Cyber ILS – Cyber Insurance-Linked Securities news

The insurance-linked securities (ILS) market is moving to a place where the non-cat component can expand, and if the market wants to grow over the long-term, more risk will need to come in, according to industry experts.

The recently launched cyber catastrophe bond from specialist insurer and reinsurer, Beazley, is a welcome innovation and an important addition to insurer’s “armoury against systemic risk,” according to Julian Miller, a London-based Partner at law firm DAC Beachcroft.

Speaking with Artemis, Hannover Re senior executives Silke Sehm and Henning Ludolphs explained that tapping into the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market for cyber retrocessional reinsurance capacity is a priority and with a quota share already arranged, the next step is sponsoring the reinsurer’s first cyber catastrophe bond, details of the form were not revealed.

The insurance-linked securities (ILS) market has spent considerable time seeking to better understand the cyber opportunity and this proof work can help to create a sustainable ecosystem around investing in cyber insurance risks, speakers said yesterday at the SIFMA ILS event in Miami.

The current growth trajectory of cyber risk suggests it could become the biggest exposure in the market, and while the recent cyber ILS deals and first cyber catastrophe bond are a positive development, transparency is vital, say industry experts.

Attendees at Artemis’ annual insurance-linked securities (ILS) conference in New York City heard from industry leaders and experts about where the sector should go next, as it continues to explore new lines of business amid a hardening catastrophe marketplace.

In a new report, global reinsurance broker Lockton Re makes the case for cyber insurance-linked securities (ILS), saying that “now is the time” as market conditions have reached the point where their potential can be fulfilled and cyber ILS is gathering momentum.

Managing general agent and Lloyd’s coverholder Parametrix, a specialist in cloud downtime insurance protection structured on a parametric basis, believes that catastrophic cloud outage events will become a new cyber insurance-linked securities (ILS) offering.

In an interview with Artemis, specialist provider of software for cyber risk quantification for large industrial and critical infrastructure corporates, DeNexus, argues that a more granular approach to assessing cyber risk is needed to remove some of the guess work, which in turn will make investors more comfortable allocating capital.

The development of a cyber insurance-linked securities (ILS) market is underway, but given the differences in how investors and portfolio managers can diversify within cyber risk, this will likely mean a “different distribution of capital,” is seen, Gallagher Re executives told Artemis.