In announcing its results this morning, Adrian Cox, the CEO of Beazley, the London headquartered specialty insurance and reinsurance company, has stated that, when it comes to cyber insurance-linked securities the firm’s next step is to transition into securitisation and transformation of risks, with its dedicated cyber ILS fund planned for later this year.
Group Chief Executive Officer Adrian Cox was referring to Beazley’s Bermuda based initiative, which the company initiated last year with a plan to deploy $500 million of capital to establish a new Bermuda platform.
The goal, with the launch of Bermuda operation, is to expand Beazley’s role in the alternative risk transfer market, including through a new start-up venture targeting cyber insurance-linked securities (ILS) opportunities.
The Bermuda platform build-out sees Beazley building on its global cyber underwriting position to leverage third-party capital more meaningfully, while aiming to further develop the cyber ILS marketplace including with the launch of what could be the first cyber ILS fund strategy.
This morning, Beazley’s CEO Cox gave a little more colour on the plans and what they mean for the company.
“Innovation is central to our growth strategy and we are acting decisively in areas of structural opportunity. We are establishing a presence in Bermuda with a plan to reach $400m in written premiums by 2030. This is a multi-strand strategy covering ART for large corporates and captives, specialty reinsurance, including mortgage indemnity, selected specialty insurance classes, property reinsurance and cyber ILS,” Cox explained in his statement on the results.
Going on to explain on cyber ILS that, “We are leaders in cyber, having created the first cyber catastrophe bond in 2023 and are now leading the development of the cyber ILS market.
“Our next step is to move beyond issuance, and into securitisation and transformation, supported by a dedicated ILS fund which will come into effect during 2026.”
Which gives us some idea of the timeline for Beazley’s plan to launch a dedicated cyber ILS fund, which looks set to become the first such strategy in the market that is available to third-party investors.
Cox further stated, “Looking ahead, our priorities are clearly defined. We will create new long-term growth opportunities through the establishment of our Bermuda entity initially through our Property Treaty business.
“However, longer term we will also be leveraging our cyber leadership here, amongst wider expertise, to build new opportunities in the cyber ILS space, working closely with captives, and developing new revenue streams in ART products.”
Group CUO Paul Bantick also commented, “Innovation is our tool for structural, long-term underwriting growth. We underwrite only in areas where the risks are complex, volatile or changing, and where the pool of risk is naturally growing.
“Across 2025, we channelled our skills as cyber market leaders to step further into the Cyber ILS space. Supporting growth in this specialist segment of alternative risk will help equip the cyber insurance sector with the capital and capacity necessary for its growth.”
Beazley’s focus on cyber ILS and launching a dedicated cyber ILS fund reflects its continued leadership in that class of business, as well as its belief that additional capital is required to meet the size of the cyber underwriting opportunity and the opportunity to grow and profit by sharing in some of the cyber risks it underwrites with third-party investors.
Recall that Beazley’s CEO Adrian Cox had previously revealed that the firm’s plans to broaden into cyber insurance-linked securities (ILS) through its new Bermuda branch includes a joint-venture with an established ILS market player with a platform on the island.
The company also appointed its Head of Third-Party Capital initiatives Richard Gray as General Manager of Bermuda, which will see him leading the new cyber insurance-linked securities operations on the island.
As we also reported earlier this week, the boards of Zurich and Beazley have now agreed terms of the approximately £8.1 billion all-cash offer by Zurich for Beazley’s shares, while we are told that as the transaction proceeds it is business as usual for Beazley’s Bermuda cyber insurance-linked securities (ILS) plans.
In addition, this morning, CUO Paul Bantick also commented on other areas of Beazley’s operations where it shares risks with third-party capital investors, seeing further ability to expand this area of the business as well.
He explained, “The Portfolio Underwriting team is firmly established as a market leader for broker facilities and Fast Follow underwriting. The team has returned unbroken profitability to Beazley and third‑party capital investors since it was established in 2018, and given this strong track record, we expect further profitable growth in 2026.”
The launch of Beazley’s cyber ILS operation in Bermuda and the impending launch of a cyber ILS fund will serve to expand the work with third-party investors further and more meaningfully into one of the company’s target classes for growth.
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