Insurance-linked investments

Bermuda headquartered re/insurer Vantage Risk has expanded its leadership team with a number of key promotions across its Reinsurance division and Partnership Capital platform, including Brant Loucks, who has been promoted to Managing Director, Partnership Capital & ILS.

Nephila Capital, the specialist insurance-linked securities and catastrophe reinsurance investment manager had a successful twelve months of capital raising, with its assets under management (AUM) rising by $600 million to reach $7.6 billion as of September 30th 2025, Artemis can report.

The overall yield of the catastrophe bond market declined to 8.81% as of October 31st 2025, falling back to levels last seen in June 2022, while the insurance risk spread, or discount margin, has now declined to its lowest point since November 2019, the latest data from Plenum Investments shows.

Having made its insurance-linked securities (ILS) grant scheme more restrictive back in 2023, to only offer the grant to catastrophe bonds or ILS covering regional risks from Asia Pacific, Singapore is reversing that move and expanding the ILS grant offering once again to cover cat bond risks from other locations around the globe, it appears.

The insurance-linked securities (ILS) fund sector has delivered its highest single month of investment returns on record in September 2025 according to the ILS Advisers Fund Index, as strong premium accrual, coupon earnings and a benign loss environment combined to drive exceptional performance.

The expansion of catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) market activity in 2025 is driving higher earnings for bankers and brokers, with Aon reporting today that the third-quarter of 2025 saw its ILS business experiencing “significant growth” in revenue terms.

Alternative investment giant Blackstone has partnered with The Fidelis Partnership on a new Lloyd’s syndicate launch, with Blackstone set to fund Syndicate 2126 through the London Bridge 2 PCC insurance-linked securities (ILS) structure.

Brian Costanzo, Chief Financial Officer at Markel, indicated that the business that is fronted for Nephila Capital through Markel Bermuda Ltd (MBL) is performing very well this year, given the low level of catastrophe losses experienced.

With some months now passed since the ESMA recommendation regarding the eligibility of catastrophe bonds within UCITS investment fund structures, Daniel Grieger of Plenum Investments has highlighted how national regulators are not all in agreement.

Having launched its first UCITS compliant property catastrophe bond fund strategy earlier this year, the RenaissanceRe Medici UCITS Fund, the reinsurance company had grown the fund to almost $400 million in net assets by the end of the third-quarter of 2025.