Munich Re
Insurers await Solvency II clarity for asset allocation
Feeling the way
Catastrophe bonds hit by Japanese quake
Investors ponder short- and medium-term effects earthquake could have on cat bond market
Omnibus II needed to meet Solvency II deadline
German insurer R+V says EC was "lucky" Omnibus II was available to add transitional measures into the impending insurance capital regime
Estimating and reducing lapse risk
The persistency problem
Munich Re: Using insurance to transfer op risk
Better together
Basel provides guidance on the use of insurance as a mitigant
Insurance covered
Open source options for Solvency II internal model
Open for all
If everyone says we got QIS 5 wrong, then we must have got it right: van Hulle
European Commission rejects industry criticism over the calibration of QIS 5
E&P energy company premiums likely to rise
Energy exploration and production (E&P) companies face increased cost risks as insurance premiums could rise, following BP’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill, which forced reinsurance firms, such as Germany’s Munich Re, to shell out hefty payments
New hope for insurance-linked securities
Since the financial crisis the insurance-linked securities market has been squeezed into a tight corridor of issuance with only natural catastrophe bonds seeing any traction – a blow for a market that pre-2008 appeared to be on the cusp of developing…
Bond ambition – The World Bank’s attempts to launch a longevity bond in Chile
Attempts to diversify longevity risk into the broader financial system have so far focused on using swaps. But in an ambitious move, the World Bank has tried to launch the first ever longevity bond in Chile. Aaron Woolner reports on how successful this…
Solvency management provides reinsurance opportunity
Testing economic conditions have prompted widespread moves by life insurers to reinsure their liabilities in order to gain capital relief. As the situation eases, will demand for reinsurance fall, or are other factors coming to prominence? Blake Evans…
JP Morgan and Munich Re enter mortality bond market
JP Morgan has placed $100 million of extreme mortality bonds for reinsurer Munich Re, in the first foray into the mortality bond market for both firms.
Munich Re launches weather desk
Munich Re, the world's largest reinsurer, has established a New York-based weather derivatives desk in its Munich American Capital Markets division.
Munich Re implements IAS 39 reporting
Reinsurance company Munich Re has become one of Europe’s first large financial institutions to bring its accounting in line with new International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) regulations that affect derivatives known as IAS 39.
Equity rally prompts tightening of financial spreads
The upswing in equity prices in the second half of the week has prompted a contraction in credit default swap spreads for European banks and insurance companies. But German names, including HVB, were still trading at wider levels for subordinate…
Terror threats push up European credit default spreads
Credit default swap spreads for European corporates started to widen during the later part of this week. Fears of a terrorist attack in London or elsewhere, coupled with generally weak equity markets, started to reduce confidence in the market, traders…
Traders see interest in short-dated protection for insurers
Credit derivatives traders said interest in short-dated protection on European insurers was active this week. But the cost of protection in the normally more liquid five-year credit default swap markets for European financial institutions remained…