CEA prices Ursa Re 2025-1 cat bond for 100% upsized $400m of reinsurance
The California Earthquake Authority (CEA) has now priced its latest catastrophe bond issuance, successfully doubling the Ursa Re Ltd. (Series 2025-1) offering in size to provide it with $400 million in multi-year collateralized California earthquake reinsurance protection. The CEA recently returned to the catastrophe bond market with an initial target to secure $200 million or more in multi-year […]
Neuberger Berman ILS gets $250m Virginia Retirement System allocation
Neuberger Berman Insurance-Linked Strategies, the specialist ILS investment management arm of the global asset manager, won a $250 million mandate and immediately funded allocation from giant US state pension plan the Virginia Retirement System at the end of last year. The allocation has been made to a closed-end fund focused on insurance-linked securities (ILS), although […]
NCIUA sponsoring $350m named storm cat bond, Cape Lookout Re 2025-1
The North Carolina Insurance Underwriting Association (NCIUA) has returned to the capital markets seeking $350 million of annual aggregate named storm reinsurance protection through this Cape Lookout Re Ltd. (Series 2025-1) catastrophe bond. Returning in 2025, the North Carolina Insurance Underwriting Association (NCIUA) is sponsoring the seventh catastrophe bond under its Cape Lookout Re Ltd. program of deals. […]
UCITS catastrophe bond funds positive in January despite wildfire mark-downs
Catastrophe bond fund strategies in the UCITS format averaged positive returns for the month of January 2025, despite the effects of wildfire related mark-downs to exposed positions, according to the latest data from the Plenum CAT Bond UCITS Fund Indices. As we had reported before, the Los Angeles, California wildfires had already had a minimal effect on […]
CEA lifts Ursa Re 2025-1 cat bond target to as much as $375m
The California Earthquake Authority (CEA) has increased the targeted amount of multi-year collateralized California earthquake reinsurance protection it seeks from capital market investors through its new Ursa Re Ltd. (Series 2025-1) issuance, with now up to $375 million of coverage being sought, while the price guidance has been fixed at 7.5%, Artemis has learned. The CEA recently […]
LA wildfires trigger cat bond market’s first-ever negative January return: Icosa
Recent estimates suggest that insured losses from the Los Angeles, California wildfires could be higher than anticipated. As a result, catastrophe bond prices are showing signs of weakness, with the market’s benchmark recording its first-ever negative January return since its inception over two decades ago, according to cat bond fund manager Icosa Investments AG. With […]
2024 cat bond returns to consolidate value proposition, maintain attractiveness: Swiss Re
According to Swiss Re Capital Markets, the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market continued the growth trend of recent years throughout 2024, as the last twelve months were marked by a “robust performance” for cat bond investors in the absence of events large enough to have a significant impact on the market. In a new report, the […]
LA wildfires trigger cat bond market’s first-ever negative January return: Icosa
Recent estimates suggest that insured losses from the Los Angeles, California wildfires could be higher than anticipated. As a result, catastrophe bond prices are showing signs of weakness, with the market’s benchmark recording its first-ever negative January return since its inception over two decades ago, according to cat bond fund manager Icosa Investments AG. With […]
“Breakthrough” parametric ILS fund is “capacity for profitable growth” – GC&C / Descartes
The launch yesterday of the Lumyna – Twelve Capital Parametric ILS Fund, a dedicated parametric insurance and insurance-linked securities (ILS) investment strategy managed by ILS manager Twelve Capital, is a “breakthrough” in the parametric space and provides “capacity for profitable growth”, senior execs at GC&C and Descartes Underwriting said. The Lumyna – Twelve Capital Parametric […]
Private ILS funds outpace cat bond funds in 13.10% ILS Advisers Index 2024 return
Private ILS funds outpaced pure catastrophe bond funds in the full-year performance of the Eurekahedge ILS Advisers Index, while the average return across all of the insurance-linked securities (ILS) fund strategies tracked was 13.10% for 2024. 2024 was the second year running where the two categories of ILS investment funds were evenly paced through the first-half. […]