Insurance Linked Securities Interviews

The recent Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) introduced by the EU poses “significant challenges” and tough questions for ILS fund managers looking to build a green reputation, notes Joel Smith, Associate Partner at Synpulse Management Consulting.

Hurricane Ida “reminds us that the strength and trajectory is what is important when it comes to hurricanes” and that “there is always a lot to learn from every event”. This is according to Luca Albertini, CEO of London-headquartered Leadenhall Capital Partners LLP, a subsidiary of MS Amlin.

Hurricane Ida is a completely different kind of loss to Hurricane Katrina, because there was no element of surprise when the category 4 storm ploughed into the Louisiana coastline on 29 August, 16 years after Katrina. This is according to Matt FitzGerald, managing partner at Gallagher Re.

Global reinsurance firm Swiss Re is “very active” in creating new products for insurance-linked securities (ILS) investors, according to its CEO, who also sees the need for the capital markets to play a role in protecting against other risks that affect economies.

For specialty insurer and reinsurer, Fidelis Insurance Holdings Limited, utilising third-party reinsurance capital is seen as key to its evolution, according to Dan Burrows, Executive Chairman of Fidelis Bermuda and Group Managing Director.

As third-party or alternative capital managed continues to grow for global reinsurance firm Swiss Re, the company is keen to stress that this doesn’t mean any changes to its underwriting approach and standards, Philipp Rüede told us.

Appetite for insurance-linked securities (ILS) investments is rising according to Twelve Capital’s Florian Steiger, who sees interest in catastrophe bonds as still strong despite recent tightening of spreads, while interest in peak peril private ILS and collateralised reinsurance is on the rise.

There is a need for further rate adequacy at the upcoming 1 January renewals following a series of major natural catastrophe losses so far in 2021 and a high frequency and severity of claims in certain casualty classes of business.

The insurance-linked securities (ILS) market is expected to continue attracting new investors, leading to continuous growth, while even more investors from around the world are also increasingly getting familiar with the asset class, Lorenzo Volpi of Leadenhall Capital Partners explained in a recent interview.

The high-levels of activity and investor interest in the catastrophe bond market has resulted in tightening of spreads for many issues this year so far, leading to some cat bonds becoming less attractive to invest in, as they no longer adequately compensate for the risk assumed, according to Dirk Schmelzer of Plenum Investments.