Articles from May 2025

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Florida’s specialist personal property insurers entered the key 2025 mid-year reinsurance renewals from a position of relative strength, following improved profitability and more favourable operating conditions, according to a new report from credit ratings agency AM Best.

“Looking ahead to midyear renewals, the balance of power appears to be shifting toward primary carriers,” said Chris Draghi, director at AM Best.

“Given that loss activity has been more moderate in recent years and profitability has stabilized, Florida composite companies are now in a better position to manage risk accumulation and potentially negotiate more favorable terms with reinsurers,” Draghi added.

The comments stem from the agency’s latest Best’s Market Segment Report, which outlines how Florida’s personal property insurance market recorded an underwriting profit of $206.7 million in 2024, a sharp turnaround from the $174.4 million underwriting loss reported the year before.

As well as this, pre-tax operating income reached $492.3 million, up from near breakeven in 2023. While the composite’s combined ratio improved to 93.1% for the year continuing a five-year trend of year-over-year gains driven by tighter underwriting, better exposure management, and legislative reforms.

The report also noted the significant impact of 2024’s hurricane season, including Hurricane Milton, with estimated insured losses of $17.2 billion; Hurricane Helene, under $2 billion; and Hurricane Debbie, at $121 million.

Despite these events, the Florida personal property composite turned a profit, “demonstrating the resilience of the marketplace,” AM Best wrote, adding: “Florida’s property insurance and reinsurance markets have been navigating a complex landscape in recent years shaped by hurricanes, legislative reforms, and evolving market dynamics.”

“How the improvement in performance translates into potential cost savings and capacity availability at the upcoming mid-year renewal season remains to be seen.”

Furthermore, for insurance-linked securities (ILS) and catastrophe bond market participants, the improved underwriting fundamentals present a clearer picture of risk and potentially greater predictability around future issuance and loss performance.

Several Florida-focused catastrophe bonds have already come to market in 2025, led by the $1.525 billion Everglades Re II (Series 2025-1) placement by Citizens Property Insurance Corporation in early May, which at the time was the largest cat bond issuance on record.

The report also underscores just how heavily Florida carriers rely on reinsurance. AM Best cites a ceded reinsurance leverage ratio of 519.4% for active Florida property insurers in 2024, which is far above the 62.2% U.S. composite average, highlighting the continued importance of third-party capital to support underwriting across the state.

“Florida’s legislative reforms acted as a material tailwind for longstanding participants but also improved the environment to attract new entrants, effectively increasing capacity,” said Josie Novak, senior financial analyst at AM Best.

This includes more recent 2025 session measures that aim to expand access to the E&S market, particularly for seasonal homes insured by highly rated carriers.

Novak added: “Additionally, the retreat of certain carriers—whether through reduced market participation or the suspension of new business—has created space for new companies to establish a foothold, further reshaping the competitive landscape.”

Despite the improved conditions, the exposure profile for Florida specialists remains materially higher than national averages. Insurers reported a direct premiums written-to-surplus ratio of 3.2x, versus a U.S. average of 1.7x, underscoring the state’s outsized catastrophe risk and structural reinsurance dependence.

Still, with reinsurance markets softening and capital market solutions playing a growing role, Florida carriers may find themselves with more room to manoeuvre in 2025, particularly as they look to optimise program structure, manage retention levels, and secure cost-effective tail protection via the cat bond market.

Two insurers with significant Florida presence reported on the outcomes of their reinsurance renewals recently, with American Integrity Insurance Company securing a meaningful $799 million increase in reinsurance limit this year, while Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. bought $110 million more in reinsurance limit at its 2025 renewal, both with the ILS market playing significant roles as counterparties.

Separately, Howden Re reported that risk-adjusted property catastrophe reinsurance rates ranged from flat to down 20% at the June 1 renewal.

Read all of our news and analysis on the Florida insurance and reinsurance market.

Florida carriers entered mid-year 2025 renewals from stronger footing: AM Best was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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Since launching its Risk Exchange platform in 2023, Accelerant Holdings has positioned itself as a conduit between institutional capital and specialty insurance risk, offering what CEO Jeff Radke describes as one of the few opportunities for investors to gain “a fair slice of the whole book of business.”

