Artemis Live - Insurance-linked securities (ILS), catastrophe bonds (cat bonds), reinsurance

This podcast episode features the fourth panel session of the day at our Artemis ILS NYC 2025 conference, which was held on February 7th in New York City. ILS NYC 2025 was Artemis' eighth catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) conference held in-person in New York and saw more than 425 registered attendees enjoying insightful debates from our expert speakers, as well as valuable networking opportunities throughout the day. Attendees from across the globe assembled to hear thought-provoking insights from insurance-linked securities (ILS) market leaders, all under the theme of "Capturing opportunities (established & new)." Our next audio from the ILS NYC 2025 conference features the fourth panel discussion of the day, which was focused on the emerging casualty insurance-linked securities (ILS) market where investors are accessing the returns of longer-tailed casualty insurance risks. The panel discussion was moderated by John Seo, Co-Founder, Managing Director, Fermat Capital Management. He was joined by: David Ni, Chief Strategy Officer, Enstar Group; Andras Bohm, Head of U.S. Capital Solutions & Advisory, BMS Group; Amy Stern, Chief Executive, Reinsurance, Ledger Investing; and Bob Forness, CEO, MultiStrat Group. While casualty insurance-linked securities (ILS) may seem nascent to some, the market has been in development for a number of years now. The panellists set the scene and explained what this segment of the ILS asset class is, as well as why casualty risks can be attractive investments. This panel discussed the evolution and potential of the casualty insurance-linked securities (ILS) market, forecasting an opportunity to grow the segment from an estimated $3-4 billion current base to potentially exceeding $10 billion by 2026. Key points in the discussion included the shift from catastrophe-focused ILS to casualty ILS, driven by improvements to the infrastructure of the ILS market, as well as investor interest in accessing new classes of insurance risk.  The casualty ILS market's growth is largely attributed to risk sourced through whole account quota shares, which the panel said enable stable, diversified portfolios to be constructed for investors.  The discussion also highlighted the importance of exit solutions to provide investor certainty of liquidity, the need for strong partnerships, and that underwriting discipline is key to manage risks and ensure sustainable growth of the casualty ILS space. Listen to the full podcast episode of this casualty insurance-linked securities (ILS) focused panel discussion at ILS NYC 2025, for unique insights into the developing casualty ILS market, what investors need to know about this asset class, and how cedents can benefit from access to efficient capacity from the capital markets.

This latest podcast episode is a bit of an experiment, as we've utilised NotebookLM to transform one of our recent articles that analyses catastrophe bond issuance through April 25th 2025 into an audio podcast episode. Even with a few days to run of the fourth month of the year, catastrophe bond market issuance in 2025 is already on-track to set a new record for issuance through May, as the pipeline of new cat bond deals continues to build. With new catastrophe bond issuances that have completed and settled this week, the total cat bond issuance tracked in the Artemis Deal Directory has already reached almost $8.25 billion this year. But, impressively, the pipeline of new cat bonds slated for completion and settlement up to and including the month of May so far has now reached $3.82 billion. As a result, our forecast for catastrophe bond issuance across Rule 144A cat bonds and the privately placed deals we've tracked so far in 2025 has now reached $12.07 billion, with all of that issuance currently scheduled to settle by the end of the week of May 19th at this stage. Please note, dates of settlement for new catastrophe bond issues can change, so the forecasts could adjust over the coming weeks, but the main story does not change.  The catastrophe bond market remains on record-setting pace and further growth of the outstanding cat bond market is anticipated.

This podcast episode features the third panel session of the day at our Artemis ILS NYC 2025 conference, which was held on February 7th in New York City. ILS NYC 2025 was Artemis' eighth catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) conference held in-person in New York and saw more than 425 registered attendees enjoying insightful debates from our expert speakers, as well as valuable networking opportunities throughout the day. Attendees from across the globe assembled to hear thought-provoking insights from insurance-linked securities (ILS) market leaders, all under the theme of "Capturing opportunities (established & new)." Our next podcast from the ILS NYC 2025 conference features the third panel discussion of the day, which was focused on the catastrophe bond market and explored how it can find a balance to support the ongoing needs of both sponsors and investors. The panel discussion was moderated by Philipp Kusche, Global Head of ILS, Howden Capital Markets & Advisory. He was joined by: Zhak Cohen, Managing Director, Gallatin Point Capital; Jennifer Montero, Chief Financial Officer, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation; Chin Liu, Director - Insurance Linked Securities, Fixed Income Solutions, Amundi US; and Peter Miller, Senior Vice President, Neuberger Berman. Significant growth is forecast for the catastrophe bond market, with the panellists stating that they believe 2025 could be another record year for issuance. Investors emphasised the importance of long-term profitability and the need for rate and premiums to remain adequate for the risks being assumed through catastrophe bonds. Sponsors on the panel also shared their experiences, noting the difficulty in securing full capacity requirements at times and so the importance of strategic planning and management of the cat bond pipeline. Listen to the full episode of this catastrophe bond market focused panel discussion at ILS NYC 2025, for unique insights into how sponsors and investors think about balancing priorities, while ensuring the cat bond instrument continues to deliver to both constituencies.

This podcast episode features the second panel session of the day at our Artemis ILS NYC 2025 conference, which was held on February 7th in New York City. ILS NYC 2025 was Artemis' eighth catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) conference held in-person in New York and saw more than 425 registered attendees enjoying insightful debates from our expert speakers, as well as valuable networking opportunities throughout the day. Attendees from across the globe assembled to hear thought-provoking insights from insurance-linked securities (ILS) market leaders, all under the theme of "Capturing opportunities (established & new)." Our next episode from the ILS NYC 2025 conference features the second panel discussion of the day, which was focused on the expansion of parametric risk transfer investment opportunities in the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market. The panel discussion was moderated by Martin Malinow, CEO, Parameter Climate. He was joined by: Sandra DeSilva, President & CEO, Mythen Re Ltd.; Tanguy Touffut, CEO, Descartes Underwriting; Urs Ramseier, Executive Chairman & CIO, Twelve Capital; and Sandeep Ramachandran, Portfolio Manager, Pier61 Partners. Panellists discussed the evolution of the parametric insurance, reinsurance and risk transfer market, speaking about the history of this segment and its maturity into a parametric ILS opportunity for investors. Speakers also explored what it is that makes parametric risk transfer an investable asset class in its own right, how this can be an attractive portfolio complement for ILS investors and where they expect to see growth in the use of third-party investor capital to support parametric insurance and reinsurance market growth. Listen to the full podcast episode of this parametric ILS focused panel discussion at ILS NYC 2025, for unique insights into developments in the parametric risk transfer market and how these present attractive investment opportunities and an area where the ILS market can expand its scope.

This episode features the first panel session of the day at our Artemis ILS NYC 2025 conference, which was held on February 7th in New York City. ILS NYC 2025 was Artemis' eighth catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) conference held in-person in New York and saw , more than 425 registered attendees enjoying insightful debates from our expert speakers, as well as valuable networking opportunities throughout the day. Attendees from across the globe assembled to hear thought-provoking insights from insurance-linked securities (ILS) market leaders, all under the theme of "Capturing opportunities (established & new)." Our first episode from the ILS NYC 2025 conference features the first panel discussion of the day, which was focused on the collateralized reinsurance and retrocession side of the market, titled: Private ILS strategies, primed for expansion and growth? The panel discussion was moderated by Lorenzo Volpi, Deputy CEO, Managing Partner, Leadenhall Capital Partners LLP.. He was joined by: Eveline Takken-Somers, Senior Director, Lead Portfolio Manager - Insurance Portfolio, PGGM; Mark Booth, Chief Risk Officer, Vantage Risk; George Evans, Managing Director, Relative Value Sector Head, Aksia LLC; and Aditya Dutt, President, Aeolus Capital Management. Panellists discussed the attractiveness of the private ILS and collateralized reinsurance market today, explaining that in response inflows have been increasing. The last two years of returns have demonstrated the return-potential of private ILS investments, while investors continue to find it an attractive and diversifying source of returns. Speakers also explored the critical issues of pricing, terms, and conditions reflecting the true risk profile, and the need for better risk modelling and data. Also discussed was the expansion of the investor-base, with increasing flows  from multi-strats and hedge funds, plus the importance of structural efficiencies in the ILS market, so investors can deploy capital and earn sustainable returns over the long-term. Listen to the full podcast episode of this private ILS focused panel discussion at ILS NYC 2025, for unique insights into developments in the private and collateralized side of reinsurance investments, how large institutional allocators are viewing the opportunity in this market segment, as well as the thoughts of ILS managers offering those private ILS fund opportunities.

