Bermuda captured 87% of ILS and cat bonds in 2014

According to data released by ILS Bermuda Ltd., the steering committee of the forthcoming Bermuda Convergence 2015 event, the island captured a huge 87% of new catastrophe bond and insurance-linked security (ILS) issuance in 2014.

Bermuda has been a dominant force in the ILS space for many years now, becoming the defacto home for domiciling of cat bond and ILS issuing vehicles. In 2014, despite the emergence of a number of other domiciles aiming to attract ILS business, Bermuda stretched its lead.

ILS & Cat Bond Issuance Deal Volume by Jurisdiction (in US$billion) - Source: Bermuda Monetary Authority

In 2014, according to the figures sourced from the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA), Bermuda attracted 87% or $7.7 billion worth of new ILS and cat bond business, out of a total of $8.83 billion.

One of the driving forces behind Bermuda’s dominance in cat bond and ILS business has been its regulatory environment, something other domiciles have sought to emulate in recent years.

Additionally, the Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX) has also helped to drive this dominance, with the Exchange now home to around $17.5 billion in listed ILS and cat bond related vehicles.

ILS Bermuda wants to continue to drive interest in Bermuda as a hub for ILS with the forthcoming Bermuda Convergence 2015 event, an event fast becoming one of the key ILS market meetups of the year.

For 2015, with the event scheduled for the 11th to 13th November, the ILS Bermuda steering committee is aiming to attract over 300 delegates from around the world to the island.

Greg Wojciechowski, CEO, Bermuda Stock Exchange, and ILS Bermuda Chairman, commented on the launch of this years event; “On behalf of ILS Bermuda, I am delighted to announce that registration for Bermuda Convergence 2015 is now open. The ILS Bermuda team has been expanded this year with a view to continuing and enhancing the Bermuda Convergence networking event, while concentrating on developing additional business development initiatives domestically and abroad.”

The ILS market has not seen any shortage of topics for conversation in the last year, with domiciles grabbing the headlines thanks to the UK Government’s stated aim to attract some of the ILS market activity to London.

While this could be seen as competition for Bermuda, it is in fact an opportunity for further ILS market growth. ILS market participants have been clearly expressing a desire to see the UK and London add something innovative and new to ILS, rather than simply trying to attract business which can be transacted efficiently already.

Wojciechowski continued; “The members of ILS Bermuda look forward to welcoming our industry friends and colleagues back to Bermuda to join us in November. The team is creating a schedule that will offer compelling information exchange, an event platform for business development networking, and social events designed for continued networking. With the UK announcing its desired intention to be more active in the ILS market, the positive growth results we see year-on-year and the current M&A activity, we believe there is no shortage of interesting topics to discuss at Convergence 2015.

“Bermuda’s leadership position has strengthened in 2014 and the first half of 2015, through the success of the annual ILS Bermuda Convergence event that brought to the Island professionals looking to do business here. We look forward to welcoming them back for the third year of this innovative event.”

Details and registration information for the ILS Bermuda Convergence 2015 event can be found over at the organisations website. Artemis will be attending the event and we hope to see some of our readers there.