Insurance-linked investments

White Mountains has reported that for full year 2024, its investment into the Outrigger Re collateralized reinsurance sidecar, which supports its property and casualty insurance and reinsurance subsidiary Ark, delivered income of $46 million, down 33% on 2023 as catastrophe losses had a far greater impact.

Artemis has learned that the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) has now increased the target size for its latest catastrophe bond for a second time, lifting its initial Ursa Re Ltd. (Series 2025-1) offering by 100% to provide $400 million in multi-year collateralized California earthquake reinsurance protection, while the price guidance remains fixed at 7.5%.

Parameter Climate, the parametric climate and weather risk transfer focused underwriter and advisor, has announced the formation and launch of a Bermuda-based transformer vehicle named Parameter Capital Bermuda Ltd, as the company looks to broaden access to its deals and syndicate parametric risk to non-traditional capital.

The awaited launch of the Brookmont Catastrophic Bond ETF is nearing and Artemis spoke with Ethan Powell, Principal & Chief Investment Officer of Brookmont Capital Management, LLC and Rick Pagnani, co-founder of King Ridge Capital Advisors LLC, to learn more about the strategy and their thoughts on how they see it developing.

The California Earthquake Authority (CEA) has increased the targeted amount of multi-year collateralized California earthquake reinsurance protection it seeks from capital market investors through its new Ursa Re Ltd. (Series 2025-1) issuance, with now up to $375 million of coverage being sought, while the price guidance has been fixed at 7.5%, Artemis has learned.

Markel Group has reported an increase in insurance-linked securities (ILS) revenues for 2024 from the managed ILS funds of its Nephila Capital unit, while premiums ceded to Nephila reinsurance structures rose by 55% year-on-year.

Insurer USAA revealed today that it has received more than 3,500 claims related to the California wildfires, with 86% of claims receiving initial payments of more than $1 billion, with the company projecting that its members’ wildfire losses will reach roughly $1.8 billion.

The Florida State Board of Administration made good on a decision to allocate more capital to natural catastrophe insurance-linked securities (ILS) ahead of the January renewals, with an additional $70 million investment in the RenaissanceRe vehicle Tintoretto Reinsurance Partners, LP made in the fourth-quarter.

CatX, the digital catastrophe and parametric risk exchange company, has announced the launch of its AI-powered Catamaran Parametric platform, which has been designed to streamline the complexities of parametric protection for investors.

Price adjustments to catastrophe bonds exposed to the California wildfires drove the overall yield of the catastrophe bond market higher in January 2025, to end the month back in double-digit territory, at 10.34% in USD, according to the latest data from Plenum Investments.