Insurance-linked investments

According to Hiscox Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Paul Cooper, the majority of the $300 million of third-party capital raised by Hiscox ILS, the insurance-linked securities (ILS) investment focused arm of Hiscox Group, during the first half of 2025, has gone into the organisation’s property catastrophe exposed business.

Hiscox ILS, the insurance-linked securities (ILS) investment focused arm of the Hiscox Group, raised $300 million in capital from new and existing investors through the first-half of 2025, which has lifted its ILS assets under management (AUM) back to $1.4 billion at June 30th.

King Ridge Capital Advisors has examined how the 60/40 portfolio has come under increased scrutiny in recent years, notably regarding its capacity to hold when financial markets are in distress, while also highlighting how catastrophe bonds’ ability towards offering a source of truly uncorrelated returns is helping redefine portfolio resilience.

The catastrophe bond market delivered a total return of 1.47% in July 2025, as seasonality kicked in and drove what we’re told was one of the best performances for that month of any year in the history of the benchmark Swiss Re Global Cat Bond Index.

Appetite for cyber insurance-linked securities (ILS) and industry loss warranties (ILWs) experienced consistent growth in the first half of 2025, although at a reduced rate than the previous year, while cyber retrocession gained momentum with buyer interest significantly rising during the same period too, according to reinsurance broker Lockton Re.

Mt. Logan Re Ltd., the third-party capitalised sidecar-like structure operated by Everest Group’s Mt. Logan Capital Management unit, received some 48% more in premiums from its parent Everest over the course of the first-half of 2025.

We are delighted to announce four more expert speakers who are joining our upcoming catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) conference, Artemis London 2025. Held in London on September 2nd, there is now under one month to go until the event. Register to attend here.

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Protection (UNDRR) has published details of a proposal for a high-level Disaster Resilience Adaptation Financing (DRAF) structure that features an insurance-linked securities (ILS) vehicle, to support disaster risk insurance coverage and resilience adaptation financing.

AXA XL, the commercial P&C underwriting arm of AXA Group, grew its gross reinsurance premiums written by 11% through the first-half of 2025, with alternative capital sources from third party and ILS investors supporting this expansion of the business.

Catastrophe bond funds have outpaced private ILS funds included in the ILS Advisers Fund Index for the first-half of 2025 and across the group of 37 constituent insurance-linked securities (ILS) funds tracked by the Index, the average return for the six months was 2.05%.