CEIOPS, the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors, has published a report on securitisation in the insurance sector.
The report:
- describes the origins and current position of insurance linked securities (ILS)
- gives an overview of the basic ILS structure, focusing in particular on cat bonds and life securitisations
- considers the size and structure of the ILS market, how the market developed and the investor landscape associated with it, and
- considers the regulatory treatment of ILS and the implications that the implementation of Solvency II may have for the ILS market.
The report contains one or two misconceptions (for example, a belief that catastrophe risk is long tail) but on the whole is a useful introduction to the world of ILS, although (re)insurers, brokers, structurers and lawyers already working with ILS are unlikely to learn anything of value.