Olympus Insurance Company, a Florida homeowners specialist, has entered the catastrophe bond market for the first time, seeking to sponsor a $100 million Abacab Re Ltd. (Series 2026-1) transaction to secure a capital markets backed source of multi-year Florida named storm reinsurance protection, Artemis understands.
As a Florida property insurance specialist, Olympus Insurance Company carries meaningful exposure to hurricane events hitting the state and buys reinsurance to protect itself and its policyholders against such events.
So it’s no surprise to see the insurer entering the catastrophe bond market to sponsor its debut deal, as the company looks to lock-in multi-year and fully-collateralized Florida named storm reinsurance protection from the capital markets.
Abacab Re Ltd. has been established in Bermuda as a structure for the issuance of series of cat bond notes.
For this first issuance, Abacab Re Ltd. is targeting issuance of a single Class A tranche of Series 2026-1 catastrophe bond notes, that will be sold to investors and the proceeds be used to collateralize a reinsurance agreement between the issuer and Olympus Insurance Company.
The offering is initially sized at $100 million we understand, while it is designed to provide the sponsor Olympus Insurance with a three-year source of Florida named storm reinsurance, on an indemnity trigger and per-occurrence basis, running from June 2026 through to the end of May 2029, we are told.
The $100 million of Class A notes that Abacab Re Ltd. is aiming to issue would attach their coverage at $110 million of losses and exhaust at $360 million, so cover a share of a larger layer. But we’re told there is stated reinsurance and FHCF coverage beneath that layer, with an effective attachment point for a first-event expected to be closer to $600 million of losses.
The Abacab Re Series 2026-1 Class A notes will come with an initial attachment probability of 2.19%, an initial base expected loss of 1.66% and they are being offered to investors with price guidance for a risk interest spread of between 7.75% and 8.5%, sources said.
It’s good to see another first-time sponsor entering the catastrophe bond market in 2026, serving to further expand diversity within the asset class.
Also notable with this first Abacab Re cat bond, is the fact Lockton Re Capital Markets is acting as sole structuring agent for a 144A catastrophe bond for the first time ever, having previously only been a co-manager for one 144A issuance in the past. Lockton Re Capital Markets is also a joint bookrunner, another role it has not featured in before, alongside Gallagher Securities.
This is encouraging, as with market growth we also need to see a wider-range of key service providers in the catastrophe bond sector to support sponsor needs.
You can read all about this Abacab Re Ltd. (Series 2026-1) cat bond and every other catastrophe bond deal ever issued in our Artemis Deal Directory.
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