Insurance Linked Investments

Ascot Group, the specialist global insurance and reinsurance underwriter owned by CPP Investments, the investment arm of the Canada Pension Plan, has announced the hiring of former Canopius executive Charles Craigs as its new Managing Principal overseeing the firm’s Third-Party Capital initiatives in Bermuda.

The global reinsurance arm of insurance intermediary group Howden is set to drop Tiger from its name, rebranding to a more aligned Howden Re and the firm’s capital markets and insurance-linked securities (ILS) specialist unit will become Howden Capital Markets & Advisory.

The level of insurance-linked securities (ILS) capital reached new heights in 2023 on the back of record issuance in the catastrophe bond market, and while collateralised reinsurance has so far failed to rebound, there are signs of growth, according to James Vickers, Chairman of International, Gallagher Re.

According to Aon Securities, the insurance-linked securities (ILS) and investment banking arm of Aon’s Reinsurance Solutions, the amount of alternative capital in the reinsurance industry ended 2023 at a new high of $108 billion, a figure the broker expects to grow as interest investor is growing across the range of ILS instruments.

Risk modelling company Moody’s RMS has partnered with reinsurance brokerage firm Augment Risk to help serve clients looking to benefit from parametric reinsurance solutions, including large corporates with captives, Lloyd’s syndicates, and insurance-linked securities (ILS) funds.

MultiStrat, a specialist underwriter, and reinsurance investment facilitator with a focus on helping investors access returns from casualty risks through insurance-linked securities (ILS) arrangements has deployed $1.75 billion of investor capital through its deals so far and is targeting further “significant growth” this year.

According to the Eurekahedge ILS Advisers Index, the average return of the catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) funds it tracks was the second strongest on record for February, coming in at 1.04% for the month.

A developing situation in the corporate bond market has the potential to drive a significant increase in interest in insurance-linked securities (ILS) and has the potential to drive more inflows to the catastrophe bond market, analysts at Jefferies have suggested.

The catastrophe bond and related insurance-linked securities (ILS) market has continued to set new records in the first-quarter of 2024, with an impressive $4.23 billion of new issuance recorded, Artemis’ new quarterly market report explains.

Aspen Capital Markets, the third-party and alternative reinsurance capital management unit of global re/insurer Aspen, continued to expand its funding for third-party capital and insurance-linked securities (ILS) vehicles, as total capital sourced reached $1.7 billion by the end of 2023.