Insurance linked securities news, ILS news

The main UCITS catastrophe bond funds as a group lifted their assets under management (AUM) significantly during 2021, to a new high of just over US $8.64 billion, representing 28% growth in AuM year-on-year.

Man Group, a global independent alternative and active investment management firm, is building out a range of capital solutions services of relevance to the insurance and reinsurance industry, which includes the ability to help third-party investors access returns derived from insurance risks.

The number of new special purpose insurer (SPI) vehicles registered in Bermuda fell slightly in 2021 after a record previous year, but overall new licenses for insurance-linked securities (ILS) related vehicles remained very strong on the island.

The United Kingdom’s Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA), which is part of the Bank of England, said that it recognises the need to improve the country’s authorisation process for insurance-linked securities (ILS) vehicles, noting that time taken is a factor.

The availability of robust data sets and information on losses will be key for Hong Kong and China to deliver on their goals for insurance-linked securities (ILS) market development, according to speakers at a recent conference.

Swedish pension fund Alecta has allocated US $200 million to invest in reinsurance firm SCOR’s new sidecar structure, a Atlas Gotland Worldwide Catastrophe Sidecar which is part of newly formed SPI Atlas Re Limited.

The Start Network, an international network of non-governmental humanitarian organisations, has purchased a US $2.5 million replica parametric insurance cover from the African Risk Capacity (ARC) to protect more than 800,000 people in Zimbabwe from drought risk.

Hedge fund specialist investment manager K2 Advisors, a unit of investment firm Franklin Templeton, has named Michael Rich to lead its insurance-linked securities (ILS) strategies, after Jonathan Malawer departed the firm.

CCR Re, the French state-owned reinsurance firm, has renewed its 157 Re collateralised reinsurance sidecar vehicle for 2022 and said that it has increased the size of the sidecar by 22% compared to the prior year.

Secondary perils require a particular level of focus, investment and effort, when it comes to modelling risks of insurance-linked securities (ILS) and reinsurance portfolios, Aeolus Capital Management executives told us recently.