Cat bond news

The California Earthquake Authority (CEA) has returned to the catastrophe bond market to sponsor its first issuance since late 2023, seeking $200 million or more in multi-year collateralized California earthquake reinsurance protection from the capital markets through this Ursa Re Ltd. (Series 2025-1) issuance.

Once again, Bermuda has shown its dominant position as a home to structures used for catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) arrangements in 2024, with companies set up for this purpose dominating registrations of new insurance and reinsurance entities in Bermuda last year.

Having originally said that insurance and reinsurance market losses from the Los Angeles, California wildfires were likely to “notably exceed $10 billion,” reinsurance broker Gallagher Re has now issued an updated estimate range, for an industry loss of between $20 billion and $30 billion.

CoreLogic, the risk modelling and catastrophe data company, has provided an initial estimate for insured losses from the Los Angeles, California wildfires, saying the total is expected to fall in a range from $35 billion to as high as $45 billion.

Today, we are delighted to reveal the full agenda for our upcoming catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) conference. Artemis ILS NYC 2025 is being held in New York on February 7th. Tickets are still available but selling fast, so please register soon to ensure you can join us at the event.

Amundi US Investment Management has reported that its Pioneer CAT Bond Fund strategy delivered a 14.27% return in the year to October 31st 2024, while assets under management in the strategy have continued to expand through the end of the year.

Fermat Capital Management, the specialist manager of catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) investments, has launched a new range of commingled ILS strategies already supporting around $2 billion in assets, as well as two key hires to its global investor relations team.

The California Earthquake Authority (CEA) is discussing the need for either a pre-funded subsequent or second-event funding tower (with risk transfer and reinsurance perhaps a part of it), or the infrastructure for one, that would support its functions after a significant earthquake loss that depletes its claims paying ability.

FEMA has renewed the National Flood Insurance Program’s (NFIP) traditional reinsurance tower for 2025, securing 22% more in protection for this calendar year, at just over $757.8 million, from a broader panel of reinsurer counterparties.

With wildfires becoming a more recurring peril for the California property insurance market, alternative capital may be available to provide coverage, including through multiple-peril alternative reinsurance capital instruments, however “pricing is likely to remain a sticking point” according to analysts at Morningstar DBRS.