2012 was second largest year of insurance-linked securities issuance

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.