GC Securities places $250M in catastrophe bonds against U.S. hurricane losses

NEW YORK—GC Securities, a division of MMC Securities Corp., has placed of $250 million in catastrophe bonds on behalf of Hartford, Conn.-based Travelers Indemnity Co., GC Securities announced Monday.

The notes, issued through Travelers’ Cayman Islands-based special purpose vehicle Long Point Re III Ltd., represent a three-year, fully collateralized reinsurance agreement provided to Travelers. The insurance-linked securities are intended to guard against losses resulting from hurricanes affecting the United States from Virginia to Maine. GC Securities acted as the lead structurer and joint underwriter on the issuance, while Boston-based AIR Worldwide Corp. was the modeling firm for the transaction.

“As a repeat sponsor of insurance-linked securities, Travelers was able to successfully issue its first-ever indemnity-based triggered capital markets transaction with continued strong support from the ILS investor base,” Cory Anger, global head of ILS Structuring at GC Securities, said in a statement. “The protection from Long Point Re III provides northeast U.S. hurricane protection on a per-occurrence basis, based on the actual reported losses from certain Travelers’ business units.”

GC Securities is a U.S. registered broker-dealer unit of reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter & Company L.L.C., a wholly owned subsidiary of New York-based Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc.