Aon’s White Rock vehicle readies private ILS program in Bermuda

Aon Insurance Managers appears to be readying a new private catastrophe bond and private ILS vehicle in Bermuda, with the listing of an ILS program through its White Rock segregated account transformer vehicle.

Of course Aon already facilitates private ILS and collateralised reinsurance through its White Rock transformer or segregated accounts vehicles in Bermuda and Guernsey, but the new listing on the Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX) yesterday appears to be the first ILS note program, under which multiple future transactions could be issued.

Aon’s White Rock Insurance (SAC) Ltd. Class 3, Class C and segregated accounts company, has listed an “ILS Program” on the exchange, under listing classification Section V – Insurance Related Securities.

The White Rock Insurance (SAC) Ltd. ILS Program will be able to offer separate series of insurance-linked notes in respect of its segregated accounts now that it is established, with the program having its own prospectus and each series of notes having a supplement to the prospectus, we understand.

That suggests that the White Rock ILS Program provides the blueprint for multiple private ILS transactions or private cat bonds, which will be defined by their supplements and the contents of the related segregated cell.

That should allow for an efficient platform that ILS cedents and investors or funds could use to transact collateralised reinsurance deals and have them transformed into ILS notes.

Of course Aon Securities launched a catastrophe bond platform called CATstream, back in 2014, so this could just be an extension of the platform or a transformer vehicle that it would use.

At this stage only the ILS Program from White Rock Insurance (SAC) Ltd. has been listed. But with the ILS Program now established it can surely only be a matter of time until the first series of notes are issued using it.