Insurance-linked investments

Northern Re, the collateralized reinsurance company that provides investors with access to the returns of its long-tail casualty underwriting business, has announced raising an additional $150 million in committed capital from existing and new institutional investors, which now brings the company’s total platform capacity to $325 million.

Hiscox Capital Partners, the division of Hiscox Re that encompasses insurance-linked securities (ILS) investments and quota-share partnerships, lifted its ILS assets under management (AUM) to $1.5 billion at January 1st 2026, as $330 million of inflows over the last year served to increase deployable capital for the unit.

FERMA, the Federation of European Risk Management Associations has urged the European Commission to adopt a collaborative approach to the climate resilience framework it plans to introduce later this year, calling for the use of catastrophe bonds, insurance-linked securities (ILS) and parametric products.

Catastrophe bond issuance is on track to make this first-quarter at least the second busiest start to any year on record, with Artemis’ Deal Directory data already projecting close to $5.86 billion of cat bond issuance for Q1 2026, only falling behind the total from last year at this stage.

Plenum Investments, the Zurich based specialist catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) investment manager, has reached a new milestone with more than US $2 billion of assets under management across its funds and strategies for the first time.

With the insurance-linked securities (ILS) sector continuing to expand, institutional investor appetite within the space has been resurgent. A new paper from consultancy firm bfinance acknowledges that manager selection within the market involves distinct challenges, with unique investment risks and notable operational complexity to consider.

Schroders Capital has announced the appointment of Sabrina Meng as Head of Business Development, Asia. In this role, she will drive fundraising in the region for the firm’s Private Debt and Credit Alternatives (PDCA) business, which will include insurance-linked securities (ILS).

Nephila Capital has promoted business development, investor relations and capital raising executive Tom Dedman to the role of Head of EMEA, Partner Capital in the firm’s Nephila Advisors unit.

QBE, the global re/insurer, sees alternative reinsurance capital as an important lever to allow the company to deliver sustainable returns in the mid-teens, according to its CEO Andrew Horton and CFO Chris Killourhy, with recent catastrophe bond and casualty sidecar initiatives seen as early deals to help in building a profile within ILS markets.

Members Capital Management Limited (MembersCap), the Bermuda-regulated investment manager, has broadened its tokenized reinsurance fund distribution by making its listed insurance-linked securities (ILS) fund, MCM Fund I, available to institutional investors on the Aptos blockchain via the Archax digital asset exchange.