cat bond trading

Swiss Re Capital Markets (SRCM) observed an increase in the number of secondary market trades in Q4 of 2023, indicating an “encouraging sign” that the market has fully-recovered from the capacity constraints and loss uncertainty it had faced following Hurricane Ian.

BMS Re, the reinsurance arm of the international broking group, has hired former Nephila Capital employee Brendan O’Brien to further build out its Bermuda reinsurance and retro offering, as well as to support its secondary catastrophe bond trading plans.

Trading of catastrophe bond notes in the secondary market has picked up in the last few weeks as cat bond fund managers and investors look to adjust their portfolios to accommodate the brisk flow of newly issued deals, helped in part by a record over $2 billion of issuance in April 2023, by Artemis’ numbers.

Secondary market trading of catastrophe bonds has accelerated as the market moves further beyond the initial impact of hurricane Ian, with activity rising, but the majority of trades still focused on diversifying peril cat bonds.

As is the case after any really major catastrophe loss event that is expected to impact reinsurance, insurance-linked securities (ILS) and catastrophe bonds, the fact cat bonds have a secondary liquidity element and can be traded is proving useful to some ILS managers and investors.

Spreads in the secondary market for catastrophe bonds began to widen towards the levels seen for primary cat bond transactions as the first-half of the year drew to a close, broker-dealer Aon Securities has said.

The volume of catastrophe bond notes traded on the secondary market rose again in May 2021, as insurance-linked securities (ILS) fund managers and cat bond investors adjusted their portfolios to accept the strong almost $3.3 billion of primary issuance seen during the month.

According to our market sources, secondary market trading of catastrophe bonds under the approach of hurricane Laura was “relatively light” by comparison to other major hurricane threats, perhaps suggesting that the uncertainty in the forecast cone made it more attractive to hold onto certain positions.

With hurricane Laura bearing down on the Texas and Louisiana coastline as a strengthening Category 2 storm with winds of over 110 mph, pushing what is being termed a potentially catastrophic storm surge in front of it, the time for last minute hedging arrangements and so-called live cat trading is now, or never.

The catastrophe bond market is once again demonstrating its financial liquidity, as secondary trading volumes have risen driven by certain investors looking to sell their positions at a time when volatility in the broader financial markets is extremely high due to the coronavirus pandemic.