UCITS Catastrophe Bond Funds – assets under management

UCITS cat bond funds – a growing part of the insurance-linked securities asset class

With catastrophe bond issuance particularly strong over the last few years, now confirmed as setting a significant new record in 2023, the cat bond investment fund market has grown to support this expanding issuance.

As a result, the main UCITS catastrophe bond funds have been growing fast, with some experiencing particularly rapid expansion of their cat bond assets under management.

At the end of the fourth-quarter of 2023, the assets under management (AuM) of the main UCITS cat bond fund strategies rose to just slightly under US $11 billion, a new record for this market segment.

In early 2024 the growth in assets continued, with the group of UCITS cat bond funds reaching almost $11.4 billion by the end of March 2024.

UCITS cat bond fund assets under management have risen by around 30% since the end of 2022. UCITS cat bond funds as a group now hold more than double the assets they had under their management as recently as the mid-point of 2020.

UCITS catastrophe bond fund assets under management – By year

Our first chart displays the assets under management of UCITS catastrophe bond funds by year, with all figures cited as of year-end. In addition, the current year is updated on a quarterly basis, so this figure is accurate to the end of the prior quarter.

UCITS catastrophe bond fund assets under management – By month

Our second chart on UCITS cat bond fund AuM displays the total by month, which makes for a more granular view of UCITS catastrophe bond fund sector growth.

This by month view, also enables you to see periods where UCITS cat bond fund AuM may have dipped due to catastrophe loss activity, or because of outflows (including outflows during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic). It also shows more clearly periods of more significant investor inflow to the UCITS cat bond fund sector.