Germany’s nat cat insurance coverage delayed due to political disagreement: AM Best
According to an AM Best commentary, the debate over Germany’s compulsory natural catastrophe coverage is hindered by the absence of political agreement between federal states and the central government. AM Best’s report titled, “Political Consensus the Missing Ingredient for German Natural Catastrophe Solution,” highlights that, following the 2021 flooding in Southern Germany, there have been […]
ILS market set records in H1’24, remains an attractive relative value option: Swiss Re
After a record 2023, the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market again set records in the first half of 2024, with strong catastrophe bond issuance on the back of robust demand from investors, as the secondary market experienced record high trading volumes, according to reinsurance giant Swiss Re. The latest ILS Market Insights report from Swiss Re […]
UCITS cat bond funds average 6.35% YTD, second-highest annual return since 2011
Catastrophe bond funds in the UCITS format had reached an average return year-to-date of 6.35% by August 2nd 2024, which is the second-highest annual return since the Plenum CAT Bond UCITS Fund Indices started tracking the market in 2011. The year-to-date return of this group of catastrophe bonds is only second to the full-year 2023 record, […]
ARC grows, diversifies, but keeping reinsurance expenses in check crucial: Ndlovu
African Risk Capacity Limited (ARC Ltd.), the financial affiliate and parametric insurance underwriting entity of the African Risk Capacity (ARC) Group, has commemorated its ten-year anniversary and said it has now paid out over $170 million in claims. “From covering 12.9 million people in 2014, we protected 26.4 million in 2023. We have also expanded […]
Australian investment giant Colonial First State said looking for cat bond deployment
Colonial First State, one of the largest Australian institutional investors, is looking to deploy some of its near US $100 billion of assets into the catastrophe bond market, according to a report from Bloomberg. Interest in insurance-linked securities (ILS) has been on the rise again among Australian pensions and managers of superannuation funds in recent […]
ARC pays $11.6m as drought triggers Malawi’s parametric insurance
The African Risk Capacity (ARC) Group, a provider of parametric disaster insurance products and risk pooling for countries and other entities in Africa, has made just over $11.6 million in payouts to Malawi and a replica partner the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) after drought triggered its parametric insurance there. The Republic of […]
World Bank leverages private capital, contingent credit & parametric risk transfer for REPAIR
The World Bank has approved the Regional Emergency Preparedness and Inclusive Recovery Program (REPAIR), which is designed to boost financial resilience against climate shocks for Eastern and Southern African countries and leverages private market parametric disaster insurance risk transfer alongside its contingent credit DDO solution. It’s evidence of the continued innovation at the World Bank […]
Schroders Capital grows ILS AUM ~25% in a year to $5.5bn
The Schroders Capital insurance-linked securities (ILS) team has successfully increased its ILS assets under management (AUM) to a new high of $5.5 billion by the end of March, representing approximately 25% growth in just one year. Back in March 2023, the Schroders Capital ILS team’s assets under management stood at $4.4 billion across its range […]
ILS manager M&A resurgence is a strong signal for the market
Two important pieces of insurance-linked securities market merger and acquisitions (M&A) news came to light last week, both of which provide signals for those watching of the health of the sector and investor appetite. But there is also a signal of the desire for scale, to be competitive in offering a broad suite of risk […]
Nat cat gap expands 5.2% to $385bn, but protection more available: Swiss Re
The global natural catastrophe protection gap widened again in 2023, rising 5.2% to US $385 billion in premium equivalent terms, but at the same time Swiss Re reports that there are signs of more protection being available, which over time should see more losses covered by insurance and reinsurance. Swiss Re’s Institute sigma research team […]