IXIS Corporate & Investment Bank is widening the scope of its alternative investment group mandate in Asia. The group, which has focused on fund-linked derivatives, is pushing into such areas as weather derivatives and insurance solutions. "Many investors are looking to diversify their risks across the product spectrum and are willing to take a look at catastrophic bonds as well as life-expectancy risk," said Fabien Labouret, Asian head of structured alternative investments in Hong Kong.
Labouret recently transferred from Tokyo to Hong Kong to establish a regional alternative investment structuring desk (DW, 7/23), initially targeting fund-linked derivative deals. IXIS expects to close its first weather and insurance transactions in the coming weeks. He explained the move piggybacks on the development of the firm's business in Europe, which has already rolled out catastrophic risk bonds.