This podcast episode features the fourth panel session of the day at our Artemis London 2024 conference, which was held on September 3rd. It was our third in-person conference in London focused on catastrophe bonds, insurance-linked securities (ILS), alternative capital and reinsurance-linked investment trends. The fourth panel of the day was titled "Cat bonds – Primed for records, growth & key role in global risk transfer." Participants discussed the state of the catastrophe bond market, the outlook for cat bonds through the rest of 2024 and beyond. Moderating the session was: Philipp Kusche, Global Head of ILS, Howden Capital Markets & Advisory. Joining him as panellists were: Florian Steiger, CEO, Icosa Investments AG; Michael Bennett, Head of Derivatives & Structured Finance, World Bank Treasury; Tanja Wrosch, Head of Cat Bond Portfolio Management, Twelve Capital; and Colin Scagell, Partner, Mayer Brown. At the time of this recording the catastrophe bond market was still in its hurricane season lull, but panellists reflected on what was a record first-half of the year for cat bond issuance and their expectations for a busy pipeline to emerge over the course of the year.  Investor sentiment and motivations were discussed, as well as the motivations of catastrophe bond sponsors, with all our expert panellists explaining that they expected activity would ramp up and create a record year of issuance, which we now know to have been the case. Listen to the full episode to hear our industry experts discuss the state of the catastrophe bond market, the appetite of investors for new cat bond investments and the key role the cat bond market has developed as a source of reinsurance and risk transfer protection.

In a recent interview with our sister publication Reinsurance News, James Vickers, Chairman of International at reinsurance broker Gallagher Re, told us that reinsurers are well positioned for the year ahead after the key January 1st renewals.  This interview featured Gallagher Re's Vickers, who discussed the 1.1 renewals and how this positions reinsurers for future renewals and the year ahead across property and casualty markets. He also discussed ILS market conditions and the recent devastating wildfires in California.  He noted that "reinsurers will have ended their 1.1 renewals reasonably happy with the terms and conditions that they achieved," and although there has been some rate reductions, "they've been for programmes that either warranted it by class or by territory, and a lot of them were springing off some very, very attractive pricing." Vickers explained that while reinsurers will be pleased with the T&Cs achieved at the recent renewals, they will be less pleased with growth outcomes.  “So, the question for them for the rest of the year is what they can do about increasing their premium volume or achieving their premium growth targets that they've got in 2025. Or, are they going to have to row back from those a little bit and say, look, we're not going to chase the market down. So, that is, I think, the real test that we're coming into, and we'll see that played out over the next big renewal seasons of 1.4, 1. 6, and 1.7,” he said.  During the interview, Vickers explores conditions in property and casualty markets, as well as the expanding alternative capital space, and whether conditions are conducive to reinsurers meeting their cost of capital again this year.  Vickers also touches on the industry's cost of capital and whether this can be met or exceeded in 2025 and considers where firms might look to deploy their capital as industry levels hit new heights in 2024.  He also comments on the Los Angeles wildfires and the broader natural catastrophe landscape as insured losses from events once again exceeded $100 billion in 2024, and by some way.  Listen to the full podcast episode to hear more from Gallagher Re's Vickers on the 1.1 2025 renewals, the property and casualty markets, the insurance-linked securities (ILS) sector, rising cat losses and more.

This video features the third panel session of the day at our Artemis London 2024 conference, which was held on September 3rd. It was our third in-person conference in London focused on catastrophe bonds, insurance-linked securities (ILS), alternative capital and reinsurance-linked investment trends. The third panel of the day was titled "ILS analytics and operational excellence in the era of exponential risk." This session began with a keynote presentation to introduce the topic delivered by Michael Steel, General Manager, Moody's Insurance Solutions. The session then moved into a panel discussion, which Steel moderated and involved the following panellists: Richard Pennay, CEO, Insurance Linked Securities, Aon Securities; Paul Wilson, Head of Catastrophe and Climate Research, Securis Investment Partners LLP; Richard Gray, Head of Third Party Capital, Beazley; and Hilary Paul, Partner / Portfolio Manager, LGT ILS Partners Ltd. The group discussed the importance of robust analytics in the catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) market, touching on a range of perils and issues such as climate risk. Also discussed were operational issues within the ILS community, as well as what ILS manager operational excellence could look like. Watch the full video to hear our industry experts speaking about the evolution of analytics and models in the insurance-linked securities marketplace, as well as their thoughts on the topic of what operational excellence looks like.

This podcast episode features the second panel session of the day at our Artemis London 2024 conference, which was held on September 3rd. It was our third in-person conference in London focused on catastrophe bonds, insurance-linked securities (ILS), alternative capital and reinsurance-linked investment trends. The second panel of the day was titled "The private ILS capital raising conundrum." Participants discussed the state of the private ILS market, where collateralized reinsurance and retrocession opportunities are underwritten, traded and invested in, as well as the capital raising environment. Moderating the session was: Luca Albertini, Chief Executive Officer, Leadenhall Capital Partners LLP. Joining him as panellists were: Raffaele Dell'Amore, Head ILS Centre of Competence, SIGLO Capital Advisors AG; Emily Birrell, Head of Client Relations, Integral ILS; Niklaus Hilti, CIO, Euler ILS Partners (at the time Head, Credit Suisse Insurance Linked Strategies); and Bernard Bachmann, Co-CEO, Swiss Re Insurance-Linked Investment Management Ltd. While the market had been challenged in raising new capital for private ILS strategies in recent years, conditions had been improving on the fund-raising front at the time of the event. At the same time, underwriting conditions and pricing were as good as they had been for a while.  Which raised the conundrum, as it was an opportune time to invest in private ILS and reinsurance/retro strategies, but still the recovery of capital flows to private ILS funds had been slower than seen in other areas of the market such as catastrophe bonds. Listen to the full episode to hear our industry experts discuss the state of the private insurance-linked securities marketplace, as well as developments in the environment for capital raising for these collateralized reinsurance and retrocession strategies.

This episode features the first panel session of the day at our Artemis London 2024 conference, which was held on September 3rd. It was our third in-person conference in London focused on catastrophe bonds, insurance-linked securities (ILS), alternative capital and reinsurance-linked investment trends. The first panel of the day was titled "Efficiently accessing returns in the Lloyd's & London market." Participants discussed the various ways that investors and allocators can access insurance and reinsurance-linked returns from the Lloyd's and London insurance marketplace. Moderating the session was: Des Potter, Special Advisor, Lloyd's. Joining him as panellists were: John Francis, Head of Research, Hampden Insurance Partners; Kate Tongue, Executive Director, Argenta Private Capital Ltd.; John Cavanagh, Chairman, Beat Capital Partners; and Bill Cooper, Managing Director, Howden Capital Markets & Advisory. As well as discussing more traditional routes to support Lloyd's syndicates with capital and access returns from insurance and reinsurance underwriting in the Lloyd's and London marketplace, the panel also discussed new initiatives such as the London Bridge structures and ILS style mechanisms to access risk-linked returns more directly. Listen to the full podcast episode to learn more about allocating capital efficiently into the Lloyd's and London markets, to derive insurance-linked returns.

This is a recording of our "Capital markets structures for originators (sidecars for MGA's)" live webinar that was held on November 21st 2024 and featured insurance-linked security (ILS) and reinsurance industry experts that joined us to discuss the developing trend for risk originators using ILS structures to source capital markets risk and partner capacity. The use of alternative sources of risk and reinsurance capital by the originators of insurance risk, such as managing general agents (MGAs), is a notable trend and one we anticipate expanding over time. There have been numerous attempts to achieve this in the past, effectively bringing the capacity of ILS funds and institutional investors closer to the sources of risk. Some of these have faced challenges, in terms of controlling attritional losses to find the right balance between risk and return.  But now, the market has started to make innovative use of ILS structures such as sidecars, to provide aligned mechanisms through which investors can participate in the underwriting performance of MGAs, while those MGAs can benefit from access to an efficient, alternative capital source. This Artemis Live webinar was moderated by Steve Evans and featured participants: Scott Cobon, Managing Director of Insurance Management Services at Artex Capital Solutions; Raoul Lobo, Vice President at Stone Point Capital; Brad Adderley, Managing Director and the Bermuda Managing Partner at Appleby; and Ethan Allen, Executive Vice President, Chief Risk Officer at MS Transverse Insurance Group. Speakers explored what potential sponsors of these structures need to be aware of and preparing for, as well as the opportunity for investors to partner with risk originators using sophisticated ILS and capital market structures. Listen to the full podcast episode to gain insights from industry experts and hear discussion on this developing area of the insurance-linked securities (ILS) and reinsurance capital market.

This is a recording of our ILS Market Outlook 2025 live webinar that was held on October 31st 2024 and featured insurance-linked security (ILS) industry experts that joined us to discuss the state of the catastrophe bond and ILS market and provide their outlook for the next year. Speakers discussed the current state of play in cat bonds and ILS, as well as their expectations for how the market will develop in 2025. With reinsurance and risk transfer use-cases for cat bonds and broader ILS strategies expanding and investor interest in the asset class rising, this Artemis Live Webinar was a timely discussion. Attendees heard about catastrophe bond trends and expectations for issuance, the continued use of collateralized reinsurance structures to deploy investor capital to insurance-linked opportunities, as well as a discussion about where opportunities lie for both sponsors and investors in 2025. This Artemis Live ILS Market Outlook 2025 webinar was moderated by Steve Evans and featured participants: John DeCaro, Founding Partner, Senior Portfolio Manager, Elementum Advisors; Mike Ramsey, Senior Vice President and Client Development Officer, Wilmington Trust; Kathleen Faries, CEO, Artex Capital Solutions; and Marc Stern, Director, Business Development, Nephila Advisors. Listen to the fill podcast episode for industry expert insights and discussion on expectations for catastrophe bonds and insurance-linked securities (ILS) in 2025.

