Catastrophe bond sponsor leaderboard added 40+ new entries in just over three years

One of the imperatives for growth of the catastrophe bond market has always been the onboarding of new first time cat bond sponsors into the market and Artemis’ data indicates over 40 have been added to our catastrophe bond sponsor leaderboard in just over three years.

Right now there are 110 named catastrophe bond sponsors in our leaderboard chart.

This interactive leaderboard displays every cat bond sponsor with an issuance in the outstanding market at this time, detailing the dollar value across their outstanding cat bond issues, as well as the number of issues and tranches included.

This leaderboard has expanded considerably over the last few years, as the cat bond market has expanded in size.

We took a look back at how the sponsor-base of the catastrophe bond market has grown and can see that in the fourth-quarter of 2021 we had just 70 named sponsors listed.

As a few new sponsors came to the market in that quarter as well, it suggests the sponsor-base actually grew by more than 40 over the following period, which means the catastrophe bond sponsor-base has expanded by an impressive 57% in just over three years.

Over that period, catastrophe bond risk capital outstanding in the market has grown by roughly 38%.

The number of names in our catastrophe bond sponsor leaderboard was lower at just over 60 around the middle of 2020, but had stood at 68 around the middle of 2019.

Calendar years 2021 through 2024 actually saw 51 first time cat bond sponsors come to market during that period, but a number have seen their first deals mature without any renewal or further issuances, so far.

This period and the new sponsors that have been brought to the cat bond market for the first time has been a critical factor in the growth we’ve seen in the size of the outstanding market.

Of course, alongside these new and first time cat bond sponsors, the repeat sponsors that bring new cat bonds to market regularly, renewing the reinsurance coverage they provide in most cases, are of course a key driver for market growth alongside the introduction of new firms.

With these long-standing and repeat catastrophe bond sponsors in mind, it is no surprise that the top names in our cat bond sponsor leaderboard are all prolific buyers of cat bond protection (click the image below to see the interactive leaderboard).

Topping the leaderboard at this time is US insurer Allstate, with just over $3.26 billion of risk capital across its outstanding Sanders Re catastrophe bonds.

Second in our list is USAA with $2.65 billion of Residential Re deals outstanding and third State Farm with $2.25 billion of Merna Re cat bonds.

In fourth is the Texas Windstorm Association (TWIA) with $2.1 billion of Alamo Re cat bonds, followed by the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) with $2.055 billion of Ursa Re and Sutter Re issuance.

The CEA is likely to jump higher up the list soon, as it has a new cat bond with a $200 million target size in the market at this time.

This interactive catastrophe bond sponsor leaderboard is a great way to stay up to date on who the most prolific sponsors of cat bonds are, as well as the increasing depth of the market and its sponsor-base.

The growth in the cat bond sponsor-base is testament to the increasing acceptance of cat bonds as an alternative sources of risk transfer and reinsurance capital, as well as the work of the broking and ILS manager communities in promoting catastrophe bonds to insurers, reinsurers and other sponsor types.

Analyse the catastrophe bond market using our charts and visualisations, which are kept up-to-date as every new transaction settles.

Download our free quarterly catastrophe bond market reports.

We track catastrophe bond and related ILS issuance data, the most prolific sponsors in the market, most active structuring and bookrunning banks and brokers, which risk modellers feature in cat bonds most frequently, plus much more.

Find all of our charts and data here, or via the Artemis Dashboard which provides a handy one-page view of cat bond market metrics.

All of these charts and visualisations are updated as soon as a new cat bond issuance is completed, or as older issuances mature.

All of our catastrophe bond market charts and visualisations are up-to-date and include data on new cat bond transactions as they settle.