Archive for December, 2025

As per a recent commentary from Fitch Ratings, alternative investment managers’ (Alt IMs) recent expansion into Lloyd’s syndicates and U.S. casualty sidecars is providing the reinsurance market with new third-party capital, however the agency warns that this also increases potential credit, liquidity, valuation, and governance risks.

QBE Insurance Group’s sponsorship of its largest catastrophe bond sponsorship so far, the $400 million Bridge Street Re Ltd. (Series 2025-2) issuance, is set to diversify the firm’s capital providers while also further enhancing the company’s capital management strategy, according to Chris Killourhy, incoming Group Chief Financial Officer.

Global insurance and reinsurance broking group Aon has reported that cedents benefited from favourable dynamics at the January 1st reinsurance renewals, aided by record levels of capital following another strong year for reinsurers, along with a benign 2025 Atlantic hurricane season which the firm says led to “competitive tension” in the market.

As the insurance-linked securities (ILS) sector moves into 2026, one key challenge and opportunity that the market faces lies in the push for greater market liquidity, with senior executives from reinsurer Swiss Re noting that the space is still far from achieving robust daily pricing and dedicated liquidity providers.

Longtail Re, the casualty reinsurance underwriting vehicle operated by asset manager Stone Ridge, has delivered a 20% annualised return-on-equity (ROE) since its inception in 2020, while also building a more than $6 billion asset portfolio, according to CEO Ross Stevens.

With reinsurance sidecars having emerged as a key capital instrument for re/insurers aiming to utilise third-party capital, the current growth and momentum within the space has been concentrated in ceded reinsurance strategies, casualty-focused portfolios; and MGAs, MGUs and capital-light entities, according to broker Guy Carpenter.

According to Hiscox Re & ILS, successful navigation of the reinsurance cycle requires proactive portfolio management, where strategic capital allocation plays a central role alongside diversification, retention strategy, and asset allocation, traits that are all the more important at phases in the market cycle such as we see today.

The January 1st 2026 reinsurance renewals saw “accelerated softening” as excess capital in the market weighed on rates, while property catastrophe renewals saw double-digit declines with investor appetite for insurance-linked securities a contributing factor, according to broker Guy Carpenter.

Here are the ten most popular news articles, week ending December 28th 2025, covering catastrophe bonds, ILS, reinsurance capital and related risk transfer topics. To ensure you never miss a thing subscribe to the weekly Artemis email newsletter updates or get our email alerts for every article we publish.

During an interview, executives at Howden Capital Markets & Advisory outlined how the catastrophe bond market has evolved into a well-established asset class that helps strengthen systemic resilience for public and private entities, while also acknowledging how private ILS continues to present attractive opportunities for cedants and investors heading into 1.1 and beyond.