This episode features the fourth and final panel session of the day at Artemis' ILS Asia 2024 conference, which was held in Singapore on July 11th. It was our sixth in-person conference in Singapore focused on catastrophe bonds, insurance-linked securities (ILS) and alternative reinsurance capital trends. The final panel session of the day featured a discussion titled "Asia Pacific ILS market a decade from now." Moderating the panel session was: Steve Evans, Editor, Artemis. Joining him were: Michael Bennett, Head of Derivatives & Structured Finance, World Bank Treasury; Cheryl Tan, Partner, Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP; Simon Cloney, CEO, Steadfast Re; and Tim Yip, Executive Director & Portfolio Manager, ILS Advisers.. The panel discussed broad trends in catastrophe bonds and insurance-linked securities (ILS), asking what it will take to increase activity across Asia Pacific. They also explored what has held cat bonds and ILS back in the region, while touching on regulatory issues, the appetite of sponsors and investors, as well as innovation that could help to spur on more issuance across Asia Pacific.. Listen to this full podcast episode for more insights into catastrophe bonds and insurance-linked securities (ILS) in Asia Pacific.

This episode features a speech and fireside chat interview from Artemis' ILS Asia 2024 conference, which was held in Singapore on July 11th. It was our sixth in-person conference in Singapore focused on catastrophe bonds, insurance-linked securities (ILS) and alternative reinsurance capital trends. This session featured a keynote speech and fireside chat interview with Paul Schultz, at the time the CEO of Aon Securities, the capital markets and investment banking arm of the global broking giant Aon. Schultz has now become the Global Vice Chair of Reinsurance at Aon. In this episode, Schultz gave a keynote speech to update the ILS Asia 2024 conference attendees on catastrophe bonds and ILS in Asia, after which he sat for an interview to explore his thoughts on market conditions. Listen to the full episode for more insights into the Aon view on catastrophe bonds and ILS in Asia from our expert speaker.

This episode features a fireside chat session from Artemis' ILS Asia 2024 conference, which was held in Singapore on July 11th. It was our sixth in-person conference in Singapore focused on catastrophe bonds, insurance-linked securities (ILS) and alternative reinsurance capital trends. This fireside chat featured three senior reinsurance leaders from the region, all executives and/or members of the Singapore Reinsurers' Association  (SRA). Joining moderator Steve Evans were: Marc Haushofer, Chair, Singapore Reinsurers' Association (SRA); Kenrick Law, Deputy Chair, SRA. Regional CEO, Allianz Re; Victor Kuk, EXCO Member, SRA. CEO, Swiss Re Asia. The group discussed the Asian reinsurance market status and outlook, also sharing their views on Singapore's continued development as a key market hub for the region. In addition, the group spoke about their views on the use of third-party and alternative capital, as well as the important contribution that reinsurance and ILS together can make on the protection gap. Listen to the full episode for more insights from these senior executives into the Asian reinsurance market and the potential for insurance-linked securities (ILS) in the region.

This episode features the audio from the third panel session of the day at Artemis' ILS Asia 2024 conference, which was held in Singapore on July 11th. It was our sixth in-person conference in Singapore focused on catastrophe bonds, insurance-linked securities (ILS) and alternative reinsurance capital trends. The third panel session of the day featured a discussion titled "Connecting innovative risk transfer with capital markets." Moderating the panel session was: Kirtiraj (Raj) Jadeja, Divisional Director, AGILE Risk Advisory. Joining him were: Piyush Jain, Appointed Actuary, Kshema General Insurance Ltd.; Esther Kim, Senior Product Manager, Public Sector Solutions, Swiss Re; Alexander Pui, SVP, Climate and Sustainability Consulting, Marsh; Yash Jain, Founder, Cliff Horizon. The panel explored the role of technology in risk transfer, as well as innovative and responsive techniques such as parametric triggers and discussed why these innovative forms of risk transfer may prove attractive opportunities to investors in the capital markets. They also discussed the protection gap and opportunities to narrow it using innovative insurance and reinsurance risk transfer techniques and efficient capital sources. Listen to the full podcast episode for more insights into why innovative and responsive risk transfer may prove well-suited to further development of ILS and catastrophe bonds in Asia Pacific.

The innovative Phoenix sidecar series of deals challenged the norm of what is seen in insurance-linked securities (ILS) and the product has delivered for its investors, William Ho, CEO of MS Amlin Asia Pacific told us in a recent interview. Our latest Artemis Live podcast episode features William Ho, CEO of MS Amlin Asia Pacific, who joined us to discuss the Phoenix sidecar series, a set of collateralized reinsurance transactions issued out of Singapore with a focus on diversifying risks from the Asia Pacific region. Ho explained on the Phoenix sidecar series of deals, "It was something that was a bit different, a bit diversified, against a peak-zone product. "Whilst there was a bit of scepticism whether or not we could get something like this done, we felt the timing was right, that despite it being quite a challenging time to try and raise capital, this diversification play, being something a bit different, encouraged us at MS Amlin to to push forward with this kind of project in the region. "We felt it was a bit innovative, we wanted to challenge the norm, and establish some expectations down the line as well." Ho went on to explain the track-record of the Phoenix sidecars and told us, "We're going into our fifth year now. So, we've had four years of transactions on the trot. Looking back, we've raised over $160 million over that period of time, averaging between 8% and 9% return-on-capital. From an underwriters perspective, we ceded over $30 million of premium into these vehicles and generated less than a million dollars of losses. "So, the track-record is building and that proof of concept is now turning into a transaction that can show it's got a track-record and it's got some longevity in it." Listen to the full episode of this interview with William Ho of MS Amlin Asia Pacific to learn more about the innovative Phoenix series of reinsurance sidecar deals and the investment opportunity it presents.

This episode features the second panel session of the day at Artemis' ILS Asia 2024 conference, which was held in Singapore on July 11th. It was our sixth in-person conference in Singapore focused on catastrophe bonds, insurance-linked securities (ILS) and alternative reinsurance capital trends. The second panel session of the day was a discussion titled "ILS investor sentiment and trends." Moderating the panel session was: Yuko Hoshino, Senior Managing Director, Business Development, Leadenhall Capital Partners LLP. Joining her were: Stefan Kräuchi, Founder / CEO, ILS Advisers / HSZ Group; Leslie Lim, Investment Director, Tsao Family Office; and InYeong Yi, Head of Reinsurance, Mitsui Bussan Pana Harrison. The panellists discussed developments in investor sentiment for insurance-linked securities (ILS) with a particular focus on the Asia Pacific region. The audience heard from ILS managers and a family office investor that allocates to insurance-linked securities (ILS), as well as a large asset owner with re/insurance interests, making for a well-rounded discussion. Listen to the full podcast episode for more insights into investor sentiment for insurance-linked securities (ILS) and catastrophe bonds in Asia Pacific.

This episode features the second session of the day at Artemis' ILS Asia 2024 conference, which was held in Singapore on July 11th. It was our sixth in-person conference in Singapore focused on catastrophe bonds, insurance-linked securities (ILS) and alternative reinsurance capital trends. The second session of the day was a keynote speech and fireside chat interview focused on cyber catastrophe bonds. Delivering the keynote and being interviewed was: Jon Choi, Director, Insurance Risk Consulting from specialist cyber risk modelling and analytics company CyberCube. His keynote speech was titled "Cyber catastrophe bonds: Digital Ties and Natural Divides" and Choi explored the cyber cat bonds issued so far in the market and highlighted key differences and the opportunities for diversification between them. After his keynote, Jon Choi of CyberCube joined Steve Evans from Artemis on stage for a fireside chat interview, where they discussed some of the issues raised during his keynote speech and the important role of risk modelling firms in helping to develop and promote the cyber catastrophe bond marketplace. Listen to the full podcast episode for more insights into the growing cyber catastrophe bond market from our expert speaker.

