New York, NY, April 12, 2011 – Attractive marketconditions as a result of strong investor demand resulted in arecord issuance of USD 1 billion catastrophe bonds in the firstquarter of 2011 in comparison with USD 650 million in the samequarter last year. This is according to the latest Insurance-LinkedSecurities (ILS) Market Update from the boutique investment bankingarm of Willis Group Holdings (NYSE: WSH), the global insurancebroker.

The quarterly report titled, “The Market Digests a Major Catastrophe Event“, isproduced by Willis Capital Markets & Advisory (WCMA), anadviser to (re)insurance companies on capital markets products andmergers and acquisitions.

WCMA stated that the full impact of the Japan earthquake onpricing for new cat bond issues remains unclear, but said that itexpects some upwards pressure on risk premium levels for Japanearthquake risks going forward. The report found that at thebeginning of the quarter, there was downward pressure on riskpremium levels driven by cash inflows into specialist catfunds.

The WCMA report noted that while the first quarter is usually arelatively quiet one for new issuance, the first three months ofthis year saw four new issues brought to market, all from repeatcat bond sponsors and all exposed to U.S. hurricane risk.

In conclusion, the report found that significant recent lossactivity in the traditional reinsurance market has created anopportunity for cat bond investors. The ability of the market toprovide steady or expanded multi-year capacity at consistent riskspreads could stimulate new issuance and help to grow the market,WCMA said.

Click here to access the full ILS Market Update.

Willis Capital Markets & Advisory, with offices in New Yorkand London, provides advice to insurance and reinsurance companieson a broad array of mergers and acquisition transactions as well ascapital markets products. Nothing in this communication constitutesany legal or financial advice or an offer or solicitation to sellor purchase any securities.

Willis Group Holdings plc is a leading global insurance broker.Through its subsidiaries, Willis develops and delivers professionalinsurance, reinsurance, risk management, financial and humanresource consulting and actuarial services to corporations, publicentities and institutions around the world. Willis has more than400 offices in nearly 120 countries, with a global team ofapproximately 17,000 employees serving clients in virtually everypart of the world. Additional information on Willis may be found atwww.willis.com.