Quantifying Catastrophe: Inside Cat Bonds

The scene in New York City was surreal, bordering on cinematic: streets nearly empty, subway trains sitting passenger-less in their tunnels, the concourse at Grand Central Terminal silent but for the wind outside. Hurricane Irene, tracking north along the Atlantic Coast last August, was menacing its way toward New York, turning the city of 8 million into a virtual ghost town. Yet in the hours leading up to Irene’s landfall, a few people were as active as they’d ever been.

Insurance-linked