The life reinsurance industry in Bermuda has embraced the use of third-party capital structures and investor relationships, with sidecars now an established and growing feature of the market, Damian Cooper of PwC Bermuda explained in a recent interview. Our latest Artemis Live interview is with Damian Cooper, an experienced audit focused Partner in the Insurance team at PwC Bermuda. Cooper has a focus on the reinsurance industry, particularly the life sector, and also leads PwC's capital markets, accounting and regulatory advisory practice within Bermuda. With 20 years experience at PwC supporting life and general insurance clients in Australia, the UK and Bermuda, Damian has also audited several reinsurer's ILS and third-party capital operations. During our interview, Cooper pointed to the health of the life reinsurance market in Bermuda and highlighted a continuous trend towards innovation in the relationships between cedents and investors or asset managers. Cooper explained some of the trends driving this. He told us that, "On the demand side from the life reinsurers, it's worth noting that, obviously, reinsurers are fairly restricted, there's a real limit on a regulatory capital perspective on their ability to use debt financing so they are relatively dependent on equity.  "So third party capital has really been seen as an attractive way to grow, given its relative cost and flexibility as a tool to fund that growth, and given just the size of where these life reinsurers are going, there is a constant need, or a fairly steady need, to attain new capital to be able to fund that growth. "For the established reinsurers, the use of third-party capital and those sidecars also gives an opportunity to generate sort of management fee income, right, so to create another revenue source for them as part of their wider sort of return to their primary equity holders. "Then also, depending on the source of third-party capital, it can be used to ensure you get a good long-term alignment of interest between a ceding company or an asset manager and creating that sort of more symbiotic relationship on the reinsurance side, and then on the supply side.  "The existing success of those third-party capital vehicles is generating its own appetite for people looking at an effective way to essentially invest into the life reinsurance market and to be able to partner up or access the successful management teams, as they were, and their expertise in underwriting and asset management." Listen to the full podcast episode for more insights from PwC Bermuda's Damian Cooper.

This episode features the first panel session of the day at Artemis' ILS Asia 2024 conference, which was held in Singapore on July 11th. It was our sixth in-person conference in Singapore focused on catastrophe bonds, insurance-linked securities (ILS) and alternative reinsurance capital trends. The first session of the day was a panel discussion titled "Catastrophe bonds: Onwards and upwards in the liquid ILS market." Moderating the panel session was: Mark Gibson, Head of Products & Solutions ILS, Schroders Capital.. Joining him were: Iain Reynolds, Director, Head of Catastrophe Analytics and Research, Peak Re; Lena Ng, Partner, Clifford Chance; Hussain Ahmad, Head of Structured Solutions, APAC, Guy Carpenter; and Peter DiFiore, Managing Director, Neuberger Berman. The panellists explored the state of the catastrophe bond market and the outlook for the rest of the year, as well as the evolving use of catastrophe bonds as reinsurance and more direct risk transfer structures, plus how activity in Singapore and Asia more broadly is developing. Listen to the full episode for more insights into the catastrophe bond market from our expert speakers.

Urs Baertschi, CEO of P&C Reinsurance at global reinsurer Swiss Re joined us for this Artemis Live interview just in advance of the 2024 Monte Carlo Reinsurance Rendez-Vous event. Baertschi discusses Swiss Re's priorities for the end of year renewal negotiations, his view of reinsurance market conditions, the need to continue working to close insurance protection gaps, the role of alternative capital and insurance-linked securities (ILS) and much more. Speaking about what he expects to be on the agenda in Monte Carlo at the RVS, Baertschi told us, "Generally speaking, as we look at the environment, at the supply and demand dynamics, demand is up. Clients want to buy more reinsurance to de-risk their peak perils, and we're going to be in an active discussion around that as an industry." Moving on to speak about terms and conditions, Baertschi continued, "When you look at the risk sharing between the insurance industry and the reinsurance industry, there clearly was a lot of movement about a year and a half ago and 24 months ago around this and it has stabilised since then. "Primary insurance has caught up around the reality of what it means to have higher volatility in the frequency space as well." He added, "The risk landscape keeps evolving and so it's really important for our industry, end-to-end, to reflect that evolving risk landscape in the kind of products that we offer, in the rates that are being charged throughout, in the structures, in the wordings, and so these are all going to be discussions that we expect to kick-off in Monte Carlo, and then throughout the rest of the renewal season." Asked about key issues related to price adequacy, attachment points and his expectations for reinsurance capital providers to remain disciplined, Baertschi expects relative stability it seems. "We would expect the current environment, that we've seen so far this year, to maintain throughout the balance of the year as well," he explained. "This new-norm of more than $100 billion of insured losses from natural catastrophes is really here to stay, and that's a market reality. And the vast majority of that is driven by smaller events that should be picked up in the retention of the primary insurers. "So with all of that, the history, the financial results, how the balance between the insurers and reinsurers in the risk-sharing is finding itself in the market, we would expect the environment to remain largely similar to the discipline that we have seen so far this year." Listen to the full episode for more insights from Urs Baertschi, CEO of P&C Reinsurance at Swiss Re.

There are an increasing number of insurance-linked securities (ILS) and collateralized reinsurance formations in Bermuda that have a focus on areas of the property and casualty (P&C) market outside of natural catastrophe risks, Damian Sealy of PwC Bermuda explained in a recent interview. Our latest Artemis Live interview is with Damian Sealy, a Director and the Actuarial Leader for Bermuda and PwC in the Caribbean. Sealy leads the delivery of actuarial services for PwC Bermuda and the Caribbean's audit and advisory engagements. During his 18 year actuarial career he has worked with most insurance entities, from captives, to large global property and catastrophe reinsurers, as well as collateralized reinsurance and ILS structures in Bermuda. During our interview, Sealy pointed to the health of the ILS market and expanding use of alternative capital sources in lines of insurance business outside of the more typical property cat. He explained that the ILS and collateralized reinsurance market is "actively growing" and that this is leading to an increasing number of engagements for actuarial work related to newly established structures. "For my team specifically, we're certainly seeing an increase in the number of new formations requesting our actuarial support, whether that's directly providing advisory support, where we are independent of the new vehicle, or as the actuarial team member within the overall audit team," Sealy said during the interview. Going on to say that, "What I've seen recently are a number of structures, collateralized insurers and reinsurers, sidecars, where the underlying coverage relates to casualty business, and some also providing coverage across the market, in property cat, casualty, specialty. "We, of course, focus our assistance in helping clients, or in the case of audit where the audit team is essentially my client, we're trying to help them to understand the sensitivity and the variability of that result." Asked whether he believes casualty ILS and other P&C lines are a growth area, Sealy said, "I certainly do, especially as the industry and as the market, with the support of actuaries, continue to explore the impact that tail-risk and that longer-term variability can have, it can be positive, if understood. "So I do think that this is a particular growth area, and I'm glad to see the market giving it consideration and expanding the support that it can lend to the industry." Listen to the full podcast episode for more insights from PwC Bermuda's Damian Sealy.

This panel discussion was the fifth and final session of the day at our Artemis ILS NYC 2024 conference, held in New York on February 9th 2024. ILS NYC 2024 was Artemis' largest insurance-linked securities (ILS) conference to-date, with over 410 registered attendees enjoying insightful debates from our expert speakers, as well as valuable networking opportunities throughout the day. Attendees came from more than 30 countries across the globe to hear thought-provoking insights from catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) market leaders, all under the theme of "Growing into the higher return environment." This fifth recording from our ILS NYC 2024 conference features the final panel discussion with some of our expert moderators from the conference and a few guests. The panel discussion was moderated by Steve Evans, Artemis owner and Editor-in-Chief. He was joined by: Joanna Syroka, Director of New Markets, Fermat Capital Management; Alex Mican, Head of PCS Global Strategy and Growth, Verisk Insurance Solutions; Michael Stahel, Partner / Portfolio Manager, LGT ILS Partners Ltd.; and Mike Millette, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Hudson Structured Capital Management Ltd. With such depth of sector knowledge and expertise on stage, it was left to these moderators and guests to sum up their feelings on the future for catastrophe bonds and insurance-linked securities (ILS), while also exploring the future role of the capital market in reinsurance. Listen to the full podcast episode to gain unique insights from these ILS industry experts.

This panel discussion was the fourth session of the day at our Artemis ILS NYC 2024 conference, held in New York on February 9th 2024. ILS NYC 2024 was Artemis' largest insurance-linked securities (ILS) conference to-date, with over 410 registered attendees enjoying insightful debates from our expert speakers, as well as valuable networking opportunities throughout the day. Attendees came from more than 30 countries across the globe to hear thought-provoking insights from insurance-linked securities (ILS) market leaders, all under the theme of "Growing into the higher return environment." This fourth podcast from our ILS NYC 2024 conference features a panel discussion focused on cyber risk and looks ahead to the potential for cyber catastrophe bond activity to grow, titled: Cyber cat bonds: After a successful start, where next? The panel discussion was moderated by Joanna Syroka, Director of New Markets, Fermat Capital Management. She was joined by: Kyle Freeman, Head of ILS, AXIS Capital; Brittany Baker, VP, Solution Consulting, Cybercube; Richard Pennay, CEO of Insurance-Linked Securities, Aon Securities; and Richard Gray, Head of Third Party Capital, Beazley. With the first 144A cyber catastrophe bonds issued towards the end of 2023, this conference was the first international event where some of those directly involved in these breakthrough deals got to discuss them and gave their outlook for future cyber cat bond issuance. The panellists explored the important considerations that had helped those first 144A cyber cat bonds be successful and how investor interest was cultivated for them. They went on to explore the future potential of the cyber catastrophe bond market, asking what needs to happen to keep it growing, what the future demand for protection from the cat bond market could look like and how much capital support there is expected to be. Listen to the full podcast episode of this cyber catastrophe bond focused panel discussion for unique insights into those first cyber cat bond deals, and what speakers expect for this new ILS market segment in the future.

