NEW YORK, Oct. 27, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Willis Capital Markets & Advisory (WCMA), part of Willis Group Holdings (NYSE:WSH), the global risk advisor, insurance and reinsurance broker, is pleased to announce the establishment of Resilience Re, which will serve as a platform to simplify client access to catastrophe bond capacity.
Resilience Re will offer clients low cost access to reinsurance capacity sourced from the capital markets. Clients will benefit from cost efficiencies and expedited timelines to secure capacity. Resilience Re expects to achieve these benefits in part from simplified processes and documentation for qualifying risks. The platform will provide access to dedicated reinsurance transformers with standardized reinsurance and securitization processes.
Bill Dubinsky, Head of ILS at WCMA, said: "We believe that Resilience Re's seamless integration with the reinsurance placement process will make it inherently more scalable than previous ILS private placement efforts."
John Cavanagh, Global CEO of Willis Re, commented: "By adding another source of capacity, Resilience Re will make our clients' reinsurance programs themselves more resilient. The simplified process can integrate with the standard reinsurance placement or operate on a standalone basis."
As non-life ILS investor assets under management exceed $50 billion, investors continue to expand their appetite for suitable investments. Resilience Re will offer investors access to additional opportunities through a syndicated process. Investors may also benefit from meaningful secondary liquidity.
Tony Ursano, CEO of WCMA, said: "Efficiently transforming reinsurance risk to the capital markets expands the universe of risk transfer capacity for our clients and at the same time broadens the universe of available risks for investors. WCMA has developed a leading ILS platform and Resilience Re will further our involvement in underwriting, arranging, and trading insurance and reinsurance risk. Resilience Re reflects Willis's commitment to innovate and capitalize on opportunities in the growing ILS market."
About Willis
Willis Group Holdings plc is a leading global risk advisor, insurance and reinsurance broker. With roots dating to 1828, Willis operates today on every continent with more than 18,000 employees in over 400 offices. Willis offers its clients superior expertise, teamwork, innovation and market-leading products and professional services in risk management and transfer. Our experts rank among the world's leading authorities on analytics, modelling and mitigation strategies at the intersection of global commerce and extreme events. Find more information at our website, www.willis.com, our leadership journal, Resilience, or our up-to-the-minute blog on breaking news, WillisWire. Across geographies, industries and specialisms, Willis provides its local and multinational clients with resilience for a risky world.
About About Willis Capital Markets & Advisory
Willis Capital Markets & Advisory, with offices in New York, London and Hong Kong, provides advice to companies involved in the insurance and reinsurance industry on a broad array of mergers and acquisition transactions as well as capital markets products, including acting as underwriter or agent for primary issuances, operating a secondary insurance-linked securities trading desk and engaging in general capital markets and strategic advisory work. Willis Capital Markets & Advisory is a trade name used by Willis Securities, Inc., a licensed broker dealer authorized and regulated by FINRA and a member of SIPC, and Willis Capital Markets & Advisory Limited, an investment business authorized and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority.
This communication should not be regarded as an offer to sell or as a solicitation of an offer to buy, any security. The information contained herein is as of this date only, is subject to change and does not contain all information necessary to adequately evaluate an investment in any financial instrument. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is made as to the accuracy or completeness of such information and nothing contained herein is, or shall be relied upon as, a representation, whether as to the past, the present or the future. Information contained in this communication may not reflect information known to other employees in any other business areas of Willis Group and its affiliates.