Swiss Re secures $400M catastrophe bond through Mythen

ZURICH—Swiss Reinsurance Co. Ltd. has secured $400 million in catastrophe bond protection through the Cayman Islands-registered vehicle Mythen Ltd., Swiss Re said Monday.

Swiss Re says the program was designed to enable it to cede wind risks in both the United States and Europe to the capital markets.

"Last year was the second most active year ever in terms of insured natural catastrophe losses,” Matthias Weber, Swiss Re's group chief underwriting officer, said in a statement. “This highlights the need for reinsurers to effectively manage their peak exposures and ensure capacity is available.”

Swiss Re said Mythen's structure covers first- and second-event multiperil losses and that it will issue multiple bonds over the next three years.

"The transformation of reinsurance risks into an investor-friendly asset class continues to be a cornerstone of our hedging strategy for peak natural catastrophe risks,” added Martin Bisping, head of nonlife risk transformation at Swiss Re. “In order to grant us full flexibility to pursue this approach in the future, and to provide investors with bonds that have innovative and diversifying features, we have created the new Mythen program as a follow-on to our longstanding Successor program.”