More than USD7.7bn in catastrophe bonds has now been listed on the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange in the British Overseas Territory.
Cayman Finance chairman Anthony Travers says the latest figures emphasise the extraordinary growth in this particular sector since 2007 when the very first cat bond was listed in Cayman.
Catastrophe bonds bring a broad range of benefits to insurers and insureds by increasing the pool of funding and reducing insurance costs to end users.
Cayman has 74 series of catastrophe bonds listed with a value of EUR7.7bn while Bermuda has ten bonds listed with a value of USD1.1bn.
Travers says: “When you consider that the first cat bond was only listed in April 2007 it has been a great success story for Cayman and the Cayman Stock Exchange, particularly since Bermuda has in the past had the leading position in insurance related products.
“These are fully regulated and transparent structures and, contrary to the misperceptions that still persist amongst a hard core of left leaning European bureaucrats, are quite typical of the well structured financial products that are attracted to an offshore financial centre like the Cayman Islands precisely because of the quality of its legal and regulatory regime.”
The news on the cat bonds comes shortly after figures emerged on the increasing number of hedge funds that are now registering in Cayman. Over 100 new funds are being registered each month.
The Cayman Islands are on track for more than 10,200 registrations by financial year end.
