New hope for insurance-linked securities

The insurance-linked securities (ILS) market has shrunk since the financial crisis. Where once there was hope that securitisation might provide a broad and thriving capital management tool for insurers, post-crisis the market went into lockdown and so far, large parts remain dormant. There were 19 public ILS deals issued in 2009, for a total of $3.5 billion (£2.2 billion), 18 of which were natural catastrophe (cat) bonds, with only one life securitisation, according to rating agency Fitch