Twelve Capital gets strategic investment from Graubündner Kantonalbank

Twelve Capital Management, the Zurich-headquartered catastrophe bond, insurance-linked securities (ILS) and reinsurance linked investment fund manager, is taking a strategic investment from one of Switzerland’s cantonal banks, Graubündner Kantonalbank. Graubündner Kantonalbank has agreed to acquire a 30% stake in the holding company of the specialist insurance and reinsurance focused investment firm, Twelve Capital Holding AG. […]

TWIA opts for Aon for catastrophe modeling services

The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) is now set to finally appoint insurance and reinsurance broker Aon to provide catastrophe risk modeling services, after the company was recommended by its Actuarial & Underwriting Committee after a second round of RFP’s. TWIA had issued a request for proposals (RFP) for catastrophe modeling services back in October […]

Tonga gets World Bank CAT-DDO funds for volcano & tsunami recovery

The Pacific Island nation of Tonga will receive a US $8 million payout disbursement from a World Bank arranged catastrophe contingent line of credit, under a Catastrophe-Deferred Drawdown Option, or CAT-DDO. Tonga and other islands in the region were severely impacted by the eruption of the Hunga Tonga volcano on January 15th and the resulting […]

Reask gets Tencent backing for its AI catastrophe models

Reask, a catastrophe modelling, climate analytics and data company that uses machine learning techniques and artificial intelligence, has gained a significant vote of confidence from Chinese technology giant Tencent, which has led a seed funding round for the company. Reask is already making headway in the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market, having worked closely with Zurich-headquartered […]

Cat bonds outperform many private ILS portfolios: Frontier Advisors

Insurance-linked securities (ILS) portfolios with predominantly catastrophe bond holdings have on average outperformed many mid- and higher-risk ILS fund strategies that contain private ILS transactions over recent years, according to analysis from Frontier Advisors. Catastrophe bonds typically provide reinsurance or retrocessional protection higher up in the risk tower, so are more risk-remote and so the […]

Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX) ILS & cat bond listings surpass $50bn

Record catastrophe bond and related insurance-linked securities (ILS) market issuance in 2021 has helped the Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX) to increase the value its listings of cat bond and ILS notes by 26% during the year. Thanks to another very active year and record issuance of catastrophe bonds in 2021, as our report documents, the Bermuda […]

ESG a “major consideration” for ILS sponsors & investors: Gallagher Re

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues and the ESG appropriateness of investments, emerged as a “major consideration” for both insurance-linked securities (ILS) sponsors and investors during 2021, according to reinsurance broker Gallagher Re. ESG has been a topic of discussion in the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market for a number of years, in fact we first […]

UCITS catastrophe bond fund assets grew 28% in 2021

The main UCITS catastrophe bond funds as a group lifted their assets under management (AUM) significantly during 2021, to a new high of just over US $8.64 billion, representing 28% growth in AuM year-on-year. We’ve tracked the growth of the UCITS catastrophe bond fund market and launched a new page featuring charts detailing this growth […]

Data key to delivering Hong Kong and China’s ILS goals

The availability of robust data sets and information on losses will be key for Hong Kong and China to deliver on their goals for insurance-linked securities (ILS) market development, according to speakers at a recent conference. The first Hong Kong domiciled catastrophe bond, China Re’s $30 million Greater Bay Re Ltd. (Series 2021-1) typhoon cat bond, […]

UK’s PRA wants to improve ILS authorisation process and speed

The United Kingdom’s Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA), which is part of the Bank of England, said that it recognises the need to improve the country’s authorisation process for insurance-linked securities (ILS) vehicles, noting that time taken is a factor. In a letter to insurance and reinsurance CEO’s, Anna Sweeney and Charlotte Gerken, two Executive Directors […]