22 January 2014 News

Achmea launches European cat bond first

Achmea Reinsurance Company, the Dutch reinsurance group that mainly manages the reinsurance risks of the wider Achmea group, has completed the first indemnity cat bond that transfers Europe windstorm risk into the capital markets for a European insurance sponsor.

Aon Benfield Securities acted as structuring agent and placement agent on the deal, called Windmill I Re. The bond provides Achmea Reinsurance Company with €40 million of collateralised protection against Europeon windstorm on an indemnity basis for a period of three years.

The bond covers windstorm events within the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain and the UK.

Roelant de Haas, chairman of the board of directors at Achmea Reinsurance Company, said: “We are very happy with the coverage secured via Windmill I Re Ltd., the first catastrophe bond sponsored by our company. It is not only our first catastrophe bond but it is also indemnity based which was one of our conditions. This catastrophe bond received strong investor interest and provided our firm with AAA rated collateralized reinsurance protection at very efficient terms for a three-year period.”

Paul Schultz, chief executive of Aon Benfield Securities, said: “The objective of this transaction was to secure efficiently-priced capital on terms substantially similar to the traditional reinsurance market. The streamlined offering also makes catastrophe bonds available in smaller notional sizes on an economical basis.”

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