Cat bond news

As alternative capital in the reinsurance industry is expected to continue to grow, despite this Moody’s Ratings is not expecting any significant impact to pricing or policy terms for the rest of 2024 and in 2025, believing discipline will remain key for the ILS market.

More Australian pension super funds have begun allocating to insurance-linked securities (ILS), according to Bloomberg, as the publisher names Rest Super and Host Plus as allocating to the space. Artemis has learned that Rest Super has invested with manager Twelve Capital for catastrophe bonds.

The strategy of the Alternative Capital Partners (ACP) division of global reinsurance giant Swiss Re remains unchanged, according to its new Head Chris Minter, who told us the company continually reviews how it can expand its offering for investors.

The insurance-linked securities (ILS) industry has come together to respond to the European Securities & Markets Authority (ESMA) call for evidence to support a review of the Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) Eligible Assets Directive (EAD), highlighting the reasons catastrophe bonds are beneficial assets for investors and suitable assets for UCITS strategies.

Investor sentiment for accessing the specialist Lloyd’s insurance and reinsurance marketplace is very strong as scepticism around the market following some turbulent years has eased on the back of impressive results, according to executives at Argenta Private Capital Limited (APCL).

Client demand for risk capacity is “accelerating in all dimensions” according to Shiv Kumar, President of GC Securities, the capital markets and ILS specialist unit of reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter.

Catastrophe bond fund returns spiked in August 2024 delivering the best monthly performance of the year for many, as seasonal spread tightening delivered strong performance across the market, with the Plenum CAT Bond UCITS Fund Indices averaging a 2.15% return for just slightly over the month.

Computershare, a banking and investor services provider with a footprint in the collateralized reinsurance market, is expanding its insurance-linked securities (ILS) services offering to focus on also providing trustee and paying agent services for catastrophe bonds.

Even without any major catastrophe loss events over the rest of the year, Michael Stahel, Partner and Portfolio Manager at LGT ILS Partners Ltd., is not expecting a significant shift in premium from current price levels and notes the company will strategically shift capacity between areas of the market to source the best deal opportunities […]

Over the next year, reinsurance buyers have expressed a strong preference for catastrophe bonds when it comes to utilising alternative capital, while sidecars are also expected to see much more elevated demand, the latest survey by Moody’s Ratings shows.