Florida state pension increased ILS allocations at mid-year, but more cautious on 1/1
The Florida Retirement System Pension Plan, which is administered by the Florida State Board of Administration, increased its allocations to natural catastrophe insurance-linked securities (ILS) in advance of the mid-year 2024 reinsurance renewals, but has adopted a more cautious stance for 1/1 as it assesses whether the hard market is declining. With some $198 billion […]
Swiss Re cat bond index rises further, more than regains Milton decline
With catastrophe bond market returns remaining elevated, the cat bond market index calculated by Swiss Re Capital Markets rose again in the last week, regaining all of the decline seen from hurricane Milton and more, to now stand 0.25% higher than when that storm hit. When catastrophe bonds were priced for the first time after […]
AI-improved risk modelling can streamline catastrophe bond transactions: World Bank
According to executives at the World Bank, artificial intelligence (AI) based improvements to catastrophe risk modelling could in future allow more transactions to be brought to the catastrophe bond market, with less lead time and potentially wider investor acceptance. In a joint report on the matter, the World Bank’s Michael Bennett, Head of Market Solutions […]
Twelve Capital surpasses $4bn in cat bond and ILS AUM for the first time
Twelve Capital, the Zurich-headquartered insurance-linked securities (ILS), catastrophe bond and reinsurance investment manager, has reached a new milestone in terms of third-party assets under management, surpassing $4 billion for the very first time across its cat bond and ILS portfolios. With a more than 14 year history of insurance and reinsurance-linked investment management, Twelve Capital […]
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 […]