ILS: simple, powerful, and accessible for all
“Insurance-linked securities (ILS) offer a good alternative or complement to reinsurance, and nothing complicated,” said Kirill Savrassov, convenor of the ILS Education Programme, lamenting how ILS has often been viewed as a niche product reserved for sophisticated markets or large financial institutions. “For developing countries ILS instruments such as sovereign parametric catastrophe bonds, are often […]
Why educating the industry about ILS is so important
Insurance-linked securities (ILS) have become a vital part of the reinsurance industry, providing alternative capital for risk transfer, allowing investors to access insurance risks through financial markets, spread catastrophe risks and enhance market capacity. The key benefits of ILS are clear: greater diversification for investors, reduced reliance on traditional reinsurance and increased capacity to absorb […]
Hong Kong hopes to kick-start local ILS investment with tax exemption
Recognising that demand for asset and wealth management services are set to increase and that certain alternative asset classes are currently less attractive due to their taxation, the government of Hong Kong aims to boost its investment sector with a broadening of profit tax exemptions, with insurance-linked securities (ILS) one asset class in focus. Hong […]
Cat bond market index bounces back, now only -0.30% since hurricane Milton
At Friday’s pricing, the catastrophe bond market index calculated by Swiss Re Capital Markets bounced back by more than one percent, leaving the benchmark for the entire cat bond market now only -0.30% down since hurricane Milton, while the US wind specific version of the cat bond index also recovered and is now -1.31% since […]
UCITS cat bond fund index only fell 0.42% on hurricane Milton
It’s now clear that catastrophe bond funds fell far less than the market benchmark on the first pricing after hurricane Milton, with the Plenum CAT Bond UCITS Fund Indices only falling 0.42% at Friday October 11th and the majority of cat bond funds absorbing the initial mark-to-market impacts of the storm within two weeks of returns. […]
Alternative capital a material and critical reinsurance partner through crises: Rapin, Nephila
In comments made around Guy Carpenter’s Baden-Baden Reinsurance Symposium event, Maria Rapin, the CEO of Nephila Climate, the climate and weather focused arm of insurance-linked securities (ILS) specialist Nephila Capital, highlighted that alternative capital is a long-term partner for reinsurance that has been well-tested through catastrophes and crises. This year’s theme of the reinsurance broker’s […]
Mutual cat bond and ILS funds correct in post-Milton NAV adjustments
Having shown a divergence in manager strategies as NAVs moved in different directions at times and by different amounts as hurricane Milton approached, the US mutual investment funds that allocate to catastrophe bonds and other insurance-linked securities (ILS) diverged again at pricing on Friday, but have since stabilised having incorporated post-landfall net asset value adjustments. […]
Cat bond market index falls 1.34% on hurricane Milton. US wind down 3.64%
Responding to the potential impact of losses from hurricane Milton, the catastrophe bond market has fallen by just 1.34% at the end of week pricing of the index calculated by Swiss Re Capital Markets, while the US wind specific version of the cat bond index fell by only 3.64%. It’s a stark contrast to how […]
Cat bond market yield declines again on accelerated seasonality, lower collateral contribution
In the month of September 2024, the overall yield of the catastrophe bond market declined further as the effects of hurricane seasonality accelerated, while also adding to the decline is a gradual reduction in the cat bond market collateral yield, as lower interest rates begin to have an effect. As we’ve explained before, US hurricane risk […]
Beazley adds $290m cyber ILW to its $510m cyber cat bonds, in $1bn cyber cat coverage
While it has been growing its cyber underwriting business, specialist insurer Beazley has also implemented a robust hedging strategy to control the tail, recently securing a $290 million cyber industry loss warranty (ILW) cover and securing its third PoleStar Re cyber catastrophe bond. As Artemis reported a few weeks ago, Beazley secured $210 million in cyber […]