Monte Carlo Reinsurance Rendez-Vous news

While reinsurance rates have been trending downward throughout 2025 as the market softens following a period of historic hardening conditions, pricing pressure is now expected to persist absent a severe hurricane season or other major loss, according to analysts at Morgan Stanley.

The recent growth trend in the alternative reinsurance capital market is forecast to persist into 2026, as supply of capital from investors and demand from sponsors seeking risk transfer remain robust, Fitch Ratings has said.

The reinsurance market cycle has become more subdued thanks to sound risk management practices, strategic use of technology and a maturing partnership with alternative capital (ILS), according to rating agency AM Best.

Record levels of catastrophe bond market issuance in 2025 are reshaping the pricing landscape, AM Best believes, but the rating agency sees no sign of a slow-down ahead, as “all indications point to continued growth.”

As per David Flandro, Managing Director, Head of Industry Analysis and Strategic Advisory at reinsurance broker Howden Re, “if it wasn’t obvious already, we are now firmly in the hard market softening phase of the rating cycle.”

Welcome to Artemis’ 2024 Monte Carlo Rendezvous Executive Roundtable, in which nine expert speakers from across the insurance-linked securities (ILS) space discussed the sustainability of current market conditions and returns, investor sentiment, potential growth areas, and more.

The momentum seen in the catastrophe bond market over the last year is expected to persist, with further growth in the amount of cat bonds outstanding expected by year-end 2024, Shiv Kumar, President of GC Securities told us in an interview.

Interest in private ILS opportunities, so collateralised reinsurance and retrocession arrangements, has been rising and continues to, Marcel Grandi of Twelve Capital believes. He also thinks these instruments afford an investment manager more scope, in terms of investment options beyond catastrophe bonds and tailoring portfolios.

Currently, there are attractive returns in all segments of the insurance-linked securities (ILS) universe, and while conditions are expected to remain favourable amid increased demand for protection, there’s still opportunities to innovate and bring more product and capital to market, according to industry executives. At the 66th Rendez-Vous de Septembre (RVS) in Monaco last week, […]

The evolution of investor’s and capital’s view of opportunities in the insurance-linked securities (ILS) space has been particularly rapid over the last couple of years and Chris McKeown of Vantage Risk believes collateralized reinsurance opportunities and new lines of business are increasingly of interest.