A strategy that’s delivered specialist investors huge returns is now facing scrutiny, amid concerns that its risk-reward dynamics might be skewed against some issuers. Catastrophe bonds, which are issued by insurers, reinsurers and governments seeking an extra layer of disaster …
Marty Malinow’s mom never could get her head around what her son did for a living. To friends, she said he was “a stockbroker that does something with the weather.” Malinow couldn’t really object — he knew most people had …
As bond markets everywhere get battered by a cocktail of higher interest rates, deficit angst and hawkish central bankers, one class of debt instrument is handing creditors double-digit returns: catastrophe bonds. Investors in the $40 billion market for so-called cat …
The insurance industry is struggling to adapt to a new normal in which losses fueled by climate change are now regularly exceeding $100 billion a year. Insured losses from natural disasters hit about $120 billion in 2022, most of which …
The World Health Organization says the coronavirus isn’t yet a global pandemic. Bonds that insure against just such a catastrophe say that it probably is. The bonds, sold in 2017 by the World Bank to raise money for poor countries …
Leave it to catastrophe bonds to be among the most well-functioning debt markets out there. Issuance of “cat bonds” has climbed to more than $11 billion this year, about the same as this time in 2017, when sales hit a …
The images from Houston, Texas, in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey are horrific and heartbreaking, with homes fully submerged and residents being rescued by boats and helicopters. And that’s just the physical toll. Many residents of the fourth-largest U.S. city …
Financial markets are showing some signs of volatility these days after exceptionally low indicators since the start of the 2017. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, or VIX, is at its highest level this year. The VVIX Index, which …
The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) remains financially sound and ready for the 2017 hurricane season by once again securing $4.9 billion in total funding. With $4.9B in total funding secured, #TWIA is financially sound and ready for the 2017 …
Swiss Re AG, Europe’s second-biggest reinsurer, said regulators should prevent catastrophe bonds from being repackaged like subprime mortgages. “It’s important for traditional players like us and regulators that we make sure we don’t get into a situation where you start …