Insurance-linked investments

Since their introduction to the market in 2023, there’s now been 10 cyber cat bonds, and CyberCube, the cyber risk analytics provider, expects their coverage, along with cyber insurance-linked securities (ILS) solutions to narrow and become more targeted going forward.

MultiStrat, the specialist underwriter, reinsurance investment facilitator and casualty insurance-linked securities (ILS) company, has announced that it has appointed Maryam Abdullah as Head of Pricing, to support the company’s growth plans for 2025.

Investment manager Amundi US has celebrated the anniversaries of its two dedicated insurance-linked securities (ILS) and catastrophe bond fund strategies, the Pioneer CAT Bond Fund and the Pioneer ILS Interval Fund, which have collectively surpassed $1.35 billion in assets under management (AUM).

K2 Advisors, the hedge fund focused investment management unit of Franklin Templeton, continues to overweight most insurance-linked securities (ILS), but in its outlook for 2025 notes that meaningful catastrophe bond issuance is required to absorb cash in the marketplace.

Mereo Insurance, the Bermuda-based start-up with former AIG CEO Brian Duperreault as its Chairman, has now finalised a $700m+ capital raise for its equity balance-sheet we understand, gaining an ‘A-‘ rating from AM Best, while the company also deployed around $250m in capacity from its insurance-linked securities (ILS) fund at the January reinsurance renewals.

The California Earthquake Authority (CEA) has now priced its latest catastrophe bond issuance, successfully doubling the Ursa Re Ltd. (Series 2025-1) offering in size to provide it with $400 million in multi-year collateralized California earthquake reinsurance protection.

On Friday February 7th, around 415 attendees enjoyed a day of engaging, inspirational talks and valuable networking at our Artemis ILS NYC 2025 conference, hearing from our expert speakers that investor interest in catastrophe bonds and insurance-linked securities (ILS) is resurgent, while the ILS investment opportunity set is expanding.

Neuberger Berman Insurance-Linked Strategies, the specialist ILS investment management arm of the global asset manager, won a $250 million mandate and immediately funded allocation from giant US state pension plan the Virginia Retirement System at the end of last year.

In light of the recent Los Angeles wildfires, catastrophe bond fund manager Icosa Investments has called for the re/insurance industry to move beyond the categories of “peak” and “secondary” perils, warning of implications for cat bonds and investors amid rising losses from these types of events.

Catastrophe bond fund strategies in the UCITS format averaged positive returns for the month of January 2025, despite the effects of wildfire related mark-downs to exposed positions, according to the latest data from the Plenum CAT Bond UCITS Fund Indices.