August 2009/1

The C tranche of State Farm’s 2007 Merna Re transaction and the Swiss Re-sponsored Vega Capital’s class A and B notes have been upgraded by Moody’s Investors Service and Standard

The North Atlantic wind season is predicted to produce ten tropical storms, of which four will strengthen to hurricanes, according to the Colorado State University storm research team. In August the

An estimated $2-2.5bn of cat bond capacity has been traded in the secondary market to date in 2009 – outstripping the $1.8bn of new issuance of insurance-linked securities (ILS) by 40 percent.

Swiss Re fell back into the red for the second quarter, as worse-than-expected mark-to-market losses and writedowns returned to haunt the reinsurer. Meanwhile, Hannover Re and Munich Re fared well in

Moody’s Investors Service has maintained the ratings for Bank of Ireland’s 2007 life ILS Avondale Securities on review for possible downgrade. Moody’s said it’s review of the

The received wisdom is that 2009 insurance-linked securities (ILS) issuance has been held back by the mismatch between capacity in the alternative and traditional reinsurance markets.  It is difficul