Swiss Re takes on co-management of GAM’s catastrophe bond and ILS fund range

Swiss Re Insurance-Linked Investment Advisors Corporation (SRILIAC), a registered investment adviser subsidiary of global reinsurance company Swiss Re, is taking on co-investment management duties for the range of catastrophe bonds and insurance-linked securities (ILS) funds offered by global asset manager GAM.

From May 7th, Swiss Re will be appointed as the co-investment manager of GAM’s ILS fund range, including the GAM Star Cat Bond UCITS Fund.

In the co-investment manager role, Swiss Re will have responsibility for investment and portfolio management decisions, while GAM will focus on risk management oversight and will lead global distribution and product structuring.

We understand that, with Swiss Re the sole co-investment manager now, alongside GAM, this means that Fermat Capital Management is stepping away from its long-standing role as investment manager to the GAM Star UCITS catastrophe bond fund strategy and possibly all other funds it had co-operated with GAM on.

That’s a major move for Fermat, given its longstanding history as manager of the GAM Star Cat Bond Fund strategy. But, recall that Fermat had launched its own-branded UCITS catastrophe bond fund back in 2024 and as an investment manager it has accelerated in assets under management terms while broadening its scope as well.

That Fermat UCITS Cat Bond Fund had grown rapidly to more than US $750 million of assets by the end of 2024 and is expected to have grown further by now as well, so it seems Fermat will now go it alone on the UCITS side, something the firm is more than capable of, of course.

It’s also worth noting some of the challenges that have been faced by GAM as it underwent an ownership tussle through 2023, which had raised uncertainty in the markets. Those challenges are now settled, but recall that Fermat went through them all and it was widely reported that the ownership issues had an effect on investor flows for a time as well.

Swiss Re itself already manages roughly US $5 billion in ILS assets as of March 31st 2025, which includes its cat bond and private ILS funds, reinsurance sidecars and other bespoke structures.

At May 7th 2025, Swiss Re will add the co-management of GAM’s ILS funds, which bring with them roughly US $3 billion in additional assets under management (AUM).

Swiss Re and GAM are also set to collaborate on ILS innovation gong forward as well, which could lead to interesting opportunities for both firms.

Mariagiovanna Guatteri, CEO and CIO of SRILIAC, commented on the news, “The ILS market set new records in 2024, and strong returns on cat bonds have highlighted the attractiveness and diversification value of the asset class for investors. It is an exciting time for the industry, and we see considerable interest both from cat bond issuers and investors.”

Christopher Minter, Head of Swiss Re Alternative Capital Partners, added, “We are delighted to partner with GAM to co-manage their cat bond and ILS investment strategies. We look forward to working with GAM to bring Swiss Re’s unparalleled risk knowledge and cat bond industry experience to investors.”