The storm before the calm

Despite a year of heavy catastrophe losses for the re/insurance industry, the investment case for insurance-linked securities (ILS) remained robust during 2011. According to Aon Benfield’s ILS Indices, during the fourth quarter of the year all four categories posted gains: the All Bond and BB-Rated Bond indices increased by 1.58 percent and 1.71 percent, respectively, while the US Hurricane Bond and US Earthquake Bond indices increased by 1.68 percent and 0.73 percent.