Nearly $700 million in property cat bond issuance took place during Q3 2015, a number considered relatively light compared to past years, noted a new report from the Property Claim Services unit of Verisk Insurance Solutions.

By contrast, there were no cat bonds issued during the 2014 third quarter. In 2013, the number hit $1.5 billion, though that was at lower levels over the same period in 2012 and 2011.

The Q3 number includes close to $100 million in cat bond lite issuance. The rest comes from the completion of three relatively small transactions for $600 million in new limit, said PCS.

As of the first nine months of 2015, cat bonds issued hit the $4.7 billion mark.PCS noted in its report that the result is more than twice the full year result in 2014.

In terms of cat bond lite issuance, four transactions produced $94 million in new limits. Three of the four triggers were not disclosed. A fourth, Dodeka VII, used the PCS Catastrophe Loss Index.

PCS noted that the insurance linked securities market, with deals covering Turkey and China in Q3, appears to be “adapting to the broadening needs of cedents in capital providers around the world.”

PCS said that innovation is addressing market needs, but “the need to expand coverage to new regions and lines of business remains.”

Source: ISO/Property Claim Services/Verisk Risk Solutions