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Catastrophe bond issuance in 2020 has now surpassed another annual record, as the total amount of risk capital issued in pure, syndicated property cat bond transactions so far this year has now reached almost $10.3 billion.

Reinsurance Group of America (RGA) has provided the Barclays Bank UK Retirement Fund, a pension scheme and fund managing assets on behalf of UK employees of the bank, with a UK £5 billion longevity swap transaction.

Brit’s debut Sussex Capital UK PCC Limited (Series 2020-1) cat bond completed, securing the company a $300 million source of multi-year named storm and earthquake reinsurance protection to run across a risk period of four years to December 31st 2024. It is a four-year single-tranche 144a deal utilising its UK domiciled multi-use collateralised reinsurance PCC vehicle, Sussex Capital UK PCC Limited. It will cover certain losses from U.S. named storms and U.S. earthquakes, with coverage including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The new Bonanza Re Ltd. (Series 2020-2) catastrophe bond issue could triple in size, as the transactions upper target has been lifted to provide as much as $300 million of reinsurance protection for ARX Holding, the Progressive-owned parent of American Strategic Insurance Group. They were originally targeting a $100 million three-tranche deal, but are now looking at two-tranches at the upsized amount. A $200 million Class A tranche will provide three years of U.S. named storm reinsurance protection on a per-occurrence and indemnity trigger basis, covering four wind seasons. The $75 to $100 million Class B tranche will provide annual aggregate reinsurance protection on an indemnity basis, will also cover losses from severe thunderstorms, winter storms, wildfires, earthquakes across just a one year term.

The BBC Pension Scheme has completed a £3 billion plus longevity swap transaction with the assistance of global insurance firm Zurich and global reinsurance firm Canada Life Re.

Liberty Mutual upsized its three-year multi-peril single-tranche Mystic Re IV Ltd. (Series 2021-1) transaction from $200 million to $300 million. It will cover certain losses from U.S. named storms and U.S. & Canada earthquakes, with the covered area including Puerto Rico, DC and the U.S. Virgin Islands, on a per-occurrence basis and using an industry loss trigger. They were first offered to cat bond funds and investors with coupon price guidance in a range from 9.25% to 10%, but pricing was ultimately fixed at 9%.

The new Bonanza Re Ltd. (Series 2020-2) catastrophe bond issue was almost tripled coming in at $295 million of reinsurance protection for ARX Holding, the Progressive-owned parent of American Strategic Insurance Group. They were originally targeting a $100 million three-tranche deal, but are now looking at two-tranches at the upsized amount. A $200 million Class A tranche will provide three years of U.S. named storm reinsurance protection on a per-occurrence and indemnity trigger basis, covering four wind seasons. The $75 to $100 million Class B tranche will provide annual aggregate reinsurance protection on an indemnity basis, will also cover losses from severe thunderstorms, winter storms, wildfires, earthquakes across just a one year term.

The Aon Bain Hogg Pension Scheme section of the Aon Retirement Plan has completed a £510m pensioner buy-in with Scottish Widows, the plan’s fourth pensioner buy-in and the second for the section.

Bermuda based insurance and reinsurance holding company Hamilton, completed its first full, syndicated Rule 144a catastrophe bond transaction using its newly incorporated Easton Re Pte. Ltd. special purpose reinsurance vehicle domiciled in Singapore. The $150 million of Series 2020-1 Class A notes, covering losses from U.S. named storms and earthquakes, across three years, on a state weighted industry loss and per-occurrence trigger basis, was priced at the low-end of its already reduced guidance (4% versus the initial guidance of 4.5% to 5%).

The Maersk Retirement Benefit Scheme has agreed to a £1.1bn buy-in with Legal & General, covering the benefits of 1,900 deferred members and 3,000 pensioners. The scheme trustees took a number of steps to derisk the scheme in recent years, including fully hedging its interest rate and inflation exposures, which allowed the pension fund to take advantage of an opportunity to enter this bulk annuity transaction.

Mercer, the global consulting subsidiary of broking and advisory firm Marsh & McLennan, is expecting a continued growth of risk transfers during 2021, with close to £60 billion of bulk annuities, longevity swaps and new risk transfer solutions projected. 2020 risk transfers are expected to reach £50 billion, demonstrating the industry’s resilience to pandemic headwinds and volatile financial markets.

Munich Re has now completed the issuance of a first set of notes from its fully collateralized reinsurance sidecar vehicle Eden Re II Ltd. for this January renewal season, with a $55.1 million tranche of Series 2021-1 notes sold to investors. These quota share arrangements provide capital that helps to drive growth and also moderate PML’s, while providing attractive fee income opportunities and enabling the reinsurer to better manage its exposures, particularly in property catastrophe risks, by sharing in the risks and returns of its portfolio with capital market investors.

Catastrophe bond market activity will remain busy through 2021, with an expectation that issuance could reach as much as $12 billion, so beating the record set this year, as the high number of maturing cat bonds are seen as likely to be renewed and more new sponsors may also be seen. The catastrophe bond and related insurance-linked securities (ILS) market saw a record number of transactions in 2020, which drove issuance of pure 144A property catastrophe bonds above $10 billion for the first time ever and issuance of cat bonds and related ILS transactions has now surpassed $16 billion.

