Most of the insurance-linked securities issued in the last several years have been accompanied by a "wrap" from a financial guarantor, which made these securities easier to sell. Now the meltdown in subprime mortgages and collateralized debt obligations has diminished the value of these wraps. This development is likely to make it difficult to bring another such transaction to market until the financial guarantors' situation is clarified.

What does this mean for the life insurance securitization market? Is this the end of the road, or just a bump along the way?

This article appeared in International Investment & Securities Review 2008, published by Euromoney Yearbooks. For further information please visit www.euromoney-yearbooks.com.