Willis Re Securities has structured and placed €120 million (around £103 million) of insurance-linked securities (ILS) to provide reinsurance capacity for Covéa Mutual Insurance Group.
Hexagon II Reinsurance DAC settled this month, affording the Paris-headquartered enterprise fully collateralised protection against windstorm and other weather-related events in France for a period of four years. The transaction was executed in collaboration with Willis Re, the traditional reinsurance broking business of Willis Towers Watson.
To ensure effective integration within the overall property catastrophe reinsurance programme, the structure features an indemnity trigger on a per occurrence basis with terms mirroring the traditional reinsurance placement.
“We are proud to have supported Covéa in their latest catastrophe bond transaction,” commented Willis Re Securities head of sales international Quentin Perrot. “Hexagon II Re is the first non-US cat bond transaction issued in the past nine months.
“The favourable closing conditions demonstrate investors’ strong appetite for Covéa natural catastrophic risk. With this new issuance, Willis Re Securities maintains its unrivalled leadership position in the structuring and placement of European ILS transactions.”
Meanwhile Willis Re EMEA W/S managing director Alkis Tsimaratos noted: “Hexagon II Re offers a stable multi-year commitment at attractive terms, while integrating seamlessly in the broader reinsurance programme of Covéa.
“The transaction demonstrates the ability of both the traditional reinsurance market and the catastrophe bond market to work together, offering increased reinsurance flexibility to cedants. It also confirms Covéa’s position as an established European ILS issuer and highlights the attractiveness of diversifying European perils to this market.”
