Demand for insurance-linked securities is still high

July 6 2007, Axa SA, Europe's second-largest insurer, sold 450 million euros ($611 million) of securities backed by European car-insurance policies to transfer risk to investors and free up capital. The company bundled together 6 million individual insurance contracts representing 2.6 billion euros of premiums, the Paris-based insurer said today in an e-mailed statement. The notes were``close to'' being three times oversubscribed, Axa said.