure that could help investors diversify within US wind risk, Trading Risk understands.