Aspen Capital Markets fee income climbs 30% in 9M’25 to $146m, as AUM hits $2.5bn

Aspen Capital Markets, the third-party, ILS and alternative reinsurance capital management unit of global re/insurer Aspen, has continued to expand its business throughout the first nine months of 2025 with fee income generated by the unit increasing by 30% to $146 million.

Remember that Aspen Capital Markets’ total fee income for full-year 2024 came out at $169 million, so the firm remains well on-track to eclipse that in 2025.

At the same time, Aspen Capital Markets grew its assets under management AUM to a new high of $2.5 billion at September 30, 2025.

Readers may recall that Aspen Capital Markets surpassed $2.4 billion in assets under management in the second quarter of 2025. 

For the third quarter of 2025 alone, Aspen Capital Markets also saw solid momentum, with fee income climbing 6.4% to reach $47 million.

Moreover, Aspen has adopted a differentiated model when it comes to managing third-party capital for investors in insurance-linked securities (ILS) type vehicles.

The company has been a proponent of casualty ILS, allowing investors to obtain returns from longer-tailed lines of insurance and reinsurance business.

Within its reinsurance segment, Aspen reported that its acquisition cost ratio improved by 1.7 percentage points from the prior year period, which the firm noted was driven by higher ceding commissions resulting from increased cessions from Casualty lines to its Aspen Capital Market partners.

For 9M’25 and Q3’25, Aspen’s operating income was $261 million and $100 million, respectively, with both that $146 million and $47 million from Aspen Capital Markets clearly an increasingly significant contributor for the company now.

“Aspen continues to be focused on underwriting discipline and robust cycle management. This is reflected in both our excellent underwriting result and our thoughtful approach to new business, which has seen our Gross Written Premiums grow modestly as we prioritize sustainable long-term profitability over growth,” commented Christian Dunleavy, Group President.

Adding: “Our teams continue to dynamically allocate risk in response to customer need and the trading environment and, in this context, we were pleased to see fee income from Aspen Capital Markets increase once again. Our strong performance for the quarter means we are on track to deliver a mid-teens operating return on equity for the full year, as Aspen continues to create value for all its stakeholders. Thank you to all our colleagues for their hard work and commitment in delivering this result.”

“Aspen delivered strong results for the third quarter of 2025 continuing the positive trend of the past several quarters, reflecting the quality and stability of our franchise. With market dynamics shifting, including increased competition across several lines of business, I am pleased that we recorded a significantly improved combined ratio. Looking forward, I am confident that the high caliber of our people and our culture means we continue to be well placed to deliver best-in-class solutions and products for our trading partners and customers through the market cycle,” said Mark Cloutier, Executive Chairman and Group Chief Executive Officer.

Cloutier continued: “On August 27, 2025, we announced the acquisition of Aspen by the Sompo Group. The acquisition is a testament to the sustainable performance and value we’ve created, and we continue to work diligently towards its successful completion, and we expect the transaction to close during the first half of 2026, subject to regulatory approval.”

Aspen Capital Markets is just one of the dedicated insurance-linked securities (ILS) fund managers, and reinsurers offering ILS-style investment opportunities, listed in our Insurance-Linked Securities Investment Managers & Funds Directory.