This panel discussion was the third session of the day at our Artemis ILS NYC 2024 conference, held in New York on February 9th 2024. ILS NYC 2024 was Artemis' largest insurance-linked securities (ILS) conference to-date, with over 410 registered attendees enjoying insightful debates from our expert speakers, as well as valuable networking opportunities throughout the day. Attendees came from more than 30 countries across the globe to hear thought-provoking insights from insurance-linked securities (ILS) market leaders, all under the theme of "Growing into the higher return environment." This third podcast from our ILS NYC 2024 conference features a panel discussion focused on the private side of the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market where collateralized reinsurance protections are written and invested in, titled: Collateralized Re & Retro - Creating consistency and coverage. The panel discussion was moderated by Mitchell Rosenberg, Managing Director, ILS, Howden Tiger Capital Markets & Advisory. He was joined by: Laura Taylor, President, Nephila Holdings Ltd.; Chris McKeown, Chief Executive, Reinsurance, ILS & Innovation, Vantage Risk; and Paul Larrett, Chief Underwriting Officer, Securis Investment Partners. The discussion focused on the collateralized reinsurance and retrocession markets, exploring what has changed in recent years after the challenging losses face and how the ILS market can continue to expand this segment and remain a key provider of reinsurance and retro capacity in collateralized formats. The panellists also explored the importance of delivering certainty to cedents, through the forms of coverage that are available in today's hard reinsurance marketplace. Capital management and how collateral flows within the industry was also a key topic for discussion, with panellists explaining steps taken to improve the deployment, management and use of reinsurance collateral, to benefit both cedents and investors. Listen to the full episode of this collateralized reinsurance and retrocession focused panel discussion for unique insights into how the more private side of the ILS market is set up for 2024, and how speakers view the forward potential of this ILS segment.

This panel discussion was the second session of the day at our Artemis ILS NYC 2024 conference, held in New York on February 9th 2024. ILS NYC 2024 was Artemis' largest insurance-linked securities (ILS) conference to-date, with over 410 registered attendees enjoying insightful debates from our expert speakers, as well as valuable networking opportunities throughout the day. Attendees came from more than 30 countries across the globe to hear thought-provoking insights from insurance-linked securities (ILS) market leaders, all under the theme of "Growing into the higher return environment." This audio from the second session at our ILS NYC 2024 conference features a panel discussion focused on forward-looking trends in the cat bond market after a record year in 2023, titled: Catastrophe bonds: Building on solid ground. The panel discussion was moderated by Alex Mican, Head of PCS Global Strategy and Growth, Verisk Insurance Solutions. He was joined by: Lynn Finkel, Chief Risk Officer, Revantage, A Blackstone Company; Michael Bennett, Head of Derivatives & Structured Finance, World Bank Treasury; Stephan Ruoff, Head of ILS, Schroders Capital; and Cory Anger, Managing Director, GC Securities. The discussion focused on the cat bond market, looking ahead to what 2024 could bring for a market setting new records, on the back of growing demand from both sponsors and investors. The panellists also explored what cedents really want from the cat bond market and how the investor-base can support their needs, as well as what structural opportunities could be presented and how catastrophe bonds can extend their role in disaster risk financing around the globe. Listen to this full podcast episode for a catastrophe bond focused panel discussion with unique insights into how the cat bond market is set up for 2024, and what developments may be seen in cat bond structuring and offerings, to support both sponsor and investor needs.

This panel discussion was the first session of the day at our Artemis ILS NYC 2024 conference, held in New York on February 9th 2024. ILS NYC 2024 was Artemis' largest insurance-linked securities (ILS) conference to-date, with over 410 registered attendees enjoying insightful debates from our expert speakers, as well as valuable networking opportunities throughout the day. Attendees came from more than 30 countries across the globe to hear thought-provoking insights from insurance-linked securities (ILS) market leaders, all under the theme of "Growing into the higher return environment." This first audio recording from our ILS NYC 2024 conference features a panel discussion focused on trends on the investor side of the market, titled: Investor sentiment: Cultivating and aligning appetites. The panel discussion was moderated by Lorenzo Volpi, Deputy CEO, Managing Partner, Leadenhall Capital Partners LLP. He was joined by: Eveline Takken-Somers, Senior Director, Lead Portfolio Manager - Insurance Portfolio, PGGM; Jason Bolding, Global Head of Sales & Distribution, Gallagher Securities; Bernard Van Der Stichele, Senior Portfolio Manager, ILS, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP); Michael Stahel, Partner / Portfolio Manager, LGT ILS Partners Ltd. The discussion focused on ILS investor sentiment, how appetites are developing, which instruments are receiving the most focus at this time, as well as how investor sentiment and appetites to allocate differ across catastrophe bonds and the more private ILS and reinsurance structures. The panellists also explored what investors really want from the insurance-linked securities (ILS) asset class in 2024, including where their red lines might be, in terms of the discipline they expect to see from ILS managers Listen to the full podcast episode of this ILS investor sentiment focused panel discussion for unique insights into how large institutional investors view the asset class at this time and how our experts see investor appetites for ILS and cat bonds developing.

The successful issuance of the first full cyber catastrophe bonds in late 2023 was a watershed moment and the role of risk models in helping insurance-linked securities investors get up to speed on what is still a relatively new peril to the ILS sector was key, executives at Moody's RMS told us in an Artemis Live interview. To find out more about the role of risk models in getting the first cyber cat bonds to market successfully, we spoke with Moody's RMS executives Damini Mago - Senior Product Manager, Cyber and Alice Woolley – Lead Consultant, Risk Advisory, recently. With now four full 144A cyber catastrophe bonds successfully brought to market, the role of risk models has been critical in helping cedents to access an important new source of reinsurance capital and for investors to understand the exposures they were being presented with. Moody's RMS Senior Product Manager, Cyber, Damini Mago said that, "2023 saw the first cyber catastrophe bonds come to the market. It was a watershed moment bringing this to the ILS market and as by the end of quarter four, we saw for 144A cat bond transactions, securing about $415 million in protection for those sponsors. "We feel it's the first big step to open the doors for that additional capacity that the market clearly needs, especially with the premium growth that's expected from it. "We view this as a pivotal step in establishing cyber as a viable asset class for investors, contributing to the advancement of the cyber insurance market. So, it's definitely an exciting time." Helping investors to gain an understanding of the peril category that is cyber and precisely what risks these cyber cat bonds cover, was a key part of the process towards opening the ILS market up for cyber cedents. Alice Woolley, Lead Consultant, Risk Advisory at Moody's RMS explained, "It is really encouraging to see how ILS investors stepped up. They're getting to grips with this new challenge, this completely new peril, and they're supporting not just one but multiple transactions. "So, we've seen really encouraging signs and education has been a really key focus and a key part of this long journey of getting to where we are, with the cyber transactions so far." During the interview, Mago and Woolley also discussed the Moody's RMS cyber risk model and what it covers, as well as how it was applied to the cat bond issues we've seen so far. The importance of robust cyber loss event definitions was also explored and the pair also commented on the range of cyber cat bond structures that the market has seen thus far, as well as their hopes for a vibrant cyber cat bond market going forwards. Listen to the full podcast episode for more insights into the exciting new world of cyber catastrophe bonds with Moody's RMS' Damini Mago and Alice Woolley.

This was the sixth session of the day at our Artemis London 2023 insurance-linked securities (ILS) market conference, held on September 5th in London, UK. Around 240 attendees enjoyed a busy day of thoughtful catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) focused discussion from industry experts, as well as valuable networking opportunities. This session features an expert panel discussing parametric triggers in insurance-linked securities (ILS) and the future potential for parametric triggers in developing capital market backed responses to growing climate risk exposures. The panel discussion was moderated by: Rowan Douglas, CEO Climate Risk and Resilience, Howden Group. He was joined on stage by: Stephen Lathrope, Global Head of Insurance, ICEYE; Michael Bennett, Head of Derivatives & Structured Finance, the World Bank Treasury; and Edern Le Roux, Head of ILS and Cat Modeling, Descartes Underwriting. The panellists discussed how parametric triggers have helped insurance and catastrophe bond protection expand to some underserved areas. We heard of the need for greater collaboration between private and public entities, as well as the growing demand for disaster insurance protection for governments and their entities. The panellists also discussed the important role of technology in the creation of parametric triggers and how this can help drive innovation and triggers that are increasingly closely calibrated to the underlying risks that insurance and reinsurance products are protecting against. Listen to the full podcast episode to learn more about the future of parametric triggers in the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market.

