Catastrophe bond fund news

Once again, slight impacts were reported for some ILS funds in May 2017 due to U.S. severe thunderstorm activity, as the average returns of the insurance-linked securities (ILS), pure catastrophe bond and reinsurance-linked investment fund sector came in at 0.19% for the month.

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) pension fund increased its insurance and reinsurance linked assets by roughly 73% in 2016 to £1 billion (US$1.3 billion), and is looking at the option of adding more amidst an expectation of more attractive pricing in the future.

The brisk pace of catastrophe bond issuance in recent months, which looks set to help the market achieve new records in terms of activity and scale by the end of this quarter, has helped some ILS fund managers to open the gates on cat bond strategies a little, as a number offer new subscription opportunities.

The returns of insurance-linked securities (ILS), pure catastrophe bond and reinsurance-linked investment funds were knocked by severe thunderstorm activity across the United States in April, resulting in a below-average for the month 0.15% return.

Tenax Capital, a London based hedge fund founded by its CEO Massimo Figna, is about to launch its first ILS strategy, a UCITS compliant catastrophe bond investment fund.

Zurich and London based insurance and reinsurance linked investment manager Twelve Capital has hired a new member to its portfolio management team to take responsibility for the firm’s catastrophe bond investment strategies.

Insurance-linked securities (ILS), pure catastrophe bond and reinsurance-linked investment funds reported an above average return of 0.23% for March 2017, thanks to global catastrophe events having little immediate impact on ILS funds, although a number of ILS managers are monitoring the developing cyclone Debbie market loss.

The average return across a group of 34 insurance-linked securities (ILS), pure catastrophe bond and reinsurance-linked investment funds came in at a below average 0.32% for February 2017, with some prior month loss reserve adjustments perhaps impacting performance.

The average return across a group of 34 insurance-linked securities (ILS), pure catastrophe bond and reinsurance-linked investment funds was 0.36% in January 2017, which is a significant uplift on the previous years 0.21%.

A number of insurance-linked securities (ILS) and reinsurance linked investment funds ended 2016 with some loss reserve adjustments in December, ending a year that saw a frequent number of events impact the ILS market. We take a look at some of the events that threatened ILS fund losses in 2016.