MS Amlin confirms expansion of Phoenix Re securitized sidecar to $115m

MS Amlin has now confirmed the expansion of its Phoenix Re securitized sidecar vehicle, lifting it to $115 million for the 2026 underwriting year, as the company continues with the insurance-linked securities strategy into its now sixth year.

As Artemis revealed back on December 24th, MS Amlin had sponsored the placement of a $24.5 million tranche of notes under its Singapore registered Special Purpose Reinsurance Vehicle named Phoenix 2 Re Pte. Ltd.

The newly placed $24.5 million of 2026 Class E notes issued by Phoenix 2 Re Pte. Ltd., settled in December and have a final maturity date in early January 2038.

It appears this was the only new placement under the securitized reinsurance sidecar arrangements for 2026, as MS Amlin now confirms the vehicle has grown by $25 million for the coming year, so presumably through this new tranche of notes we revealed.

Now six years into using its collateralized catastrophe quota share reinsurance sidecar vehicles, which fall under the Phoenix Re name, MS Amlin has surpassed $100 million for the first time thanks to this latest issuance.

While these are catastrophe bond-like in their nature, given the issuance as securities under a Singapore based SPRV, they are in fact securitized quota share sidecar notes.

William Ho, CEO of MS Amlin Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, commented on the new Phoenix Re milestone reached, “Exceeding the $100m mark is the latest significant milestone for Phoenix Re and reflects both its strong performance and the increasing investor appetite for Asian catastrophe risks.

“Phoenix Re has responded to a series of regional natural catastrophes over the past year, including the Myanmar-Thailand earthquake, which has helped communities rebuild and reinforced confidence in the resilience of our strategy, modelling, and underwriting discipline.

“This year’s fundraise was the smoothest to date, reflecting the growing familiarity of investors with Asia and Phoenix Re’s consistent performance, which has seen it deliver average annualised returns of 9%.”

Tim Yip, Executive Director and Head of ILS Advisers, the company that plays the roles of both structurer and cornerstone co-investor for the vehicle, added, “For the past six years, the Phoenix Re transactions have provided our portfolio with truly global, diversified exposure in a balanced and accretive manner – without relying on the public 144A cat market, where diversifying perils often fail to offer adequate compensation.

“The Phoenix portfolio grants access to around 20 diversifying regional perils through approximately 200 high-attaching, ‘cat bond-like’ reinsurance policies, all without clashing exposures within the portfolio. It integrates seamlessly, enabling us to avoid allocating capital to secondary perils or regions where return levels are simply not attractive.”

Ho further explained that MS Amlin wants to continue broadening the scope of its Phoenix Re sidecar offerings, “We’re committed to supporting the continued development of the ILS market in Asia. Our ambition is to broaden our product offering across the risk spectrum. The market has expanded this year, and we expect that momentum to carry into 2026.”

Yip further said, “The best opportunities in this region typically remain local, and accessing them requires a strong on-the-ground presence.”

MS Amlin has said in the past that its Phoenix Re sidecar platform offers investors an efficient access point to diversifying reinsurance risk.

This diversification has been achieved in the past with MS Amlin supplying risks featured in more than 150 layers annually across APAC and MENA, through a sidecar arrangement but issued via a structure that functions similarly to a portfolio of catastrophe bonds.

The company accesses broad capital markets backed retrocessional reinsurance protection through the Phoenix Re sidecar series, sharing parts of its diverse portfolio of natural catastrophe risk with third-party investors.

The first Phoenix sidecar deal was placed for the 2021 underwriting year and was $42.14 million in size, while a second issuance that used the Phoenix 2 Re SPRV saw the arrangement slightly smaller at $37.5 million for the 2022 underwriting year.

For the 2023 renewal, MS Amlin sponsored its third capital market arrangement, upsizing the collateralised reinsurance sidecar arrangement, as Phoenix 3 Re Pte. Ltd. was $45 million in size.

Then, for 2024, in renewing tranches of Phoenix 2 Re, MS Amlin secured a further $35.25 million in retrocessional protection from its Asia catastrophe risk focused sidecar program, lifting the total sidecar protection to almost $87.5 million.

Most recently, for the 2025 underwriting year, the Phoenix Re reinsurance sidecar platform was renewed to provide $90 million of capital support, so the largest total protection MS Amlin had from the sidecar series yet.

Of that, roughly $55.75 million in new securitized sidecar notes were issued and listed in January 2025, with $5.75 million coming from the Phoenix 2 Re structure and a further $50 million from the Phoenix 3 Re Pte. Ltd. Singapore based special purpose reinsurance vehicle for the 2025 renewal, Artemis understood at the time.

Now, for 2026, the addition of the new $24.5 million of Series E notes for the coming year from the Phoenix Re 2 vehicle takes the total coverage to almost $115 million for MS Amlin.

For details of many reinsurance sidecar investments and transactions over the history of the ILS market, view our comprehensive list of collateralized reinsurance sidecars transactions.