September 2010/1

Investor appetite for extreme mortality exposure is about to be tested with a new offering of notes under Swiss Re's long-standing Vita series of transactions, Trading Risk understands.

Broker-dealer arms of reinsurance brokers have taken over the market for arranging catastrophe bonds, managing more than 90 percent of ILS capital issued in the first half of 2010, according to Guy Carpenter.

French insurer Groupama has closed the first European wind bond of the season - its EUR100mn Green Valley II - at below guidance pricing, Trading Risk can reveal.

Risk modelling firm Risk Management Solutions (RMS) has launched a parametric industry loss index for Japanese typhoons, taking its Paradex line-up to cover the five largest insurance perils.

French reinsurer Scor will provide $100mn of seed capital for a dedicated insurance-linked investment fund, Atropos, Trading Risk can reveal.

Munich Re has called for collaboration between the (re)insurance and capital markets in developing insurance solutions for IT, data corruption, business interruption, longevity and energy production risks.

Trading platform IFEX is preparing to launch a range of European windstorm derivatives this year as part of a wider plan to expand its product base.

The traditional markets have started to woo energy companies into (re)insuring their liability exposures, with Munich Re announcing it had committed $2bn to a proposed industry offering.

Cat bond investors are lining up in numbers to buy French insurer Groupama's EUR100mn European wind transaction, Green Valley II, Trading Risk can reveal.

French reinsurer Scor has closed a three-year contingent capital deal with Swiss bank UBS, in a move that would grant the firm EUR150mn of post-cat event equity.

Cat bond sales may struggle to reach $4bn this year in the absence of a major disaster, Standard & Poor's (S&P) analyst Dennis Sugrue said at a conference in London today (8 September).

ILS fund manager Secquaero Advisors has signed a deal with Australian boutique advisor Plus Capital to market its funds, joining the line-up of ILS managers keen to take advantage of the sophisticated institutional investment scene in Australia.