In a recent interview with Artemis, Radke outlined how the Risk Exchange, initially unveiled as part of Accelerant’s broader capital strategy, continues to evolve as a core mechanism for connecting investor capital with underwriting-led portfolios, while maintaining transparency and balance in risk sharing.

Unlike traditional models that cede only volatile layers, Accelerant’s Risk Exchange is built on pro-rata participation, allowing capital providers access to the full range of risks across its member MGAs.

“From the very beginning, Accelerant had this notion of the risk exchange where instead of acting like normal insurance companies, what we were going to be is this platform where capital can access the risk. From the very beginning that was the case,” Radke told Artemis.

Accelerant’s Capital Markets team was deliberately built to support this model, with a deep bench of structuring and insurance-linked securities (ILS) experience.

“So, we built our team around that theory. So, speaking for myself, I’ve been involved in a number of insurance securitizations, a number of cat bonds and a number of cat swaps,” Radke explained.

He pointed to the backgrounds of CFO Jay Green, formerly a senior figure on Goldman Sachs’ insurance-linked securities team, and Capital Markets lead Peter Shen, as key to Accelerant’s capital strategy.

“Why the Capital Markets team? Why did we build it that way? Because we believe that institutional investors participate in innovative ways, whether they be sidecars, which aren’t very innovative, they’re pretty inefficient, but we’re working on much better ways to do it,” Radke said.

He continued: “London Bridge is probably an improvement over a standard side car. But we’ve done a number of sidecars. We think London Bridge is in our future, and we’re working on other structures where institutional capital can come in and access that zero beta underwriting risk that is so valuable.

“And I guess what I would say is, Accelerant is one of the few spots, the Risk Exchange is one of the few places where the institutional investor is getting a fair slice of the whole book of business.”

What sets Accelerant apart, Radke argues, is its commitment to fairness and transparency in how risk is shared. “We’re not trying to cut off our volatility and just send the excess of loss exposure out,” he said.

“We’re not trying to just cede our most volatile business. What we’ve said to all of our risk capital partners, but especially the institutional investors, is you’re going to be offered an opportunity to participate across the whole book of business. A fair slice.

“And I don’t know of another place where institutional investors can get a fair slice of this low volatility speciality business. And that’s what makes it so unique, and that’s what makes it so valuable to the institutional investors,” he continued.

To further facilitate institutional investor participation, Accelerant launched Flywheel Re in August 2022, a $175 million reinsurance sidecar designed to provide multi-year risk capital to its underwriting-led specialist members.

Flywheel Re represents Accelerant’s first move to bring capital markets into its capacity provision, with institutional investors backing the sidecar.

“Flywheel is, in the vernacular, one of the sidecar reinsurance companies that we’ve created,” Radke explained.

Concluding: “Institutional investors can’t reinsure directly of course because they don’t have a license. So, what you have to do is you have to create a reinsurance company that can ensure various insurance companies, and you fund that with those institutional investors’ monthly funds. So, the capital from institutional investors comes into Flywheel, and then Flywheel supports the Risk Exchange.”

Find details of numerous reinsurance sidecar investments and transactions in our directory of collateralized reinsurance sidecars transactions.

Institutional investors get ‘fair slice’ of specialty risk via Accelerant’s Risk Exchange: CEO was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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In an interview with Artemis, Laurent Montador, Deputy CEO of French reinsurer Arundo Re, discussed the recent renewal and launch of the seventh sidecar in the 157 Re series of deals, stating that it enhances the company’s capability to allocate more capacity in targeted areas while strengthening alignment with investors.

Now in its seventh vintage, the company has sponsored a 157 Re reinsurance sidecar annually since 2019.

“The sidecar improves our capabilities to put more capacity in the area that we want, and the investors are in the same shoes as us, which is good for them and us to have a complete alignment of interest,” explained Montador.

The Deputy CEO noted that Arundo Re introduced key improvements to the 157 Re sidecar this year.

“We have worked a lot with the French commissioners and with the investors to improve the product and to improve its liquidity,” he said. “Avoiding, as much as possible, the trapped capital potential, which is good.”

The company sought to further optimise the structure, enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of the collateralised capacity and retrocessional protection it provides.

Montador also highlighted Arundo Re’s distinctive role in the French market, noting that it remains the only company currently offering this type of sidecar structure.

