June 2009/1

Cat risk appetite showed signs of reappearing from the hedge fund community, as two alternative investment specialists unveiled forays into insurance-linked investments this month. Cartesian Capital

Swiss Re and Guy Carpenter are bringing a $100-150mn cat bond to market on behalf of the North Carolina Joint Underwriting Association (NCJUA), in order to fill gaps left in its 1 June reinsurance pr

Traditional US reinsurance markets have recently shown significant capacity constraints, driving reinsurance rates upward and supporting catastrophe bond pricing at high levels. Reinsurance rates for

June has seen the first signs of easing in the sky-high prices that have all but frozen the industry loss warranties (ILW) market in 2009. However, ILW pricing may have to fall a further 10-15 percen

Forecasting hurricane activity is rarely accurate, and should therefore not be relied on for making investment decisions in the sector, according to analysis from Numis Securities.  Numis added that

ISDA OTC template launched After two years of market consultation, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) has launched a standard template for trading US wind event futures. ISDA

More than $1.7bn of sidecar capacity was secured by reinsurers looking to cash in on attractive underwriting conditions and potential capacity shortages in the first half of 2009, despite “diff

With $1.385bn of US wind and quake peril securitised to date in 2009, and another $100-150mn in the pipeline (see p1) insurance-linked securities (ILS) investors called for peril diversification as t

Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has cited Hannover Re’s retro strategy as a factor in deciding to downgrade the outlook to negative on the reinsurer’s AA- credit and insurer financial stren

The ILS market is braced for upcoming changes to California earthquake models that may reduce the estimated hazard resulting from a temblor by up to 35 percent. Upcoming releases from the two main p

The mysterious US investment fund which owns the outstanding positions in Aspen Insurance’s beleaguered cat bond, Ajax Re, is tussling with the administrators of the Lehman Brother’s bank

Insurance-linked securities (ILS) sponsor USAA – which issued its thirteenth consecutive cat bond last month – has set a new disclosure standard for (re)insurers by posting data on all of