GC Securities, a division of MMC Securities Corp., a U.S. registered broker-dealer and member FINRA/SIPC, today announced the placement of the Series 2013-1 Notes, with notional principal of $175,000,000, through a newly formed catastrophe bond shelf program, Blue Danube II Ltd., to benefit Allianz. This is the second time that Allianz has accessed PCS-MITT triggered cat bond protection and the eighth overall cat bond issuance benefitting Allianz since 2007.

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Severe weather hit the central United States over the last several days, spawning several tornadoes, large hail and damaging straight-line winds. The town of Moore, Oklahoma experienced the worst of the outbreak. A rare EF5 tornado, the most powerful ranking on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, obliterated scores of buildings and killed at least 24 people, 9 of them children. The tornado was reported to be 1.3 miles wide and spent 40 minutes on the ground, leaving a 17 mile trail of destruction. According to AIR Worldwide, the estimated value at risk from the EF5 is between USD2 billion and USD6 billion. Oklahoma’s Insurance Commissioner, John Doak, stated that insured losses could exceed the cost of the 2011 Joplin tornado, which was nearly USD3 billion.

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The Guy Carpenter Asia-Pacific Climate Impact Centre (GCACIC), a joint initiative of Guy Carpenter and City University of Hong Kong, today released its fourth annual report presenting the findings of the GCACIC’s research activities from the past year. The report details the findings of 22 projects conducted by the GCACIC, which focus on climate problems in the Asia-Pacific region as well as on a global scale.

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GC Securities, a division of MMC Securities Corp., a U.S. registered broker-dealer and member FINRA/SIPC, today announced the placement of the Series 2013-1 Notes, with notional principal of $300,000,000, through an existing catastrophe bond shelf program, Long Point Re III Ltd., to benefit Travelers. This is the second time that Travelers has accessed indemnity-triggered, fully collateralized reinsurance protection from the catastrophe bond market.

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Risk Capital Outstanding

Total risk capital outstanding increased during the first quarter of 2013, reaching an all-time high water mark of USD15.0 billion - up from USD14.83 billion at year-end 2012, representing a net increase of 1.13 percent (USD168 million). This is the eighth consecutive quarter of growth in risk capital outstanding. Risk capital outstanding is up more than 17 percent since the end of the first quarter of 2012.

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During the first quarter of 2013 two natural peril-exposed catastrophe bond transactions closed, for a total of USD520 million of issuance (1). This seemingly low level of primary issuance activity is deceiving, however, as the action in the capital markets and the influence of “non-traditional” capacity (a term that is rapidly approaching obsolescence) has never been higher. Conservative institutional asset managers, the custodians of trillions of dollars of investable assets, have largely accepted catastrophe risk as a component of mainstream investment strategy. And, while it is the case that institutional capital’s pursuit of catastrophe risk has been aided by a low interest rate environment, short-term yield chasing is not the primary driver of the inflows. Rather, this is stable capital that has spent years evaluating the catastrophe risk asset class, looking for both steady returns and, in the aftermath of covered events, orderly payment of losses. It has been waiting to see organized secondary trading activity during live catastrophe events such as Hurricane Irene (in 2011) and, most recently, Superstorm Sandy (in 2012). On all fronts, the catastrophe risk market has demonstrated it is ready to transition from adolescence to young adulthood. The impact has been dramatic; pricing has decreased more than 50 percent year over year, particularly for peak U.S. risks such as Florida, which carry significant profit margin for the traditional reinsurance market.

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GC Securities, a division of MMC Securities Corp., a U.S. registered broker-dealer and member FINRA/SIPC, today released an analysis of first quarter activity and trends within the catastrophe risk market for 2013. Two natural peril-exposed catastrophe bond transactions closed during the first quarter of 2013, for a total of USD520 million of issuance. This seemingly low level of primary issuance activity is deceiving, however, as activity in the capital markets and the influence of “non-traditional” capacity - a term that is rapidly approaching obsolescence - has never been higher.

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The extent of rising insured losses from global natural catastrophes over the last 40 years is illustrated below. 

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Here we review recent GC Capital Ideas stories that cover terrorism. 

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Here we review recent stories on GC Capital Ideas that covered microinsurance.

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