$2.4bn ILS AUM a ‘testament’ to Hiscox franchise as new sidecar boosts capacity: CFO Cooper

Hiscox Capital Partners’ insurance‑linked securities (ILS) assets under management (AUM) rising to $2.4 billion is a testament to the organisation’s reinsurance business and franchise, according to Hiscox CFO Paul Cooper, who also explained that the group has launched a new sidecar to take on business that exceeds Hiscox’s own balance sheet appetite.

We reported earlier today, that Hiscox Capital Partners, the division of Hiscox Re that encompasses insurance-linked securities (ILS) investments and quota-share partnerships, had grown its overall ILS assets under management (AUM) to $2.4 billion at April 1st, with its catastrophe bond fund being the main beneficiary.

This represents a notable rise from January 1st 2026, where Hiscox lifted its ILS AUM to $1.5 billion, as $330 million of inflows over the last year served to increase deployable capital for the unit.

During a call with analysts this morning, in his opening remarks, Cooper addressed the AUM rise.

“ILS assets under management increased to $2.4 billion at April 1st, reflecting approximately $1 billion of capital raised, much of this into our cat bond. And as our cat bond fund grows, you just have to bear in mind that it does not impact written premium, and while this provides high quality, risk free fee income, the fees are at a lower level than private ILS funds,” the CFO said.

During the Q&A portion of the call, an analyst asked about the reinsurance and ILS growth Hiscox had seen in Q1 2026, and how much of that sits in the London market compared to the reinsurance and ILS component.

Recall, earlier this year, Hiscox Re, the reinsurance division of Hiscox Group, announced the launch of Hiscox Capital Partners as a new business unit to consolidate all the capital partnership activity the organisation has managed for nearly two decades, including third-party capital and ILS.

Conversely, Hiscox Re & ILS, the reinsurance and ILS unit within Hiscox Group, was also rebranded as Hiscox Re.

Responding to this, Cooper said: “In Re & ILS, really this is the new AUM that’s coming in. I think it is a testament to the quality of the Re business and the Re franchise. So we can offer to our clients, from a third‑party capital perspective, the ability to write through multiple different avenues, be it a dedicated syndicate in Lloyd’s, through sidecars, through cat bond funds, through ILS, through traditional reinsurance.

“And I think both the flexibility and range that we have, combined with the track record, whereby we’ve delivered on our own balance sheet a combined ratio in the 60s for four out of five years, really shows the ability to attract and generate, I think, strong returns for our third‑party capital providers.”

He continued: “But at the same time, generate good fees from a fee income perspective for ourselves. So, in each of the three years, we’ve generated in excess of $100 million per annum of those fees. So, I think it really shows the strength or that business overall.”

In addition, Cooper also announced that Hiscox had recently launched a new sidecar; however, details regarding its size were not shared.

“We have also launched a sidecar to supplement our balance sheet to provide increased capacity, which will generate additional fee income,” the CFO said.

Whilst responding to a question on Middle East conflict losses and prudence, Cooper told analysts that Hiscox is using the sidecar to write more business than their own balance sheet appetite.

“We continue to support our clients, so we are open for business. We are quoting in that in those markets, and I would say that where the business that we are originating is greater than our own appetite for our own balance sheet, we’ve launched that sidecar that I mentioned that enables us to essentially write the business on behalf of third-parties and use their balance sheet and in return, derive some fee income for that,” Cooper explained.