Seeking risk transfer

In response to regulatory pressures, European insurers are boosting their efforts to transfer risk to the capital markets. Increasingly, insurance firms are using securitisation as part of their capital management strategies. Rachel Wolcott looks at the most recent deals

Securitisations backed by insurance assets have been slow to catch on, but recently there have been a handful of ground-breaking deals that participants believe may attract more issuers to the market. At the same time, investors have shown enthusiasm for the asset class, attracted by the high yields and diversification benefits that can be achieved on insurance securitisations.

Spurred on by regulatory changes, insurance companies are seeking new sources of funding, and are examining their