“I don’t know why there isn’t more traction from other companies, but there is definitely a plan with the Treasury to make Paris a good place internationally for ILS business,” he said.

While acknowledging the more established infrastructure in Bermuda, Montador remains optimistic about France’s growing presence in the ILS market.

“I don’t think it would be as easy as what is now in Bermuda, with a clear infrastructure for many years, but it’s the beginning of something and we advocate that to the French Treasury,” he stated. “French Politics has been quite a bit difficult to follow in recent years, but it’s coming. We have shown and proved that it is possible with our successful 157 Re sidecar.”

Montador further explained that Arundo Re’s natural catastrophe exposure is ceded proportionally through the 157 Re sidecar, with claims taken only when they exceed EUR 5 million at the company’s share.

He added, “There is a specific commission which takes that into account, in order to give back some money to us to take into account the losses not greater than EUR 5 million.”

In 2022, Arundo Re announced a 22% increase in the size of its 157 Re sidecar and the addition of a new investor. The following year, the sidecar grew by over 40%, with another new investor.

In 2024, the firm stated it had taken “full advantage of its 157 Re platform to consolidate its growth trajectory.”

While the exact size of the issuances has never been disclosed, 157 Re has become a core retrocession and partnership capital structure for its sponsor.

Further details on each 157 Re sidecar issues can be found in our directory of reinsurance sidecar transactions.

157 Re reinsurance sidecar improves our capabilities: Arundo Re’s Montador was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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Analysts from KBW have said that reinsurance executives they met with recently are mostly expecting the June 1 renewals to see property catastrophe rates down around 10% on a risk-adjusted basis, but with significant variation by layer and top-layers where catastrophe bonds and industry-loss warranties (ILWs) sit to see larger declines.

The KBW analysts say the consensus was for an average risk-adjusted property catastrophe reinsurance rate decrease of around 10%, with some slightly bigger decreases expected for Florida specific risks, likely given the higher-starting point there and the perceived improvements in that market.

At the same time, the reinsurance executive view is that all-important terms, conditions and attachment points will once again remain largely unchanged.

As a result, KBW’s analysts believe underwriting profitability can remain strong, under the anticipated property cat pricing and term environment.

With around two-thirds of renewals for June 1st already placed, the expectation is that things will not change over the coming days, so this also provides a reasonable forecast for what will be seen at July 1st as well.

However, it’s worth noting that we have heard some nationwide renewals that feature more secondary peril protection being written, could see lesser declines than more hurricane exposed towers.

KBW’s analysts said, “We think current market dynamics still imply favorable market conditions (one executive characterized the current environment as a “softening hard market”) and we expect reinsurers to try to at least maintain their respective shares at June 1.”

While the averages imply a rate decline that would have been anticipated, under the well-capitalised reinsurance market conditions we see today and given where we’ve reported catastrophe bond pricing dynamics to be, there is “significant” variation in outcomes between lower and upper-layers of property catastrophe reinsurance towers, KBW said.

Lower layer pricing is expected to be flattish, while in Florida for layers above the FHCF the outcome is more likely to be rate declines of between 10% and 20%, or even more, KBW reports.

Decreases are expected to accelerate at the top of the catastrophe towers, where competition is at its keenest and insurance-linked securities (ILS) capacity from the catastrophe bond market most typically ventures.

Positively though, KBW’s analysts report that they heard there is more demand in some of the lower layers, which as this the area of the tower facing the least price erosion is positive for those deploying capital there.

Demand has continued to rise elsewhere in the risk tower too, fuelled in part by new Florida start-up insurers and greater depopulation from Florida Citizens.

However, when it comes to catastrophe bonds and ILS instruments such as industry-loss warranties (ILWs), this is where some of the steepest price declines are expected by the reinsurance executives KBW spoke with.

Interestingly, they expect 20% to 50% price declines, especially for industry-loss trigger instruments.

However, looking at our chart of cat bond spread multiples of expected loss by quarter, the average across cat bonds issued in the current quarter is actually up slightly on the first-quarter 2025 at this time, implying some pricing stability in the 144A cat bond marketplace.

While the average cat bond spread multiple for this year so far is only down 3.5% on the full-year 2024 average multiple-at-market.

It’s certainly true though that industry-loss trigger cat bonds have seen spread multiples come down more than indemnity structures, a trend that has been in place for over a year now.

