Last year saw the second largest year of issuance of insurance-linked securities, according to analysis by Swiss Re Ltd.
In a report — “Insurance-Linked Securities Market Update” — published Tuesday, Swiss Re said that about $6.3 billion of bonds were brought to market in 2012 compared with about $8.0 billion in 2007.
There were 27 deals in 2012 producing 47 tranches and with an average size of $227 million per deal, Swiss Re said. In 2011, there were 23 deals with an average size of $190 million, it said.
Even Superstorm Sandy did not dampen investors' appetite for insurance-linked securities, Swiss Re said, and several new bonds have been issued since that event.
The report is available here.
Hurricane Sandy will have minimal impact on catastrophe bond market, Willis Capital Markets & Advisory, a unit of London-based insurance broker Willis Group Holdings P.L.C., said on Wednesday.