Cat bond fund news

Catastrophe bonds offer investors a “positive outlier” in the world of alternative investments for 2024, according to global asset manager Columbia Threadneedle.

The Ambassador catastrophe bond mutual fund strategy has now surpassed the $100 million in assets under management (AUM) level needed to be recognised as a qualified institutional buyer (QIB), with further capital raised and allocated to new catastrophe bond positions in the last quarter of record.

Cat bond specialist and former Nephila exec Niall MacGillivray has parted ways with insurance-linked securities (ILS) investment fund manager Tangency Capital to become the dedicated portfolio manager to the Ambassador catastrophe bond mutual fund strategy.

The total-return of the catastrophe bond market is now above 14% for the first eight months of 2023, meaning that the cat bond market’s investment performance remains on-track to set new all-time records this year.

The proposed acquisition of GAM Holding AG, parent company to GAM Investments and home to one of the largest catastrophe bond fund strategies, by specialist fund management group Liontrust has failed to win the necessary investor support, with the GAM Board now turning to discussions with the rival investor group NewGAMe.

The importance of the Fermat Capital Management catastrophe bond funds to global asset manager GAM Investments has become abundantly clear, with disclosures related to the GAM Holding acquisition by Liontrust suggesting Fermat is responsible for as much as 21% of the assets and revenues of the firm.

The average return across the group of UCITS catastrophe bond funds has reached a stunning 9.34% as of early August, as cat bond fund strategies continue to deliver outstanding returns in 2023.

The Ambassador Fund, a US mutual investment fund that was launched with a promise to have a core focus on catastrophe bonds, has finally allocated some capital to them in the quarter to April 30th, while also renewing a private ILW arrangement for 2023.

When Bermuda based reinsurance and third-party capital management specialist RenaissanceRe closes on its acquisition of the Validus reinsurance business from AIG, its CEO believes it will cede risk from the acquired company to investors in its ILS and joint-venture vehicles at a similar rate to how it operates today.

The acceleration of activity in the catastrophe bond market in 2023, as cedent demand for covers in the upper-layers of their reinsurance towers has risen and the ILS market has responded to it, is seen as something that will positively benefit the bottom-line at RenaissanceRe.