While our index of industry-loss warranty (ILW) pricing, which we poll at the start of quarters, suggested declines for Q2, but not as steep as KBW’s analysts are hearing (so perhaps we will revise that down in time).

Looking ahead to the January 2026 reinsurance renewals, KBW said executives anticipate further declines unless industry capital is eroded by meaningful losses, or some other market dynamic.

“Barring a major 2025 hurricane or other catastrophe (quantified at $90-$100 billion), most executives expect price reductions (we heard anywhere from down 5% to down 15%) to persist through January 2026 renewals, reflecting persistently-elevated capacity,” the analysts explained.

Reinsurance sector capital will keep building, with returns-on-equity anticipated to add tens of billions by year-end, while further flows to the catastrophe bond and ILS fund market, as well as other third-party capital structures, are likely to build capacity further, absent major loss activity.

On executive did say some capital outflows are possible should January 2026 property catastrophe reinsurance renewal rates decline in the double-digits again.

But even then, reinsurance underwriting will still be profitable, depending on loss activity, if the all-important terms and attachments are held firm, it seems.

KBW concluded, “In our view, rate decreases persisting through January 2026 imply inevitably lower reinsurer returns, although maintained terms and conditions and stable attachment points probably still point to good-enough returns leading reinsurers to broadly maintain their respective market shares.”

Read all of our reinsurance renewals news and analysis.

June property cat renewals seen down ~10%. Jan 2026 down more without losses: KBW was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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Descartes Underwriting has strengthened its leadership team with the appointments of Sophie Bassoulet as Head of Operations and Kelly Collet-Jones as Claims Manager, as the company continues its global expansion in corporate parametric insurance.

Both hires will report directly to Chief Operating Officer Violaine Raybaud, and are positioned to enhance Descartes’ operational capabilities and client servicing during a period of rapid growth driven by increasing demand for science-based risk transfer solutions.

Bassoulet brings over a decade of experience in operations management and consulting, including previous roles at McKinsey and AXA Global Direct. Most recently, she served as Operations Manager at French healthtech insurer Alan.

In her new role, she will oversee operational strategy and scaling as Descartes’ portfolio and product offerings expand.

“Descartes is reinventing insurance to help companies thrive in a constantly changing world. It’s a powerful proposition. Our rapid growth brings exciting new operational challenges, both in volume and complexity. My goal is to find the sweet spot between standardized processes and agility, all by harnessing our team’s expertise and digital solutions. I’m eager to tackle this challenge with the teams,” Bassoulet said.

Furthermore, Collet-Jones joins Descartes after more than a decade in senior claims roles at Chubb, following six years at loss adjuster Cunningham Lindsey France.

In her new role, she will work closely with Descartes’ insurance partners to build sustainable claims processes, deepening broker relationships, and deliver technical claims expertise across the Descartes Group.

“From its inception with parametric insurance, claims has been central to Descartes’ value proposition. In today’s landscape of natural disasters and evolving risks, insureds prioritize swift and seamless claims resolution. I’m excited to contribute my expertise to this core mission, leveraging technology to ensure Descartes’ brokers and corporate clients experience unparalleled satisfaction with the efficiency and quality of the claims service delivered by Descartes and its partners,” Collet-Jones added.

Raybaud, commented on both appointments: “By applying Descartes’ innovative approach to our operations and claims, we’re unlocking unprecedented data analytics, streamlining our processes, and ultimately enhancing our ability to proactively empower our insureds and partners. I am proud to have Sophie and Kelly leading this transformative effort.”

Parametric specialist Descartes expands leadership with operations and claims hires was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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Reask, the catastrophe modelling and climate analytics specialist, has appointed Jo Williams as Head of Insurance Sales, as the firm looks to accelerate adoption across the reinsurance and insurance-linked securities (ILS) sectors.

A well-known sales leader in the property catastrophe and risk modelling space, Williams brings more than a decade of experience in client-facing roles across the industry, having previously worked at RMS, Aon, Howden Re, and Lloyds.

She joins Reask from Howden Re, where she served as Head of Business Development. In that role, she played a key part in driving revenue growth for TigerEye, Howden’s reinsurance and portfolio management software platform.

