Catastrophe bonds and insurance-linked securities news

Following the recent closure of German insurer Gothaer’s €100 million Yardstick Re DAC (Series 2026-1) flood catastrophe bond, analysts at Moody’s Ratings explained how the agency looked beyond just the standard model outputs when it came to rating the first-ever pure German flood cat bond, due to the bond having a very remote risk of […]

The recently settled $75 million Arthur Re Ltd. – Woody Re 2026-1 catastrophe bond represents an “important step” for The Fidelis Partnership in building out reinsurance capacity to support its Syndicate 3123 at Lloyd’s as it grows, according to David Woods, Head of Portfolio & Exposure and Ireland Chief Executive Officer.

Catastrophe bond issuance is expected to exceed $20 billion for the second year in a row in 2026, according to Aon Securities, with the maturity schedule seen as a “constructive” market feature that when added to coupon earnings means cash and capital levels for fund managers and investors have been particularly high this year.

Swiss Re is now aiming to secure as much as an upsized $345 million of broad North American peak peril retrocessional protection through its new Matterhorn Re Ltd. (Series 2026-3) catastrophe bond offering, while the price guidance for the notes has now been lowered twice, Artemis can report.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is aiming to price its fourth catastrophe bond sponsorship at the low-end of initial guidance, while still seeking $100 million of California wildfire protection from the 123 Lights Re Ltd. (Series 2026-1) offering, Artemis understands.

Fermat Capital Management, the specialist catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) investment manager, has set up and launched a United States domiciled cat bond fund structure to support access to the asset class for US taxable investors and those that cannot invest offshore, Artemis can report.

Catastrophe bond market momentum accelerated through the second-quarter of 2026 and has broken many records, with more than $11.3 billion of new risk capital analysed and tracked in the period, making Q2 2026 the biggest single quarter in the history of the cat bond market and driving H1 to set another high bar, Artemis’ new […]

Even as spreads have compressed by roughly one-fifth and expected returns have fallen, Tom Wakefield, CEO of reinsurance broker Gallagher Re has said there is no sign of investor appetite retreating at this time.

Reinsurance capital reached a record high of $790 billion by the end of Q1 2026, but it was alternative or third-party reinsurance capital, so that deployed through insurance-linked securities and related collateralized structures, which was the sole driver of growth as it reached $141 billion, rising 4% from the end of the year, according to […]

The amount of non-life alternative reinsurance capital from catastrophe bonds and insurance-linked securities (ILS) grew by more than 5% just in the first-quarter of the year, with Gallagher Securities estimating $7 billion of incremental capital was added, to take non-life ILS capital outstanding to $142 billion at the end of Q1 2026.