IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/gpprii/v40y2015i1p1-28.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Diversification through Catastrophe Bonds: Lessons from the Subprime Financial Crisis

Author

Listed:
  • Peter Carayannopoulos

    (Financial Services Research Centre, School of Business and Economics, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Av. West, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3C5, Canada. E-mails: pcarayanno@wlu.ca; mperez@wlu.ca)

  • M Fabricio Perez

    (Financial Services Research Centre, School of Business and Economics, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Av. West, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3C5, Canada. E-mails: pcarayanno@wlu.ca; mperez@wlu.ca)

Abstract

Are catastrophe bonds (CAT bonds) zero-beta investments? Are they a valuable new source of diversification for investors? We study these questions by analysing the dynamic relations of CAT bond returns and the returns of the stock, corporate bond and government bond markets. Our multivariate GARCH model results provide evidence that CAT bonds are zero-beta assets only in non-crisis periods. We document that CAT bonds were not immune to the effects of the recent financial crisis. With the collapse of Lehman Brothers, CAT bond returns became significantly correlated with the market. However, the relatively small effect of the crisis on CAT bonds compared with other asset classes make them a valuable source of diversification for investors. Finally, it seems that the improved structures for new CAT bonds issued since 2009 have been positively received by the market, as CAT bond betas returned to pre-crisis levels.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Carayannopoulos & M Fabricio Perez, 2015. "Diversification through Catastrophe Bonds: Lessons from the Subprime Financial Crisis," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 40(1), pages 1-28, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:gpprii:v:40:y:2015:i:1:p:1-28
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/gpp/journal/v40/n1/pdf/gpp201414a.pdf
    File Function: Link to full text PDF
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/gpp/journal/v40/n1/full/gpp201414a.html
    File Function: Link to full text HTML
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Beaulieu, Marie-Claude & Dufour, Jean-Marie & Khalaf, Lynda & Melin, Olena, 2023. "Identification-robust beta pricing, spanning, mimicking portfolios, and the benchmark neutrality of catastrophe bonds," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 236(1).
    2. Wulan Anggraeni & Sudradjat Supian & Sukono & Nurfadhlina Abdul Halim, 2023. "Catastrophe Bond Diversification Strategy Using Probabilistic–Possibilistic Bijective Transformation and Credibility Measures in Fuzzy Environment," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-30, August.
    3. Mihovil Anðelinoviæ & Filip Škunca, 2023. "Optimizing insurers investment portfolios: incorporating alternative investments," Zbornik radova Ekonomskog fakulteta u Rijeci/Proceedings of Rijeka Faculty of Economics, University of Rijeka, Faculty of Economics and Business, vol. 41(2), pages 361-389.
    4. Trottier, Denis-Alexandre & Lai, Van Son & Godin, Frédéric, 2019. "A characterization of CAT bond performance indices," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 431-437.
    5. Alexis Louaas & Pierre Picard, 2014. "Optimal Insurance For Catastrophic Risk: Theory And Application To Nuclear Corporate Liability," Working Papers hal-01097897, HAL.
    6. Karl Demers‐Bélanger & Van Son Lai, 2020. "Diversification benefits of cat bonds: An in‐depth examination," Financial Markets, Institutions & Instruments, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(5), pages 165-228, December.
    7. Tobias Götze & Marc Gürtler, 2022. "Risk transfer beyond reinsurance: the added value of CAT bonds," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 47(1), pages 125-171, January.
    8. Drobetz, Wolfgang & Schröder, Henning & Tegtmeier, Lars, 2020. "The role of catastrophe bonds in an international multi-asset portfolio: Diversifier, hedge, or safe haven?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 33(C).
    9. Eckhard Platen & David Taylor, 2016. "Loading Pricing of Catastrophe Bonds and Other Long-Dated, Insurance-Type Contracts," Papers 1610.09875, arXiv.org.
    10. Martin Eling & Ruo Jia, 2017. "Recent Research Developments Affecting Nonlife Insurance—The CAS Risk Premium Project 2014 Update," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 20(1), pages 63-77, March.
    11. Peter Carayannopoulos & Olga Kanj & M. Fabricio Perez, 2022. "Pricing dynamics in the market for catastrophe bonds," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 47(1), pages 172-202, January.
    12. Adlane Haffar & Éric Le Fur, 2022. "Dependence structure of CAT bonds and portfolio diversification: a copula-GARCH approach," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 23(4), pages 297-309, July.
    13. Fabio Pizzutilo & Elisabetta Venezia, 2018. "Are catastrophe bonds effective financial instruments in the transport and infrastructure industries? Evidence from international financial markets," Business and Economic Horizons (BEH), Prague Development Center, vol. 14(2), pages 256-267, April.
    14. Burnecki, Krzysztof & Giuricich, Mario Nicoló & Palmowski, Zbigniew, 2019. "Valuation of contingent convertible catastrophe bonds — The case for equity conversion," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 238-254.
    15. Alexis Louaas & Pierre Picard, 2022. "Optimal Nuclear Liability Insurance," The Energy Journal, , vol. 43(1), pages 97-115, January.
    16. Morana, Claudio & Sbrana, Giacomo, 2019. "Climate change implications for the catastrophe bonds market: An empirical analysis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 274-294.
    17. Ben Ammar, Semir & Braun, Alexander & Eling, Martin, 2015. "Alternative Risk Transfer and Insurance-Linked Securities: Trends, Challenges and New Market Opportunities," I.VW HSG Schriftenreihe, University of St.Gallen, Institute of Insurance Economics (I.VW-HSG), volume 56, number 56.
    18. Bauer, Daniel & Zanjani, George, 2021. "Economic capital and RAROC in a dynamic model," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:gpprii:v:40:y:2015:i:1:p:1-28. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.