Earlier in her career, Williams held solution and product roles at RMS and broker Aon, gaining deep expertise in catastrophe modelling and re/insurance analytics.

According to Reask, Williams’ deep expertise in aligning climate-driven extreme weather risk with strategic insurance solutions makes her uniquely suited to drive the increased adoption of the company’s proprietary algorithms and data sets across both the re/insurance and ILS markets.

Her arrival follows closely behind the recent appointment of Joss Matthewman, formerly of Moody’s, as Reask’s Chief Revenue Officer in March.

“Jo is a fantastic hire with a great reputation for her industry expertise and customer-centric approach,” said Matthewman.

“As Reask continues to expand our product offering and client base, I look forward to working alongside her to build strong client partnerships and maximise our market impact.”

Commenting on her new role, Williams added: “I’m thrilled to join Reask at such a pivotal time for the company. Its unique combination of science, technology, and data is transforming how we understand extreme weather. I look forward to growing our market presence and deepening partnerships with insurers and reinsurers around the world.”

Reask adds Williams as Head of Insurance Sales, to drive adoption across re/insurance & ILS was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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At Artemis’ ILS NYC 2025 conference, a high-profile panel of industry leaders highlighted the growing potential of parametric insurance-linked securities (ILS) to reshape risk transfer markets.

As climate volatility intensifies and capital markets look for transparent, uncorrelated opportunities, parametric ILS is drawing increased attention, not just for peak natural catastrophe risks, but for a much broader array of exposures.

Moderated by Martin Malinow, CEO of Parameter Climate, the session titled “The Parametric ILS Investment Opportunity” brought together Sandra DeSilva President & CEO, Mythen Re Ltd.; Tanguy Touffut, CEO, Descartes Underwriting; Urs Ramseier, Executive Chairman & CIO, Twelve Securis; and Sandeep Ramachandran, Portfolio Manager, Pier61 Partners.

Ramachandran opened the discussion by pushing back on the narrow definition of parametric products often associated with traditional “cat-in-a-box” structures.

“The thing that really strikes me every time is when you talk to different people about what a parametric is, you never get the same answer,” he explained.

“Everyone has a different opinion on what a parametric product is. Most people here would given the insurance and property cat nature of the risk that we’re involved in would think as Martin referenced earlier, a parametric product is perhaps a cat in a box or a cat in a circle where you have a hurricane with various payouts at different intensities, or perhaps an earthquake structure. And while those all do fall under the category I think it’s just too narrow a focus when you really think about what a parametric product is.

“So when I take a step back, I mean, anything that has an observable and independently verifiable index can effectively be a parametric product.”

Remember you can now register for our next ILS market conference, Artemis London 2025.

Malinow echoed that broader framing, adding, “A really great way to think about parametric products is there is an underlying index that needs to be meaningful to the buyer. It needs to proxy something and there’s an overlying financial structure that those are the financial terms and and there’s seven or eight parameters that sort of make up a contract that need to be spelled out in every contract.”

Moving forward, Touffut pointed to technological advances as a key driver behind the surge in demand for parametric solutions.

“We see a big uptake in terms of parametric products, and it’s mainly linked to new technologies,” he explained.

Adding: “So typically we have more and more data sources from satellite imagery, from radars, from solars that we can use through AI, or I would say innovative algorithms to be able to get rid of the basis risk.

“For instance if we look at wildfire through satellite imagery you can have a very clear understanding if it’s burnt or not burnt, and you don’t need to send loss adjusters on the ground to assess the damage and the technologies are getting better and better, and so the scope of parametric insurance is growing as fast as the tech industry is growing.”

For DeSilva, the opportunity lies not only in new perils but also in new markets. Parametric solutions, she said, are moving beyond large clients and into commercial, retail, and high-net-worth segments.

“There’s a lot of opportunity now where parametric is going down to more of that retail, commercial, high-net-worth residential space, where there is agriculture, there is businesses that are really affected that can use parametric products as an alternative to identifying new risk,” DeSilva said.

“We are seeing huge spikes now in where insurance is willing to get into the space, take on some more of that risk, and then the reinsurance, and we’re seeing the ILS space playing a big part of that. A lot of the traditional insurers, rated paper, may already be exposed in some of the areas for the nat cat space and so it’s crucial that we have more capacity coming into the market and ILS space is good for that.”