This was the fifth session of the day at our Artemis London 2023 insurance-linked securities (ILS) market conference, held on September 5th in London, UK. Around 240 attendees enjoyed a busy day of thoughtful catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) focused discussion from industry experts, as well as valuable networking opportunities. This session features a keynote speech and Q&A with Jorge Familiar, Vice President and Treasurer, of the World Bank Group. Familiar discussed the World Bank's role in disaster risk financing and use of insurance-linked securities (ILS) such as catastrophe bonds. He explained that the World Bank's clients have benefited from significant risk transfer thanks to the cat bond structure over the years, saying that interest in insurance protection and leveraging capital market investor appetite to fund that, remains strong. Familiar also discussed the role of ILS and cat bonds at the World Bank. "We are focusing on increasing our financial capabilities and taking full-advantage of what we do in financial markets to further our mission," he explained. Adding, "This leads to insurance-linked securities (ILS)." Familiar further said that the World Bank is aware that countries need help to build resilience on the one hand, but also to build robust safety nets with different layers that will allow them to deal with natural disasters with different intensities and different probabilities of occurrence. "Hence, there is clearly a space for cat bonds here," Jorge Familiar told the audience. Listen to the full podcast episode to learn more about the World Bank Group's activities in the catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) market.

This was the fourth session of the day at our Artemis London 2023 insurance-linked securities (ILS) market conference, held on September 5th in London, UK. Around 240 attendees enjoyed a busy day of thoughtful catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) focused discussion from industry experts, as well as valuable networking opportunities. This session features an expert panel discussing the need to sustain returns, across both catastrophe bonds and private ILS such as collateralized reinsurance, and ideas as to how that can be achieved. The panel discussion was moderated by: Philipp Kusche, Global Head of ILS, Howden Tiger Capital Markets & Advisory. He was joined on stage by: Florian Steiger, Head of Cat Bonds, Twelve Capital; Hervé Castella, Chief Third Party Capital Officer, SCOR; Marco della Giacoma, Portfolio Manager, Tenax Capital; and Michael Rich, Head ILS, Commodities & Environmental Strategies, K2 Advisors. The panellists spoke about the evident diversification benefits that allocations to ILS have exhibited for investors over the last few years, saying that the lack of correlation remains a key driver for investor capital inflows to the sector. They also explored how investor sentiment is evolving in the catastrophe bond space, as well as more broadly for investments into private ILS such as collateralized reinsurance arrangements. Listen to the full podcast episode to learn more about the return potential of investment allocations to the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market.

This was the third session of the day at our Artemis London 2023 insurance-linked securities (ILS) market conference, held on September 5th in London, UK. Around 240 attendees enjoyed a busy day of thoughtful catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) focused discussion from industry experts, as well as valuable networking opportunities. This session features a timely panel discussion focused on cyber catastrophe bond market developments, featuring some of those involved in some of the first wave of cyber cat bonds that launched soon after this event. The panel discussion was moderated by: Kyle Freeman, Head of ILS Structuring, Property, AXIS ILS. He was joined on stage by: Joe Gottlieb, Partner, Insurance Practice, Sidley Austin LLP; Rebecca Bole, Head of Industry Engagement, CyberCube; Richard Pennay, CEO of Insurance-Linked Securities, Aon Securities; and Benjamin Baltesar, Head of Underwriting and Pricing, Credit Suisse Insurance Linked Strategies. The group explored the readiness of the market for cyber catastrophe bond, discussing the response of investors to the prospect of cyber cat bonds getting issued, and speaking to some of the challenges faced in getting investors comfortable with cyber risks in ILS form. Event definitions were a focus, as this has been one of the key considerations for sponsors and their service providers, to ensure coverage is robust from a cyber cat bond. The investor side was also discussed and the group agreed that, in cyber risk, event definitions are critical so that ILS investors understand what losses could qualify and they could be exposed to, if they invested in a cyber cat bond. The group also said that the ILS market is ready for cyber and that investors have approached this in a pragmatic manner, with the initial cyber cat bonds ready to provide a good test for investor appetite and lay the groundwork for what could be an important new peril for the catastrophe bond market. Listen to the full podcast episode to learn more about the nascent market for cyber catastrophe bonds.

This was the second session of the day at our Artemis London 2023 insurance-linked securities (ILS) market conference, held on September 5th in London, UK. Around 240 attendees enjoyed a busy day of thoughtful catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) focused discussion from industry experts, as well as valuable networking opportunities. This session features an insightful panel discussion focused on developments in third-party investor sentiment for allocating to the insurance-linked securities (ILS) and catastrophe bonds asset class. The panel discussion was moderated by: Lorenzo Volpi, Managing Partner / Deputy CEO, Leadenhall Capital Partners LLP. He was joined on stage by: Chantal Berendsen, Hedge Fund IDD Senior Analyst, Insurance Specialist, Albourne Partners; Martin Dietz, Head of Diversified Strategies, LGIM; and Raffaele Dell'Amore, Head ILS Centre of Competence, Partner, SIGLO Capital Advisors AG. The group explored the evolution of ILS investor sentiment over the last year and where it might be headed. They identified ongoing challenges and the need for investor concerns to be addressed, but also a steadily improving environment for ILS investor sentiment, helped by the improvements in returns available from the market, as well as the evidence of ILS portfolio enhancements that are starting to show through. Listen to this full podcast episode to learn more about the state of investor sentiment for allocating to the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market.

This was the first session of the day at our Artemis London 2023 insurance-linked securities (ILS) market conference, held on September 5th in London, UK.  More than 240 attendees enjoyed a busy day of thoughtful catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) focused discussion from industry experts, as well as valuable networking opportunities.  This session features a keynote speech and Q&A with Burkhard Keese, the CFO of the Lloyd's insurance and reinsurance market.  Keese discussed Lloyd's progress with its activities of relevance to the ILS investor community.  In particular, he shared an update on the London Bridge 2 PCC ILS structure and said that he expects more activity through the platform over the coming months, as Lloyd's market participants look to access efficient sources of capital and reinsurance.  Listen to the full episode for more insights about the Lloyd's market and its interaction with the insurance-linked securities (ILS) community from Burkhard Keese.

This panel discussion took place at the Artemis ILS Asia 2023 conference in Singapore on July 13th. This was the final session of the day and saw three experienced insurance-linked securities (ILS) investment managers take to the stage, moderated by Steve Evans, Artemis' Owner and Editor. The panellists taking part were: John DeCaro, Founding Principal, Elementum Advisors, LLC; Peter DiFiore, Managing Director, Neuberger Berman; and Stephan Ruoff, Head of ILS, Schroders Capital. The panel session discussed the current state of the catastrophe bond and ILS market from the vantage point of experienced asset managers focused on this marketplace. The group explored what the current attractions are for investors to look at the ILS asset class, particularly those in the Asia Pacific region. In addition, a discussion was had as to how further institutionalisation of the ILS asset class could help it to deliver on its growth potential. Pricing in catastrophe bonds was also discussed, with panellists opining on the softening of prices that has been seen through recent weeks. Overall, investor appetite for ILS is viewed as increasing, but with the market still needing to prove out the improvements to the product and underwriting or structural changes that have been made, as well as to deliver the reinsurance-linked returns investors are expecting. Listen to this full episode to learn more about the state of the cat bond and ILS market from the viewpoint of experienced ILS asset management experts.

This panel discussion took place at the Artemis ILS Asia 2023 conference in Singapore on July 13th. This session discussed the role of catastrophe bonds and trends in public sector and sovereign risk transfer, under the watch of moderator Alex Pui, Executive Manager, Commonwealth Bank of Australia. The panellists taking part were: Scott McHardy, Head of Risk Finance, Toka Tū Ake EQC; Esther Kim, Senior Product Manager, Public Sector Solutions, Swiss Re; Michael Bennett, Head of Derivatives & Structured Finance, World Bank Treasury. The panel session discussed the use of catastrophe bonds in public sector and sovereign risk transfer and the potential for that to increase, with specific relevance to the Asia Pacific region. The group discussed specific use-cases for cat bonds in public and sovereign risk transfer. They also explored the broader potential for use of insurance-linked securities (ILS) capacity within these risk transfer arrangements With a catastrophe bond sponsor on the panel, as well as the World Bank, there was a robust discussion on the benefits of cat bond protection and of bringing the capital markets into catastrophe insurance and reinsurance programmes. Listen to the full podcast episode to learn more about the use of catastrophe bonds within public sector and sovereign risk transfer programmes.

