Articles by Tasos Vossos

Allianz Seeks to Buy Back Europe’s Biggest Old-School Bond

Insurance giant Allianz SE is looking to replace the biggest bond remaining under Europe’s old regulatory regime as it taps the market for new issues early on this year. The Munich-based insurer priced a new €1 billion junior note on …

New Swiss Capital Rules Set to Spur $20 Billion Bond Overhaul for Re/Insurers

Insurance companies in Switzerland are set to repay billions in mostly discounted old-style bonds over the next decade as changes to the country’s capital rules take effect next year. There are nearly $20 billion of subordinated notes that Swiss insurers …

Libor Zombies Pit Hedge Funds Against Banks, Insurers in High-Stakes Feud

One of the most lucrative, and contentious, trades of 2023 has emerged in an obscure corner of financial markets, minting overnight profits for the hedge fund crowd of as much as 35%. The play: Load up on 1980s-era bank bonds …

Cat Bond Investors Demand Higher Premiums as Weather Becomes More Extreme

Investors in the $35 billion catastrophe bond market are demanding the highest premiums in years to cover issuers against disasters, as weather events become more extreme while interest rates rise. Margins on new issuances of catastrophe bonds covering US wind …

Catastrophe Bonds Positioned to Tap Into Demand for Socially Responsible Investments

Catastrophe bonds are being hailed as the next frontier for socially responsible investing. Such debt, which insures against natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes and pandemics, is gaining traction with investors looking to brandish their ethical credentials. Proponents say the …

Why World Bank’s Controversial Pandemic Bonds Didn’t Function as Hoped

In late January 2015, just after the deadliest outbreak of Ebola in history, then-World Bank President Jim Yong Kim stood in front of a group of Georgetown University students and professors to introduce a new approach to fighting pandemics. Fresh …

Pandemic Bonds Get Stay of Execution but Prospect of Wipeout Looms

A ruling last week not to wipe out holders of a World Bank financial instrument providing emergency funds to poor countries in a pandemic, was just a stay of execution if bond markets are to be believed. The riskier $95 …

Coronavirus Likely to Trigger Pandemic Bond Payouts to Poor Countries

The severity of the global coronavirus epidemic has reached levels almost certain to trigger a financial instrument sold by the World Bank to raise money for developing countries in a pandemic. The bonds, which were sold in 2017, are quoted …

Catastrophe Bond Prices Signal Coronavirus Nearing Pandemic Status

The World Health Organization says the coronavirus isn’t yet a global pandemic. Bonds that insure against just such a catastrophe say that it probably is. The bonds, sold in 2017 by the World Bank to raise money for poor countries …