Catastrophe bonds and insurance-linked securities news

Major hurricane Milton continues to bear down on Florida and in recent updates from the National Hurricane Centre warning areas for the Florida Peninsula have been expanded, with an expectation the storm could sustain hurricane wind speeds all the way as it crosses the state from west to east.

Global financial services focused law firm Walkers has made a new hire in Bermuda with insurance-linked securities (ILS) experience, adding Jack Ellison as a Senior Associate to the insurance team there.

Welcoming attendees to ILS Bermuda’s 2024 Convergence event today, Jo Stanton, Chair of ILS Bermuda and Head of Finance at insurance-linked securities (ILS) investment manager Tangency Capital explained that with hurricane Milton heading for Florida it highlights the importance of collaborations with science to drive the understanding of risk and innovation.

After hurricane Milton skirted the northern Yucatan peninsula of Mexico without making a landfall it is now presumed that the $125 million Class C notes of the IBRD CAR Mexico 2024 catastrophe bond are safe and will not suffer a loss.

Yesterday saw a number of the 1940’s Act registered US mutual investment funds that allocate to catastrophe bonds and other insurance-linked securities (ILS) declining, presumably as asset managers cut their net asset values (NAV’s) on the potential for losses from hurricane Milton.

Hurricane Milton is now a Category 4 storm with sustained winds of 155 mph at the latest NHC update. With the central pressure now estimated at 933 mb and a track that will see Milton getting very close to the northern Yucatan peninsula, it has brought the Class C notes of the IBRD CAR Mexico […]

We understand from sources that, as early as yesterday, some catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) investment fund managers began exploring their options to free up cash from their portfolios in order to be ready for any potential losses, or to take advantage of market opportunities that emerge, due to now major hurricane Milton.

As hurricane Milton heads towards Florida, the developing storm situation poses the biggest potential threat to the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market since hurricane Ian in 2022, according to Florian Steiger, the CEO of catastrophe bond investment manager Icosa Investments AG.

CoreLogic has now updated its insurance market loss estimate for hurricane Helene to include losses to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), now putting the total in a range from $10.5 billion to as much as $17.5 billion.

Investment manager Amundi US has continued to attract capital to its most recently launched dedicated insurance-linked securities (ILS) fund strategy, as the Pioneer CAT Bond Fund has now reached $426 million in assets, now roughly tripling in size over the course of 2024 so far.