Swiss Re obtains $200M catastrophe bond for U.S. hurricane, U.K. mortality risks

Swiss Re recently obtained a $200 million catastrophe bond to cover North American hurricane and U.K. extreme mortality risks.

Swiss Re Ltd. has obtained $200 million in coverage for North American hurricane and U.K. extreme mortality risks through a new catastrophe bond issue.

The Mythen Re Ltd. (Series 2012-2) issue is the first to include natural catastrophe and mortality risk in a single tranche. The issue includes two tranches, $120 million in notes combining North American hurricane risk with U.K. extreme mortality risk, and $80 million in notes providing North American hurricane coverage.

The tranche combining hurricane and mortality risk was rated B+ by Standard & Poor's Corp., while S&P rated the second tranche B-. The notes run until the end of 2016.

The deal, which closed Monday, was placed through Cayman Islands-based special purpose reinsurance vehicle Mythen Re Ltd.

In a statement, Martin Bisping, head of nonlife risk transformation at Swiss Re, said that combining hurricane and mortality risk in the issue “provided Swiss Re with an efficient way of bringing risks to the capital markets in a new combination that we believe is attractive to investors.”