Insurance Linked Securities Interviews

Following a record year for the catastrophe bond market in 2024, with issuance increasing by over $1 billion to a new annual high of $17.7 billion, 2025 is set to be another busy year for the market, according to Brad Adderley, Partner at global law firm Appleby.

The awaited launch of the Brookmont Catastrophic Bond ETF is nearing and Artemis spoke with Ethan Powell, Principal & Chief Investment Officer of Brookmont Capital Management, LLC and Rick Pagnani, co-founder of King Ridge Capital Advisors LLC, to learn more about the strategy and their thoughts on how they see it developing.

A renewed interest in catastrophe bonds is being seen across the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market, as spreads have started to become more “attractive”, which indicates a favourable market entry point for new sponsors, according to Sandro Kriesch, Head of Insurance-Linked Securities (ILS), and Sophie Worsnop, Assistant Vice President, Acrisure Re Corporate Advisory & Solutions (ARCAS).

Steel City Re is the world’s only provider of parametric reputation insurance offerings, leveraging a reputational value index that delivers more stable and higher returns for reinsurers and insurance-linked securities (ILS) investors, according to co-founder and CEO Nir Kossovsky.

According to Thad Hall, Partner and Head of insurance-linked securities (ILS) Solutions at Augment Risk, the risk capital and reinsurance solutions broking firm, the ongoing growth trend with alternative capital is expected to continue throughout 2025, given the high returns for ILS relative to other assets.

2024 was another record issuance year for the catastrophe bond market and with total alternative reinsurance capital reaching new heights, the way insurance-linked securities (ILS) managers and investors matched appropriate risk returns was a notable success, according to Bill Dubinsky, Managing Director and CEO of Gallagher Securities.

The catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) market is expected to see healthy demand from investors in 2025, but the firmness and trajectory of pricing in the sector, and more broadly in reinsurance, remains less certain, according to Mark Gibson of Schroders Capital.

Kathleen Faries, CEO of Artex Capital Solutions, the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market service provider arm of Artex Risk Solutions, has emphasised a strategic focus on mergers and acquisitions, talent expansion, and building a dedicated carrier outsourcing practice heading into 2025.

According to Hilary Paul, Partner and Portfolio Manager, LGT ILS Partners, there will be further insurance-linked securities (ILS) M&A consolidation in the near term, with more transactions and join-venture agreements, especially as stand-alone managers increasingly seek economies of scale and access to rated paper.

International insurer and reinsurer MS Amlin has now launched the capital raise for the 2025 edition of its Phoenix reinsurance sidecar, and with the vehicle’s performance consistently beating expectations, investor interest is high, according to William Ho, CEO of MS Amlin Asia Pacific.