Using Catastrophe-Linked Securities to Diversify Insurance Risk: a Financial Analysis of Cat Bonds.

Severe natural catastrophes in the early nineties have brought about a lack of financial capacity in the catastrophe line of the global reinsurance market. The finance industry reacted to this situation by issuing innovative products designed to spread the excess risk more widely among international investors (risk securitization). The paper reviews these developments and stresses their significance with respect to the economic theory of risk exchanges. Special attention is devoted to the case of catastrophe-linked bonds, issued at a premium by ceding insurers to secure ex post conditional capital for the payment of claims.