May 2009/1

Credit Suisse Asset Management (CSAM) is set to launch a $65mn dedicated life insurance linked securities (ILS) fund, demonstrating the resurgent popularity of life risk trading. The fund – cal

The renewal of Hannover Re’s hybrid sidecar vehicle - $133mn Globe Re – has been stalled by a “huge gap” between pricing in the traditional and capital markets, Trading Risk c

US military mutual insurer and ILS stalwart USAA has increased the size of its thirteenth consecutive cat bond, Residential Re 2009, by $90mn - to $240mn - Trading Risk can reveal. Goldman Sachs, whi

We are enormously proud of both the high calibre and the quantity of entries we received for the inaugural Trading Risk Awards 2009. The level and quality is exceptionally high and choosing the short

German reinsurance giant Munich Re has launched a EUR100mn European windstorm and Turkish earthquake cat bond – Ianus – which will be welcomed by those calling for peril diversification i

ILS investors are so keen to diversify their holdings with non-catastrophe exposures that they may be willing to trade yield for greater choice. Speaking at the S&P European ILS conference on the 13

Industry loss warranty (ILW) and catastrophe derivatives trading volumes are “considerably” lower than last year, stifled by high prices and the effects of contagion from the financial ma

Trading Risk has partnered with Swiss Re to publish its proprietary cat bond index on a regular basis. Look out for regular data and commentary on ILS performance in our newsletters and on our websit

PERILS AG, established this year to aggregate and provide industry-wide European catastrophe insurance data, has estimated property insurance market losses caused by windstorm Klaus of EUR1.55bn. The

A surge in recession-related credit losses has “increased the default possibility” of Swiss Re’s $252mn credit reinsurance securitisation, Crystal Credit, prompting Standard & Poor

Despite cat reinsurance rates continuing to harden, several proposed sidecar vehicles looking to cash in on attractive underwriting conditions and potential capacity shortages are stalling as the key

Leading ILS investor Nephila Capital and a subsidiary of Allianz Risk Transfer (ART) have tapped two investors for an extra $200mn to deploy during the 2009 US wind season. The two ILS-specialist fir

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