Best of Artemis, week ending July 12th 2026

Here are the ten most popular news articles, week ending July 12th 2026, covering catastrophe bonds, ILS, reinsurance capital and related risk transfer topics. To ensure you never miss a thing subscribe to the weekly Artemis email newsletter updates or get our email alerts for every article we publish.


Ten most read articles on Artemis.bm, week ending July 12th 2026:

1. AXA XL’s new catastrophe bond is the first ever to cover US terrorism risk
   We reported last month that AXA XL had secured $67.5 million of retrocessional protection from a new Galileo Re Ltd. (Series 2026-1) catastrophe bond issuance. We’ve now learned this deal was particularly innovative and set some new market firsts, including becoming the first US terrorism cat bond ever.
2. Depth of non-life soft market downturn to be more limited this time: Swiss Re
   Swiss Re has said that while the non-life insurance and reinsurance market has entered a softer phase of the underwriting cycle, it does not anticipate the depth of the downturn being as significant as we’ve seen in the past.
3. CSU lowers 2026 Atlantic hurricane forecast further, citing El Niño and wind shear
   The Colorado State University (CSU) tropical meteorology team has now further reduced its seasonal forecast for the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, citing the high-likelihood of a strong El Niño and the associated increase in vertical wind shear as the primary factor.
4. Catastrophe bond market records that were broken in H1 2026
   The first-half of 2026 saw another record period of issuance in the catastrophe bond market, as the use of cat bonds to source reinsurance protection continues to increase and the investor base appetite for new cat bond investment opportunities grows. Beyond the new issuance high-bar that was set, numerous other records fell in H1.
5. Long-term El Niño (ENSO) correlation holds little predictive power for annual property losses: KCC
   According to a recent paper by catastrophe risk modeler Karen Clark & Company (KCC), while a long-term correlation exists between El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phases and insured property losses, the climate pattern holds relatively little predictive power for any single year.
6. TSR raises hurricane forecast slightly on potential for more favourable sub-tropical conditions
   Tropical Storm Risk (TSR) has raised its forecast for the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season slightly, now calling for one more hurricane and major hurricane to form, citing “indications that the sub-tropical Atlantic may provide more favourable conditions for tropical cyclones.”
7. Third wave of speakers for our Artemis London 2026 conference
   We have added four more expert speakers to the Artemis London 2026 website, our next catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) market conference. Join us in London on September 1st for a full-day of in-depth discussion about the ILS market and valuable networking, register to attend the conference here.
8. SCOR and Japan Post sign MOU on reinsurance investment structure
   SCOR has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Japanese insurer Japan Post Insurance on the establishment of a reinsurance investment structure, which will feature subject business from both companies and be invested into by Japan Post Insurance.
9. Casualty sidecars claim 10% of market capacity as long-tail assets boost investor yields: S&P
   A new report from S&P Global Ratings highlights a structural shift in the sidecar market, as casualty reinsurance sidecars have grown to account for approximately 10% of total sidecar capacity. Driven by a wave of recent high-profile launches these vehicles are attracting alternative capital by offering returns largely uncorrelated with broader financial markets.
10. Next stage of ILS growth requires international and peril diversification: Howden Re
    The insurance-linked securities (ILS) market remains in a strong position, but expanding into international markets and less conventional perils will be critical for the market’s next stage of growth, according to executives at reinsurance broker Howden Re, who note that this expansion is vital both to unlock diversification benefits and to help close global protection gaps.

This is not every article published on Artemis during the last week, just the most popular among our readers over the last seven days. There were 33 new articles published in the last week.

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