A new Singapore domiciled insurance-linked securities (ILS) transaction has come to light, after a recently registered Special Purpose Reinsurance Vehicle named Phoenix 1 Re Pte. Ltd. issued and listed almost $42.14 million of private ILS notes. However, little is known about the details.

Catastrophe bond issuance reached record levels in 2020 and the busy year was topped-off with a record fourth-quarter as well, as the market demonstrated its resilience and ability to expand its relevance. Catastrophe bond and ILS issuance reached a $6 billion in Q4 2020. Combined with the previous three quarters, the record-breaking level of both transactions and issuance in Q4 drove annual issuance to $16.4 billion, another record. Although $4.3 billion of mortgage insurance risk helped annual issuance in 2020 reach new heights, for the very first time, cat bonds covering property catastrophe risks exceeded $11 billion, which is yet another record for the sector.

It turns out that MS Amlin was the sponsor behind the recently completed Phoenix 1 Re Pte. Ltd. (Series 2021-1) collateralised reinsurance sidecar transaction, which appears to have been the first sidecar to be solely focused on Asian property catastrophe risks.

MetLife completed four UK based longevity reinsurance transactions with Legal & General in 2020. The agreements saw it providing reinsurance to Legal & General to cover the longevity risk associated with roughly $2 billion of combined pension liabilities. Met Life entered into its first longevity reinsurance transaction in the UK with Pension Insurance Corporation (£280 million), then followed up with a second with Rothesay Life ($320 million).

Munich Re has now completed the usual two tranche issuance for the renewal of its fully collateralized reinsurance sidecar vehicle Eden Re II Ltd., with the amount of capital backing the sidecar for 2021 down some 18% at $235 million.

Aetna is back in the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market with what will be the firms twelfth annual sponsorship of a Vitality Re, health insurance linked catastrophe bond structure, seeking $200 million of reinsurance from a four-year two-tranche Vitality Re XII Ltd (Series 2021) transaction. The Vitality Re series use a catastrophe bond structure to transfer certain risks associated with health insurance medical benefit claims levels to capital markets, with a pay-out trigger based on an index linked to Aetna’s medical benefit claims ratio.

The £30.8m Marie Curie Cancer Care Pension Scheme has agreed a full-scheme bulk annuity transaction worth around £30m with Legal & General. The transaction, agreed in early January, secures the benefits of more than 300 retirees and deferred pensioners.

Global reinsurance company Hannover Re has facilitated more private catastrophe bond transactions around this Janaury 2021 renewals, with the firms Kaith Re transformer having issued $76.4 million of Seaside Re cat bond lite notes, across seven transactions.

Peak Re has renewed its collateralised reinsurance sidecar vehicle Lion Rock Re Ltd. for the third year in succession. At this stage, the total size of Peak Re’s reinsurance sidecar renewal for 2021 is not known with certainty, but a first almost $15.62 million slice of Series 2021-1 notes issued by Lion Rock Re Ltd. has now come to light.

CCR Re, the French state-owned reinsurance firm, has renewed its 157 Re collateralised reinsurance sidecar vehicle for 2021 at an unspecified size. It’s its third annual issuance of the 157 Re reinsurance sidecar from CCR Re, which remains the first and only insurance-linked securities (ILS) vehicle to be governed by French law. For the first time, the 157 Re sidecar has all of its collateral invested in bonds issued by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which it notes is the first time a sidecar has used such assets for collateral.

Hannover Re has facilitated another three Seaside Re private one-year catastrophe bond transactions around this January 2021 renewals, taking the total seen to $136.4 million across ten transactions. Hannover Re’s transformer vehicle Kaith Re Ltd. has acted on behalf of its segregated account named Seaside Re for each issuance. The Seaside Re program provides ILS investors with a mechanism to access certain U.S. property catastrophe risks in cat bond lite securitised form.

Eclipse Re has brought its first deal to market of 2021, an $80 million Eclipse Re Ltd. (Series 2021-01A) two-year issuance. Last year, the Eclipse Re platform was responsible for almost $107 million of listed private cat bonds, or cat bond lites, during the year, which was down on 2019’s roughly $300 million of deals.

Vantage Risk, the insurance and reinsurance start-up launched by industry veterans Greg Hendrick and Dinos Iordanou, has established its first insurance-linked securities (ILS) vehicle in Bermuda, a collateralized insurer class company named AdVantage Retro I Ltd.

The global catastrophe protection gap reached 64% in 2020 as roughly $171 billion of natural catastrophe and severe weather losses were not covered by insurance and reinsurance, one of the largest brokers Aon has said.

The second parametric U.S. earthquake catastrophe bond Sierra Ltd. (Series 2021-1), sponsored by specialist mortgage security focused investment manager Bayview Asset Management, LLC, has now been successfully upsized to $200 million, while pricing for each of the two tranches of notes has settled at the bottom end of reduced guidance. The note's two tranches will provide earthquake insurance protection across California, Oregon, South Carolina and Washington, with coverage on a parametric trigger and per-occurrence basis across a three year term.