July 2008/1

Deutsche Bank is marketing a new trigger mechanism for insurance linked securities (ILS), with a $120mn Florida-only wind bond as the first transaction, Trading Risk can reveal. The LAZR transaction

Swiss Re successfully closed its $150mn Vega Capital Ltd collateralised risk obligation (CRO) transaction in June, partly replacing the $839mn of its various Successor bonds, according to sources clo

ILS pioneer Nephila Capital says its tie-up with Man Group will fuel greater interest in the traded (re)insurance risk sector because it will bring new investors to the market. Last month, the hedge

Life insurer UNUM Group had two of its life securitisations downgraded in June by rating agency AM Best following the downgrade of beleaguered monoline insurer MBIA. Ratings on both the $130mn 2006 c

Rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has lowered its senior debt rating on the Class A-1 notes of beleaugured Scottish Re’s Ballantyne Re life securitisation. S&P lowered the XXX reserve

Trading platform Carvill Hurricane Index (CHI) has seen “around $50mn” of notional volume traded on its Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) platform this year, the firm’s joint CEO, J

Risk Management Solutions (RMS) has launched its second natural catastrophe index under the Paradex banner, with two more in the pipeline, says the risk modelling firm. The index, which RMS says is t

Hannover Re’s new dedicated insurance linked securities (ILS) team has closed $133mn Globe Re – choosing an innovative deal as its first since launching in January. Globe consists of a pr

Chicago-headquartered Aon Corp is marketing a dedicated insurance linked securities (ILS) fund, which plans to invest in a range of insurance linked alternative investments, Trading Risk understands.

The World Bank is moving ahead with plans to use the weather derivative market as part of a comprehensive strategy to reduce the impact of drought in developing countries. The Bank will intermediate

Pricing and trading in the industry loss warranty (ILW) market has boomed following mooted changes in the Florida state’s cat fund in recent months. It is understood that the cat fund and the s

The insurance linked securities (ILS) sector is a rare jewel that stands out from the credit market turmoil, according to market leaders speaking at Trading Risk’s inaugural Executive Briefing

Risk modelling firm Risk Management Solutions (RMS) aims to boost investment in the insurance linked securities (ILS) market with an electronic ILS portfolio management platform. Aimed at “maki

ICAP-JLT, the catastrophe swap brokerage joint venture, has launched a new screenbased insurance linked securities (ILS) broking service to trade cat bonds and “other ILS”, according to t

The much-anticipated launch of a comprehensive, stand-alone European windstorm loss index has been delayed until at least “the beginning of 2009” after failing to gain sufficient commitme

Investment vehicle Juniperus Insurance Opportunity Fund (JIOF) made its first investment in Hannover Re’s sidecar Globe Re, last month. The newly launched fund, which will invest in traded (re)

First-time issuers Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co (Caelus Re), HomeWise Insurance Co (Mangrove) and Flagstone Re (Valais Re) transferred $614mn of (re) insurance risk into the capital markets in May

A number of maturing cat bonds in June have released capacity for investors, tempering trading in the secondary market during the recent rush of new cat bond issuance. Secondary trading of cat bonds

Christopher McGhee, former head of Guy Carpenter & Co’s specialist investment banking arm GC Securities Ltd, has formed an insurance-focused banking advisory firm. McGhee has partnered with New