ILS

American International Group (AIG) has threatened to sue Goldman Sachs over mortgage-related offerings, the Wall Street bank revealed in aquarterly filing with the SEC on Tuesday 9 August

The California Earthquake Authority (CEA) will regularly revisit the capital markets after gaining $150mn of reinsurance from its first Embarcadero Re cat bond issue.

French energy giant EDF has gained EUR150mn in reinsurance cover for French windstorm risk from the capital markets through the Pylon II cat bond, sponsored by French investment bank Natixis.

Lloyd's heavyweight Catlin and Bermudian Montpelier Re have emerged as the latest reinsurers to attract backing from capital markets investors this year, building on a wave of sidecar launches in 2011.

Glacier Re set for cat bond payout; Vega notes pay out $16mn on Japan quake

Pension fund advisers are steering investors towards the alternative insurance markets as a way of accessing pure insurance risk, pushing steady cash flows into the sector over the past couple of years

Capital market reinsurers may contribute up to $2bn-$2.5bn in 2011 nat cat loss payments

Cat bond sponsors benefited from strong demand for diversifying assets at the start of the third quarter, enabling them to expand their new offers to exploit falling rates

European insurers are unlikely to lose out if they take part in a proposed bond exchange that will devalue Greek sovereign debt holdings, ratings agency Moody's said.

Glacier Re, the Swiss-based reinsurer currently in run-off, could reclaim $27mn from a cat bond it sponsored in 2008 to help pay $175mn estimated net losses from 2008's Hurricane Ike.

Three diversifying cat bonds are currently in the market and are likely to be welcomed by the specialist investors who have endured an unusually quiet run-up to the hurricane season and are keen for non-US wind exposures.

Capital market reinsurers could gain an edge on their traditional competitors in the European market as economic instability grows, broker Aon Benfield Securities said in its quarterly report on the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market.