May 2008/1

At current pricing levels, it would take a $30-50bn ground-up property loss to reverse the slide in traditional property cat reinsurance rates, according to Aon Re Global. The broker forecast rate-on

Outstanding non-life insurance linked securities (ILS) limits could reach $70- 100bn within the next 10 years, according to senior market commentators. In a lively discussion on the future of the non

Swiss Re Global Market’s environmental and commodity markets division has entered into an emissions reduction purchase agreement with Hebei Construction Investment New Energy Co Ltd. Through th

Convergence pioneer Swiss Re has launched a new $150mn sidecar vehicle, Sector Re II, to write a quota share retrocession of the group’s global natural catastrophe and aviation catastrophe port

Dresdner Kleinwort-owned special purpose reinsurer Bridge Re, has closed its three year $182.5mn Puma Capital retro cat sidecar to new business after just one year of operation due to weaker market c

State Farm’s 2007 landmark catastrophe bond, Merna Re, is coming under pricing pressure in the secondary market, as investors seek to sell large chunks of the investment grade notes, according

UK (re)insurer Brit Insurance is the latest firm to sign up to trade insurance linked derivatives on the Insurance Futures Exchange Services (IFEX) platform. IFEX, part of Neil Eckert-founded Climate

Ratings agency AM Best is extending its insurance linked securities (ILS) rating methodology to include assessment of the basis risk carried by industry loss arranties (ILWs). In a statement, the fir

Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) is set to revise its cat bond methodology, Trading Risk can reveal. The latest move comes as the ratings agencies’ models come under increasing scru

A total of $700mn of life and non-life insurance linked securities (ILS) have been issued to end-April 2008 – a figure which, even with a month to go before the start of the North Atlantic wind

Hannover Re CEO Wilhelm Zeller said the reinsurer will look to continue with its multi-year K5 sidecar when it comes up for renewal at year-end. Zeller added that Hannover Re had never been as well p

East Lane Re II US insurer Chubb Group’s $200mn cat bond, East Lane Re II, was over-subscribed, proving that a “strong” proposition can still compel investors despite the recent rel