TigerRisk launches cat bond, ILS & catastrophe risk trading desk

TigerRisk Capital Markets & Advisory (TCMA), the SEC registered broker-dealer, investment banking, ILS and capital markets subsidiary of reinsurance advisory and broker TigerRisk Partners, has launched an ILS and catastrophe risk trading desk.

Patrick Gonnelli, a partner at TigerRisk since 2010, will head-up the secondary catastrophe bond and ILS trading desk and has been appointed Global Head of ILS Distribution and Trading of TCMA.

TigerRisk Partners said that it has been approved by FINRA to trade secondary catastrophe bond notes, including any cat bonds issued by TigerRisk Partners and its affiliated entities. The trading desk will be focused across the ILS spectrum though, offering an integrated location for catastrophe risk trading, that will include the ability to trade catastrophe bonds, industry loss warranties (ILW’s) and also parametric insurance or reinsurance products.

“We believe our secondary trading desk will be unique,” commented Tony Ursano, President of TigerRisk. “In addition to trading catastrophe bonds, our trading desk will also broker industry loss warranties (ILWs) and parametric products in reinsurance and derivative form.”

By supporting multiple product-types TigerRisk will hope to position itself as more of a catastrophe risk trading desk, rather than simply cat bonds as most secondary brokers are. We’d expect that listed reinsurance sidecar notes will also be traded by the desk, although the firm did not specify.

“We believe that offering multiple products from the same desk benefits buyers and sellers alike and is in keeping with our holistic philosophy of connecting risk to capital in its most efficient form. We expect this approach will also foster enhanced dialogue and relationships with investors,” Ursano continued.

Patrick Gonnelli, Partner, and now Global Head of ILS Distribution and Trading and a registered principal of TCMA, added; “Offering access and having a dedicated daily presence in catastrophe bonds, ILWs and parametric products from the same trading desk should provide our clients, our trading partners and us with cutting-edge market and pricing intelligence and execution.”

Gonnelli joined TigerRisk in 2010 as Partner, launching the brokers Non-Marine Retrocession and ILW execution team. He has over 15 years of experience in the Non-Marine Retrocession/ILW market working at companies such as R.K. Carvill in Bermuda and Willis Re in New York. Gonnelli was also responsible for developing and trading futures and options for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Hurricane Index while at Carvill’s.

The news of a secondary cat bond and ILS trading desk at TigerRisk comes on the heels of the appointment of ex-Swiss Re Capital Markets executive Philipp Kusche as Partner and Global Head of ILS and Capital Solutions.

It will be interesting to see whether there is room for another ILS trading desk in the market, or whether this results in a squeeze in a space with growing competition.