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The President of the World Bank Group David Malpass has highlighted the importance of financial preparation for pandemic emergencies, of the kind provided by the Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility (PEF), which is backed by insurance including the now much-discussed World Bank issued pandemic catastrophe bonds.

In 2019, the Canadian group annuity market hit a record-breaking $5.2 billion in sales. Strong solvency ratios in Q4 and large transactions drove the results.

Catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) issuance is on course to break all records in the first-quarter of 2020, with a huge $3.93 billion of catastrophe risk-focused deals helping overall cat bond and related ILS issuance exceed $5 billion for the first time, according to Artemis’ data.

In 2017 the World Bank issued a pandemic bond designed to help fund the response to any widespread outbreak of a number of diseases, including coronavirus. The $320 million bond was part of a bigger $425 million risk transfer that included a concurrent $105 million swap with six reinsurance counterparties. Should it already be paying out?

Pandemic bonds issued by the World Bank are under fire, accused of having structural flaws that prevent them from supporting poor countries hit hard by coronavirus.

Severe weather events and demographic challenges are putting an increasing strain on government finances, requiring a rethink of how catastrophic events are funded and a greater use of public-private partnerships to manage risk, according to Guy Carpenter.

The reality of climate change need to be addressed and addressed fast by countries, governments and public sector entities, and the risk transfer, reinsurance and insurance-linked securities (ILS) sectors are well-placed to assist, according to Guy Carpenter.

Governments and entities like the World Bank should first use their reserves and borrowing, which are less costly sources of risk financing than insurance.

The government of Mexico has said that its newly issued $485 million World Bank facilitated catastrophe bond, the IBRD / FONDEN 2020 transaction, is an important part of the country’s social protection strategy and reflects its “enormous commitment” to protecting its citizens from natural disasters.

The collateralised reinsurance sidecar leaves a lot to be desired, speakers at a conference discussed recently, with the structure singled out as being cumbersome and inefficient, leading to an opportunity for anyone wanting to innovate and work to improve them.

Retrocessional reinsurance capacity remains scarce for some specialty perils, especially cyber reinsurance, Johansmeyer said, adding that the capital markets can fill this hole and the ILW is the ideal solution to help it in.

The latest catastrophe bond from United Insurance Holdings (UPC Insurance) Armor Re II Ltd. (Series 2020-1) has failed to get sufficient investor support, so was pulled from the market and now won’t be issued.

SCOR has returned to the capital markets to sponsor a new catastrophe bond, Atlas Capital Reinsurance 2020 DAC (Series 2020-1), in search of an expanded insurance-linked securities (ILS) backed source of retrocessional reinsurance protection.

U.S. primary insurance giant Allstate has now priced, according to sources, and will provide the company with a $250 million source of both per-occurrence and annual aggregate multi-peril reinsurance protection across a four-year term.

A new approximately $18.3 million Asagao II Japanese private catastrophe bond transaction has come to market using the Aon Insurance Managers operated segregated accounts company White Rock Insurance SAC.

Poor countries affected by the coronavirus outbreak will have to wait until the middle of next month to find out if the World Bank’s specially designed “pandemic bonds” will release funds to help fight the disease. Some investors are questioning whether they will pay out at all.

The Vitality Re series of health insurance-linked securities (ILS) transactions, which provide reinsurance protection to health insurer Aetna, are exposed to potential triggering by the coronavirus pandemic should it result in “severe morbidity stress”, rating agency S&P has said.

Developing countries counting on financial support from the World Bank’s pandemic bond program to shore up their healthcare systems in the face of the coronavirus, have a long wait ahead.

The payout from the World Bank issued pandemic catastrophe bonds, as well as the pandemic risk-linked swaps that were issued at the same time, may reach just under $196 million in total, if the ongoing Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak triggers the financial instruments.

The recently completed first catastrophe bond for the Philippines provides its government with faster access to post-disaster funding, enabling it to respond more rapidly and effectively to support the needs of its citizens when the largest catastrophes strike.

With catastrophe bond trading in the secondary market having reached what may well be record levels on the back of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic related sell off, thoughts turn to how this significant increase in liquidity may impact the wider market over the coming months.

Tremor Technologies Inc., the technology-based programmatic risk transfer marketplace provider, is launching weekly auctions of industry loss warranties (ILW’s), with which it hopes to add efficiency to the process of ILW trading.

Welcome to the Artemis ILS New York 2020 conference report, which provides insight into some of the debates that took place between speakers and attendees during Artemis’ third event in the city.

The World Bank’s pandemic catastrophe bond issuance looks increasingly likely to suffer a significant loss of investor principal due to being triggered by the ongoing Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak, but John Seo of Fermat doesn’t think that will dent investor appetite for the risk.

Obsidian Insurance Holdings, Inc., has been launched as a new fronting insurance holding company with $100 million of capital, that aims to become a conduit to connect risk with reinsurance and alternative capital.

France headquartered global reinsurance company SCOR has suspended the marketing of its new catastrophe bond, Atlas Capital Reinsurance 2020 DAC (Series 2020-1), citing the market disruption created by the current pandemic.

Tom Johansmeyer, Head of PCS (part of Verisk) discusses the parametric risk transfer opportunity in pandemics and why robust data & reporting on parametric pandemic triggers is vital.

Record first-quarter issuance of new catastrophe bonds and related insurance-linked securities (ILS) resulted in over $5 billion of risk capital coming to market as 2020 got off to a rapid start, driving the outstanding market to a new high according to the latest report and data from Artemis.

The secondary market prices for the Vitality Re series of health insurance-linked securities (ILS) transactions have all been discounted on the potential for the ongoing Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic to drive an elevated level of medical benefit claims through to insurer and sponsor Aetna.

The forced closure of businesses nationwide because of the novel coronavirus would seem to be the perfect scenario for filing a “business interruption” insurance claim. But most companies will probably find it difficult to get an insurance payout because of policy changes made after the 2002-2003 SARS outbreak, according to insurance experts and regulators.