May 2009/1

Munich Re and Tokio Marine Nichido Fire’s private cat swap based on Risk Management Solutions’ (RMS) Paradex-Europe Windstorm (PEW) index takes the total notional amount of risk transferr

Despite mutterings of discontent in some corners of the investor community on loss-stricken liability cat bond Avalon Re, secondary market pricing still reflects only an anticipated partial loss on t

Will investor demand for long-tail macro longevity risk be sufficient to meet the anticipated supply from corporate pension funds in the wake of Babcock International Group’s planned £750mn lon

ILS investors were warned last week that they need to be more realistic on yields if they wish to see more cat bonds emerge from (re)insurers. Although catastrophe reinsurance rates are continuing to

Insurance-linked derivatives provide the best security of a range of traditional and alternative risk transfer products, according to Michael Jedraszak, underwriter at Bermuda-headquartered (re)insur

A second Lehman Brothers-backed catastrophe bond is in default after issuer Ajax Re failed to repay the principal at the 8 May redemption date, according to AM Best which downgraded and withdrew its

The recent outbreak of swine flu poses little immediate threat to the sector’s three extreme mortality cat bonds, despite the global death toll reaching 74. The World Health Organisation (WHO)

AM Best has taken rating actions on various tranches of Merrill Lynch’s innovative 2007 collateralised debt obligation (CDO) issue, Dekania. Dekania allowed smaller US and European carriers, in

Secondary market pricing on two Ike-exposed cat bonds - Allianz’s $120mn Blue Coast and Glacier Re’s Nelson Re Class G notes - fell by an average 12 percent in the first quarter of 2009,

Swiss Re has confirmed that it will cease carbon trading and close its emissions trading desk, in a move first revealed by Trading Risk. The reinsurance giant is understood to also be moving its natu

S&P has withdrawn its ratings on Arch Reinsurance’s $256mn credit facility Flatiron, Hannover Re’s $200mn sidecar, Kepler Re, and Harbor Point’s $125mn vehicle Bay Point, while Mood

S&P has lowered its senior debt rating on Scottish Re’s life transaction Orkney Re II’s series A-2 notes to CC from CCC, citing declining mark-to-market asset values and doubts over the v