This keynote speech took place at the Artemis ILS Asia 2023 conference in Singapore on July 13th. This session featured Yusuke Kikuchi, Managing Director at Aon Securities (Japan), the catastrophe bond, insurance-linked securities (ILS) and capital markets division of the global insurance and reinsurance broker. Kikuchi discussed the rapid economic growth potential of the Asia Pacific region, going on to highlight the magnitude of catastrophe losses that occur there and the resultant and still growing insurance protection gap. He went on to run through a timeline of catastrophe bond issuance in the region, highlighting key transactions and sponsors, as well as the handful of reinsurance sidecar deals that have been completed in APAC. Importantly, he noted the convergence of pricing between traditional reinsurance and ILS rates, which is helping to make the cat bond and ILS product range more appealing to sponsors. Going on to explain that there is still outsized demand from ILS investors for access to APAC risks, which means any Asia Pacific focused cat bonds and ILS would likely be well-received, while also saying that demand for ILS investments from allocators in Asia Pacific also remains high and further flows to the asset class from the region should be expected. Listen to the full podcast episode to learn more about catastrophe bond and ILS market activity in Asia Pacific and the opportunity to grow the cat bond market in the region.

This panel discussion took place at the Artemis ILS Asia 2023 conference in Singapore on July 13th.  This session was moderated by Steve Tunstall, Director, PARIMA.org. The panellists taking part were: Kelvin Wu, Head of Insurance, Weybourne Holdings; Mansi Kalra, Managing Director, JBA Risk Management Pte Ltd; Franck Baron, Chief Risk Officer, International SOS; and George McGhie, Strategic Adviser - Asia Pacific, Artex Risk Solutions.  The panel session sought to explore the potential role of insurance-linked securities (ILS) in corporate risk management.  The group discussed how corporate risk managers and insurance buyers think of the ILS opportunity and whether they believe it is a viable and complementary source of risk capital to add to their insurance towers.  They also explored the broader potential for use of insurance-linked securities (ILS) in corporate risk management, as well as topics such as parametric risk transfer, which is becoming a key corporate risk transfer tool.  With two insurance buyers on the panel representing large users of risk transfer, the panel provided an insightful look into how corporates might increasingly look to ILS and what the ILS market can do to help them engage more with the capital markets as a source of insurance risk transfer.  Listen to this full podcast episode to learn more about corporate risk management in Asia and how large insurance buyers think of the insurance-linked securities (ILS) opportunity.

This fireside chat interview took place on stage at the Artemis ILS Asia 2023 conference in Singapore on July 13th.  This session features a discussion with William Ho, the CEO of MS Amlin Asia Pacific, and Head of Reinsurance (Asia) for MS Amlin, about his expertise in the region, his firm's view of the reinsurance market there and also its use of insurance-linked securities (ILS).  MS Amlin has now sponsored three capital market arrangements that have been issued out of Singapore, all under the Phoenix Re name and all constituting quota share sidecar arrangements, backed by ILS investor capital.  Ho provided some insights into the importance of the Asia Pacific region to his employer MS Amlin, as well as his priorities for the business there as CEO.  He then went on to explain the motivation for sponsoring the Phoenix Re sidecar structures, the experience of doing so out of Singapore and the reception the deal's received from the ILS investor community.  Listen to the full podcast episode to learn more about the Asian reinsurance market place from the perspective of an ILS sponsor there, as well as William Ho's thoughts on the MS Amlin offering in Asia Pacific and his intentions for future use of the Singapore ILS regulatory regime.

This panel discussion took place at the Artemis ILS Asia 2023 conference in Singapore on July 13th.  This session was moderated by Michael Dunsire, Regional Director, APAC, Aon Insurance Managers.  The panellists taking part were: Simon Goh, Partner, Head of Insurance & Reinsurance, Rajah & Tann; Matthew Song, Executive Director, Head of Corporate and Institutional Client, SGX Group; Tim Yip, Executive Director & Portfolio Manager, ILS Advisers / HSZ Group; Scott McHardy, Head of Risk Finance, Toka Tū Ake EQC.  Momentum surrounding Singapore's ILS market hub continues to build, and this panel featured a discussion about the future of ILS in the country and what is needed to sustain ILS as a component of Singapore's broader financial activities.  The group discussed the current status of the Singapore ILS regulatory offering, as well as recent changes to the Singapore ILS Grant Scheme.  They also explored the broader potential for use of insurance-linked securities (ILS) within Singapore and the Asia Pacific region.  In addition, a recent first-time catastrophe bond sponsor on the panel, in Scott McHardy, Head of Risk Finance, Toka Tū Ake EQC, discussed the experience of using Singapore as a cat bond issuance domicile and explained how the regulator and service providers had supported the EQC through that process.  Listen to the full podcast episode to learn more about the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market in Singapore, the Singapore ILS regulatory regime and the continued investment that the country is making in developing a sustainable ILS hub component within its capital market.

This keynote speech took place at the Artemis ILS Asia 2023 conference in Singapore on July 13th.  This session featured Stefan Kräuchi and Tim Yip of Hong Kong based ILS investment manager and advisory firm ILS Advisers, which is part of the HSZ Group, discussing the Asian ILS investor landscape from their vantage point of being the only asset manager with a focus on the asset class that is located in the region.  The pair discussed some of the characteristics of ILS investors in the Asia region, as well as the ILS opportunities to invest in insurance risk originated from that part of the world.  They also explored the insurance and reinsurance landscape and why, despite having some of the largest reinsurers based there, Asian companies are so far not as advanced in managing ILS capacity themselves.  In addition, the ILS Advisers duo explored reasons for ILS having a slower uptake in Asia and what holds back more Asian insurance risk making it into the ILS market.  Listen to the full podcast episode to learn more about the Asian insurance-linked securities (ILS) market, its investor base and the market conditions in this location.

Christian Mumenthaler, the CEO of global reinsurance giant Swiss Re joined us for an interview and explained that he believes that the hard market in reinsurance will be sustained, at least for a few years.  During this Artemis Live interview, Mumenthaler discusses reinsurance market efficiencies, the insurance protection gap, secondary peril effects, the capital markets and insurance-linked securities (ILS), as well as the current state of the reinsurance market and the outlook for the end of year reinsurance renewals.  On the outlook for year-end and beyond, Mumenthaler said, "We shouldn't forget that the industry has gone through a pretty bad period with a lot of losses, not just natural catastrophes, also COVID and other things.  "Reinsurers, in particular, have been a shock absorber for a lot of the negative things of the last few years and, in the end, we're all one value chain and it is necessary that every piece gets the capital from shareholders, and there's a dire need for reinsurance to have a higher return, to go back, to have an average over time that is sufficient.  "So I see a huge need for reinsurers to become more profitable at this stage and so I think this will also sustain prices as we go through.  "Now, if you have big losses, I could absolutely imagine prices to go further up. If there's absolutely nothing happening, we will see.  "So there's this time correlation that's that's going to be playing a role, but overall from an environment, if we have a normal load of nat cat, I absolutely see the hard market to sustain for a few more years."  Listen to this full podcast episode for more insights from Christian Mumenthaler, CEO of Swiss Re.

This fireside chat interview took place at the Artemis ILS Asia 2023 conference in Singapore on July 13th.  This session featured a discussion with Lorenzo Volpi, Deputy CEO and Managing Partner of specialist insurance-linked securities (ILS) investment manager Leadenhall Capital Partners, focusing on his firms operations as a diversified ILS investment manager.  Volpi discussed the benefits of having a diversified range of strategies available for investors, with funds focused on both the P&C and life sides of insurance and reinsurance opportunities.  Volpi went on to explore some of the priorities Leadenhall Capital Partners has at the moment, as well as his thoughts on the ILS market within Asia specifically.  He then spoke about the current ILS and reinsurance market dynamic, highlighting the attractive investment opportunity it currently presents.  Listen to the full podcast episode to learn more about the operations of a diversified ILS investment manager, as well as Lorenzo Volpi's thoughts on Leadenhall Capital Partner's priorities and market conditions today.

This opening keynote speech was delivered at the Artemis ILS Asia 2023 conference in Singapore on July 13th.  During his speech, Cheng Khai Lim, Executive Director, Financial Markets Development Department at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), highlighted the importance of building out greater structuring and deal capabilities in the Asia region, as Singapore continues to streamline its insurance-linked securities (ILS) regulatory regime.  He discussed growth prospects for insurance-linked securities (ILS) markets globally and in the Asia region.  In particularly, he pointed to the need for significant reinsurance protection from traditional and also non-traditional sources, such as the capital markets, to better protect against rising losses from natural catastrophes in the region.  Lim said that the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is committed to supporting the establishment of ILS structuring capabilities and growing ILS issuance in Singapore.  The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will also continue to support catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities issuance in the Asia and Pacific region through the extension of its ILS grant scheme by a further three years, to run until the end of 2025.  Listen to this full podcast episode to learn more about the activities of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in fostering insurance-linked securities (ILS) activity in Asia and Singapore.

