Wildfire catastrophe bonds transfer wildfire risk to the capital markets, as a mechanism through which insurers, reinsurers or corporate sponsors can access reinsurance risk capital from investors.
Wildfire cat bonds are a small part of the overall catastrophe bond market, but a valuable one as sourcing risk capital from traditional reinsurance markets for this peril can be challenging and costly, hence the capital markets provide welcome additional capacity.
Read our wildfire cat bond news and analysis on this page.
The devastating Palisades and Eaton wildfires that struck the Los Angeles area in January 2025 served as a real-world stress test for outstanding wildfire catastrophe bond structures, while also increasing investor confidence in allocating to the wildfire peril, according to Swiss Re Capital Markets.
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The California FAIR Plan Association has now successfully secured its upsized target of $400 million of multi-year wildfire reinsurance protection through its second catastrophe bond sponsorship, with the Golden Bear Re Ltd. (Series 2026-2) cat bond now priced, Artemis can report.
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The California FAIR Plan Association has raised the target size of its second catastrophe bond sponsorship again, with now $400 million of capital markets backed wildfire reinsurance protection sought from the Golden Bear Re Ltd. (Series 2026-2) cat bond issuance, Artemis understands.
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The California FAIR Plan Association is looking to upsize its second catastrophe bond sponsorship by 75%, with now $350 million of capital markets backed wildfire reinsurance protection sought from the Golden Bear Re Ltd. (Series 2026-2) cat bond issuance, Artemis has learned.
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The California FAIR Plan Association has returned to the catastrophe bond market for its second sponsorship, seeking $200 million or more in capital markets backed wildfire reinsurance protection through a Golden Bear Re Ltd. (Series 2026-2) cat bond issuance, Artemis can report.
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The California FAIR Plan, having recently come to market to sponsor its debut wildfire catastrophe bond and secured $750 million of reinsurance from the Golden Bear Re Ltd. (Series 2026-1) issuance, has now commented on the deal to say that the cat bond “augments” its robust reinsurance program arrangements.
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The California FAIR Plan Association has now successfully priced and secured what will become the largest catastrophe bond exposed to wildfire risks ever, as the Golden Bear Re Ltd. (Series 2026-1) issuance will provide it $750 million of reinsurance, Artemis can report.
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Having upsized the target for its debut wildfire catastrophe bond sponsorship to a significant $750 million of reinsurance, we’ve now learned that the California FAIR Plan Association is also seeking to reduce the risk interest spread it will pay for the Golden Bear Re Ltd. (Series 2026-1) issuance as well.
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The California FAIR Plan Association has raised the target for its debut wildfire catastrophe bond Golden Bear Re Ltd. (Series 2026-1) to provide it an even more meaningful $750 million of reinsurance, while the price guidance for the notes has been revised at the bottom of initial guidance, Artemis understands from sources.
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The California FAIR Plan Association is aiming to upsize its debut catastrophe bond, with the target size now raised to secure between $350 million and $500 million in wildfire reinsurance protection through the Golden Bear Re Ltd. (Series 2026-1) cat bond issuance, Artemis has learned.
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