Cat bond market in a healthy position with higher-for-longer collateral returns: Plenum
With catastrophe bond issuance so far in 2024 outpacing prior years and supply and demand dynamics contributing to an increase in spreads in recent weeks, Dirk Schmelzer, Managing Partner and Senior Portfolio Manager at Plenum Investments, the Zurich-headquartered manager of insurance-linked securities (ILS) and related assets, feels the market is in a very healthy and […]
Puerto Rico Parametric Re cat bond grows to $85m, price set to mid-point
The government of Puerto Rico’s first attempt to source parametric insurance from the capital markets through a catastrophe bond appears to have been well-received by the market, as the Puerto Rico Parametric Re Ltd. (Series 2024-1) catastrophe bond has grown to $85 million in size and looks set to price at the mid-point of guidance, Artemis […]
UCITS cat bond fund assets near $12.2bn, up more than 11% YTD
The combined assets under management of the main catastrophe bond funds in the UCITS format have now surpassed $12 billion for the first time ever, nearing $12.2 billion by the end of May 2024 and now having risen by over 11% so far this year. Catastrophe bond funds in the UCITS format have experienced strong […]
Bloomberg: Catastrophe Bond Sales Soar as Markets Brace for Unusually Active Hurricane Season
Issuance of catastrophe bonds just hit a record high, as the market braces for a rough hurricane season with the potential to do substantial damage. Sales of so-called cat bonds are 38% higher this year through May than over the same five-month period in 2023, which was already a record, according to Artemis, a compiler […]
PGGM calls for more data and transparency in the ILS market
PGGM, the Dutch pension investment manager that is the largest single allocator to the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market on behalf of end-client pension PFZW, has issued a call for ILS fund managers to provide more data and transparency. Responding to the recent study published by Swiss based alternative asset advisory specialist SIGLO Capital Advisors AG, […]
UBS recommends maintaining ILS exposure, notes weather analysis key at mid-year
UBS Hedge Fund Solutions, a division of UBS Asset Management focused on managing and advising on a range of alternative assets for clients, has recommended maintaining exposure to insurance-linked securities (ILS), but in what could be a nod to hurricane season forecasts, noted that weather analysis is key around the reinsurance renewals this year. It’s […]
Recent cat bond market volatility evident between triggers and perils: Tenax
enax Capital, the London based hedge fund investment manager that operates a UCITS cat bond strategy, has analysed what it calls the “unusual” peak in volatility seen in recent weeks, which has resulted in the net risk margin gap widening between various perils. As well as a widening of the gaps between net risk margin […]
ILS fund diversity makes multiple ILS allocations a consideration: SIGLO research
The landscape of insurance-linked securities (ILS) fund products is relatively broad and diverse, even though the majority of ILS funds are crowded into similar sizes and target similar levels of risk, meaning that, for investors, there is value in considering multiple ILS allocations, according to SIGLO Capital Advisors AG. In fact, analysis undertaken by Swiss […]
Puerto Rico government seeking Parametric Re cat bond protection
The government of Puerto Rico is seeking $75 million in parametric insurance protection against the financial impacts of named storms and earthquakes from the capital markets, through a new Puerto Rico Parametric Re Ltd. (Series 2024-1) catastrophe bond transaction, Artemis has learned. This first Puerto Rico Parametric Re catastrophe bond is particularly notable as the first […]
SCOR secures 40% upsized $175m Atlas Capital 2024-1 cat bond
French global reinsurance company SCOR has now successfully upsized its latest catastrophe bond by 40% to secure $175 million of retrocession from the Atlas Capital DAC (Series 2024-1) deal, while the pricing settled just above initial guidance, showing the risk adjustments made appear to have had the desired effect. SCOR ventured back to the catastrophe bond […]