The insurance-linked securities (ILS) fund manager community continues to deal with trapped collateral from previous catastrophe years, but the opportunity cost has grown, we learned in our latest Artemis Live video interview.  Our latest Artemis Live video interview is with Megan Green, a Partner in the PwC Bermuda Asset Management Assurance Group.  Green's work is focused on providing assurance services to clients in the asset management industry including insurance linked securities providers and she joined us to discuss insurance-linked securities (ILS) asset management activity in Bermuda today.  Green highlighted trapped collateral as a continuing issue for ILS fund managers and one that now comes with an increasing opportunity cost.  She explained that alongside investor appetite and capital raising, trapped collateral remains the other hot-topic for ILS managers.  "That's been an issue for a few years now, but we are seeing collateral get released, which is great," Green said.  But continued, "I think in this market, with rates being as strong as they are, it almost shows that the opportunity cost of that trapped collateral is greater. "So it's probably getting an even greater focus, because obviously investors and ILS managers would love that to be deployed."  While trapped, this collateral and capital cannot be recycled to be put to work in fresh reinsurance arrangements, which in the hard market environment would come with significantly higher-yields than the arrangements that now see collateral still trapped.  Green went on to say that, "It'll be interesting to see what happens in that space. You know, you obviously have your commutations that are going on. But, there's chatter about whether standard commutation clauses are put in contracts, if that solves the problem. So I'll be interested to see what happens."  Listen to the full podcast episode for more insights from PwC Bermuda's Megan Green.

Insurers have lost control of their claims frequency, the speakers in our latest Artemis Live video interview explained, as technology enabled claims instigation has exploded, driving a significant increase in litigated claims. For our latest Artemis Live interview we spoke with Joe Petrelli, who is well-known in the industry as the President and Co-Founder of rating agency Demotech and now also a co-founder of 4WARN Inc, and Todd Kozikowski, CEO, co-founder and shareholder of 4WARN, INC.  This is a little different to our typical interviews as we wanted to allow the speakers to get the data across, so there is a presentation involved as well. If you're listening to the podcast and want to see the slides, please find our YouTube channel for Artemis.bm. Joe and Todd have been working closely together to deliver insights for the insurance and reinsurance industry that have previously been masked or hidden, but are extremely pertinent today. Specifically, they have undertaken significant work to mine and analyse data, to help insurers and reinsurers better understand some of the causes of the explosive claims litigation trends affecting the industry today, especially in the United States. 4Warn Inc. is a relatively new venture the pair have established to provide awareness of tech-enabled claim instigation, to assist carriers and third parties remediate claim instigation.    They define tech-enabled claim instigation as the confluence of litigation funding, litigation marketing, litigation financing and search engine optimization to initiate claims. Viewers and listeners to our podcast will be only too familiar with the claims inflation and loss amplification trend seen in catastrophe events over the last few years, in Florida and other regions.  The work Joe and Todd have been and continue to do, sheds light on murky practices that are ramping up claims inflation today and causing issues to insurers and reinsurers, while also contributing to the challenges of insurability we see with some carriers exiting regions that are both catastrophe or climate affected, but importantly some of the most affected by litigation too. Listen to this full episode to learn more about the way digital techniques are weaponising insurance claims litigation, driving a significant elevation in claims frequency through to insurers, with ramifications for reinsurance and ILS market interests.

Parametric insurance solutions continue to be more broadly adopted, but the technology behind their triggers is also critical and solutions are developing fast.  Artemis recently spoke with Callum Higgins from Moody's RMS, a Product Manager for Moody's RMS event response services, and Martin Hotz, Head Parametric Nat Cat at Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, to learn more about how parametric triggers are used in hurricane insurance and risk transfer today.  The pair discussed advanced catastrophe risk modelling tools and their application in delivering parametric risk transfer solutions, with a particular focus on hurricane risk and the Moody's RMS HWind product.  Higgins explained some of the use-cases for the HWind product in risk transfer and said that, "Specifically, in the insurance-linked securities space, around live cat trading for instance, making decisions around that, but also on the investor relations side. So being able to communicate to your investors while the storms approaching lands, what that could mean for the funds, for instance.  "The ILS space is one area we've seen HWind forecasting in particular being used quite a lot."  Hotz highlighted how Swiss Re uses the HWind product, saying, "We offer parametric hurricane insurance to our commercial insureds based on the wind-speed data from Moody's RMS and their HWind real-time data and we have issued our first policy that settles based on HWind back in 2016.  "So we're now in our eighth hurricane season of providing such cover and did pay also in some of the industry-shaping events over the past couple of years.  "For us, HWind meets the criteria of being a fast, independent and reliable data service, which as with any parametric policy is always at the core."  Listen to this full podcast episode for insights into parametric insurance and risk transfer, as well as the role of models and real-time data in parametric triggers.

This was the fourth session of the day at our Artemis ILS NYC 2023 conference, held in New York on February 10th 2023.  This conference was Artemis' largest insurance-linked securities (ILS) event to-date, with over 390 registered attendees enjoying a wide-range of insightful speaking sessions and networking opportunities throughout the day.  Attendees came from around the world to hear thought-provoking discussions from insurance-linked securities (ILS) market leaders, all under the theme of "(Re)construction & Renewal(s)."  This fourth session from our ILS NYC 2023 conference features a panel discussion focused on new opportunities within insurance-linked securities (ILS) and catastrophe bonds, titled: (Re)newed opportunities - Where next and how to get there.  The panel discussion was moderated by Tom Johansmeyer, Head of PCS, Verisk Insurance Solutions (now of Inver Re).  He was joined by: Julia Henderson, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), Vesttoo; Chris Caponigro, Global Head, AXIS ILS, AXIS Capital; and Michael Millette, Founder & Managing Partner, Hudson Structured Capital Management.  The discussion was wide-ranging and saw panellists speaking about many of the opportunities they see as tangible areas to expand the ILS asset class into.  Speaking from their extensive experience, the panellists noted the need for continued work in educating investors, about the new opportunities available in ILS, plus their expectation that market growth could come just as quickly from non-catastrophe areas of ILS, as it will from the more traditional catastrophe business lines.  Listen to the full podcast audio from this panel discussion for more insights into how the insurance-linked securities (ILS) and catastrophe bond market continues to expand its horizons, to new classes of business and opportunities.

Two competing factors are set to drive the conversation during the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season, as well as the risk. But there are other important areas insurance, reinsurance and ILS market interests should remain alert to, according to Jeff Waters of Moody's RMS.  Jeff Waters is a meteorologist and has been the Product Owner for the RMS North Atlantic Hurricane Models since 2018.  He's been at the company for over a decade in roles focused on hurricane modelling and joined us to discuss the hurricane season just as it officially began.  Commenting on the forecasts we've reported on, Waters said, "The majority of the forecasts tended to focus on two competing factors, the first is the the ENSO state, the other competing factor is the sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic basin, those continue to be well above average.  "So you have two different competing items happening and I think in a lot of instances, the forecasts that are coming out for this season, are are almost expecting the two to offset each other to an extent."  He went on to explain the uncertainty this presents though, not least due to timing, saying, "Some of the more recent forecasts that have come out have started to deviate from that, that average range there, so certainly pointing to some of the uncertainty that could play out over the next four to six months, especially if one of those signals, whether it be the state of the basin in terms of sea surface temperatures, or the transition to an El Nino state, if one of those happens earlier or later than expected.  "Or perhaps the El Nino state isn't quite as strong as it's currently projected to be, that could have a direct influence on how the season plays out in terms of hurricane hurricane activity and the total number of named storms."  Waters went on to discuss how these climate signals could translate into direct risk for US landfalls, what insurance, reinsurance and ILS markets should be watching closely and how to think about the latest risk modelling tools that can assist with analysing hurricane risk this season.  Listen to the full podcast episode for many more insights into the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season from Moody's RMS' Jeff Waters.

The global captive insurance marketplace and how it is developing was the focus of our latest Artemis Live video interview and we learned that data is critical to help in effective captive formation.  Our latest Artemis Live video interview is with David Gibbons of PwC, a Partner and the Captive Insurance Leader at PwC Bermuda.  David works with some of the largest captive accounts in the world and delivers captive insurance solutions throughout the captive lifecycle.  In this interview we discussed some current captive insurance market conditions and trends David is seeing, both in Bermuda and globally.  Asking David how he views the current captive insurance market, he said, "If you gave me one word, I would say active. If you gave me two words, I'd say very active."  "I think that activity is on really two fronts. One is you're seeing new formations and you're seeing the speed from interest to formation move, from potentially one-to-three years, to a few months once a feasibility study is done," he explained.  "I think the other area of activity we're seeing is existing captives re-looking at the business they write, not only the lines, but the layers and as they negotiate pricing with reinsurers looking to see what portions of the business they may take that they have traditionally not taken."  On the Bermuda captive insurance market, Gibbons noted that it remains a leader, thanks to its strong and responsive regulator and regulatory environment, its adjacency to global reinsurance capital, and the abundance of local expertise and service providers.  He said the captive market remains niche, although it is growing and that it's vital to have talent on hand that understands what it means to be at the cutting edge of where the captive insurance industry has been and where it's going, while access to data is seen as a critical feature for effective captive insurer formation. Watch the full video interview for more insights from PwC Bermuda's David Gibbons.