Casualty ILS news

During the Markel Group first-quarter earnings call yesterday, Simon Wilson, CEO of Markel Insurance, said he is concerned about the competitive tendencies of certain MGA’s that are backed by sidecars and private capital, who he believes may be chasing US casualty risk pricing down in areas of the market where caution is warranted.

Northern Re, the collateralized reinsurance company that provides investors access to returns of its long-tail casualty underwriting business, has announced that it has selected Palantir Technologies as a core platform to support the continued development of its capital intelligence capabilities.

Whilst the casualty insurance-linked securities (ILS) space continues to emerge as a transformative capital source for long-tail risk, Yulia Bruskova argues that ILS investors in casualty risk deserve the same level of transparency in exposure and systemic risk understanding that natural catastrophe investors have long been receiving.

Our latest video features another panel discussion from Artemis ILS NYC 2026, a session focused on the expanding range of investment opportunities in the ILS asset class, from our tenth catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) conference in the ILS NYC series, held on February 6th 2026 in New York.

The casualty insurance-linked securities and casualty reinsurance sidecar market is seen as primed for expansion, with speakers at today’s SIFMA ILS conference in Miami saying the aligned nature of the structures and the motivation of cedents to participate all suggest traction will persist.

Artex Capital Solutions, the insurance-linked securities market service provider and insurance management specialist has partnered with legacy and run-off reinsurance specialist Enstar to introduce structured exit options embedded within Artex’s ILS vehicles.

In its recently published whitepaper, Cohen & Company Asset Management, the fixed income financial services investment specialist, explained that due to advances within structuring, analytics, and governance, combined with growing investor familiarity, the firm believes that casualty represents “the next evolution of ILS exposure.”

The outstanding market for collateralized reinsurance sidecar structures has expanded rapidly, with estimates from rating agency AM Best valuing the space between $16 billion and $18 billion, which marks an 183% increase over the mid-point of the $5 billion to $7 billion range estimated by the agency in 2023.

The reinsurance sidecar market witnessed rapid growth throughout 2025, particularly in Bermuda, where a number of major re/insurers launched casualty reinsurance sidecars during the year, which demonstrates how investors have a growing interest in longer-duration casualty risk exposure that offers high yields and diversification from property catastrophe risk, says Fitch Ratings.

Northern Re’s recent $150 million capital raise marks a significant step in the expansion of its technology-enabled platform. According to the firm’s founding brothers, Anthony and Peter McKelvy, Northern Re is navigating a shift in the reinsurance landscape where investors are increasingly prioritising operational transparency over purely financial objectives.