All of our news and analysis on the retrocessional reinsurance marketplace.
Retrocession is effectively reinsurance for reinsurers, so a tertiary layer of risk transfer away from the original risk, if you consider primary, reinsurance and then retrocession.
As reinsurance is insurance for insurers, retrocessional, or retro, protection is reinsurance for reinsurers.
The retrocession reinsurance market has increasingly come to depend on the capital markets and insurance-linked securities (ILS).
As of mid-year 2022, global retrocession capacity has been estimated to be as high as $60bn, around $20bn of which is indemnity based and the rest in other formats.
The alternative capital markets and ILS funds, or investors, play a significant role in global retrocession, as too do instruments such as catastrophe bonds and industry-loss warranties (ILW).
Arch Re, the global reinsurance arm of Arch Capital group, has promoted Christian Roberts as its new Head of ILS and hired Cyril Neyme as an ILS Portfolio Manager, with both of these moves happening in July this year.
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Over the last year and through the record-levels of issuance in 2026 so far, the catastrophe bond market’s outstanding exposure has shifted further towards indemnity triggers and per-occurrence coverage, as preference for these types of deals continues to rise, both on the sponsor and investor side.
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Retrocession is back in fashion as market conditions evolve across reinsurance and rating agency S&P believes retro buying is set for a comeback, as reinsurers recognise favourable pricing and conditions for protection, while looking to manage their catastrophe limits in a softening market.
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At the S&P Global Ratings briefing in Monte Carlo at the RVS, Maren Josefs, Credit Analyst at the company explained that the big stories in insurance-linked securities has been catastrophe bonds and casualty sidecars this year, but she cautioned the market to remember that investors still don’t like surprises.
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Swiss Re, the global reinsurer, has named long-standing senior employee Mirjam Wiget as the new leader for its Alternative Capital Partners (ACP) division, as incumbent Martin Zingg moves into the Group Chief Investment Officer role.
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In a reinsurance and retrocession market environment where prices have softened considerably but underwriters can still find attractive returns, broker Howden Re urges cedents to ensure their resilience by looking across the full-range of capital solutions and forms, to maintain flexibility and optionality through cycles.
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The catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities market remains well-positioned, even as reinsurance market conditions soften, with speakers at our Artemis London 2026 conference yesterday highlighting the discipline in the market and that this is expected to persist, while growth opportunities are still evident.
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The performance of insurance-linked securities investment fund strategies, across catastrophe bonds and private ILS, has continued to rise through July 2026 with the month delivering the best returns of the year so far for the asset class, as measured by the ILS Advisers Fund Index.
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Verisk, a data analytics and technology provider to the global insurance, reinsurance and insurance-linked securities (ILS) industry, has announced the promotion of Harry White to lead its Property Claim Services (PCS) unit.
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One week from today we will hold our next catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) market conference, Artemis London 2026. With over 200 attendees already registered we do have space left for more, but you must register here if you want to attend the event.
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