From the investor perspective, Ramseier was clear on the benefits parametric structures offer over traditional indemnity deals.

“From our perspective, we’re very interested in parametric transactions because it resolves quite a number of problems we have, particularly in private analyst,” Ramseier said.

“So trapped collateral was mentioned, there shouldn’t be any trapped collateral in parametric transactions. Then liquidity is important. So the liquidity is predictable of parametric transactions. We know after the event there is a quite a fast payout. So we can give higher liquidity to our underlying investors into the fund.”

He continued: “So there a lot of advantages of these parametric transactions and I think it’s just a matter of time that more and more of these risks are transferred to the ILS market and I think the ILS space is the natural home for parametric risks because of these advantages.”

While still a small portion of the overall ILS market, parametric transactions are poised for significant growth. The panelists agreed that the convergence of climate urgency, technological maturity, and investor demand for efficiency could make parametric ILS a more prominent fixture in portfolios going forward.

You can watch the panel session here or in the embedded video below.

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All of our Artemis Live video interviews have a focus on reinsurance, ILS and the efficiency of risk transfer and can be accessed directly from our Artemis Live page.

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Our conferences provide exposure in front of a highly relevant, senior and specialised group of attendees. Plus you’ll benefit from exposure in front of our entire global readership, which averages more than 65,000 individuals every month.

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Parametric ILS gains momentum as investors seek precision, liquidity, & diversification: ILS NYC 2025 was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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Siena Capital Group, LLC, a private investment office with a focus on special situations and that counts former Gallagher Securities trading and distribution specialist Jack Stone as a Partner, is targeting the catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) market with a plan to launch a daily pricing platform later this year.

Siena Capital Group was founded in April 2025 by Luke Meehan (General Partner) and Jack Stone (Partner).

Stone most recently worked at Gallagher Securities where he syndicated primary cat bond transactions and led the firm’s catastrophe bond secondary market trading desk, which, according to sources, was a particularly active trading desk at the time of Stone’s departure.

As a result, Stone has deep expertise in the analysis for and delivery of catastrophe bond marks and pricing sheets, and this is one of the first targets for Siena Capital Group, as it looks to modernise market infrastructure in insurance-linked securities (ILS).

Artemis spoke with Stone to get a deeper understanding of the new company’s plans and what the cat bond market can expect from Siena Capital as it develops its technology and platform.

The key take-away is that this ambitious start-up wants to construct enterprise grade pricing infrastructure for the insurance-linked securities (ILS) marketplace.

Stone began by explaining the problem Siena Capital aims to solve, “Despite the growth of the catastrophe bond market, institutional infrastructure has not kept pace. Daily pricing is, for all practical purposes, non-existent. Broker sheets are still distributed via Excel, assumptions are often opaque, and managers and LPs are left without a consistent framework to validate NAV, compare portfolios, or defend valuations to auditors. It’s a system that creates friction at precisely the moment this asset class should be scaling with confidence.

“We’re changing that. In Q4 2025, Siena Capital Group will launch a fully web-based, audit-defensible catastrophe bond pricing platform—built entirely in-house, from the ground up. We use no third-party applications, no external data vendors, and no outsourced tooling. Every line of logic, every data pathway, and every pricing function is purpose-built to serve one mission: to deliver the first institutional-grade pricing utility for the ILS market.”

Stone went on to say, “This is not just another broker sheet. And we are not an ILS fund. We’re building what we believe will become the spine of cat pricing – a system that can support multiple scientifically and market-supported views of risk, track every mark over time, and provide full transparency into how and why valuations move.

“While many in the market are focused on ‘matching capital to risk,’ we’ve chosen to move upstream, starting with a much harder question: how do you price risk in a way that’s consistent, transparent, and defensible? Without that, any downstream structure—no matter how flashy—lacks real integrity.”

Stone went on to explain that Siena Capital aims to address these issues it sees in a way that is aligned with the needs of catastrophe bond market constituents.

“We’re not interested in building a demo-driven startup with a splashy UI and vague promises. Without being too forward, I fear that much of the recent innovation in this space appears designed to impress venture capital firms, not actual ILS managers or LPs,” he told us. “We will deliver a platform that’s serious, institutional-grade, and deeply useful to the professionals already operating in this market. The interface and functionality will be modeled on the best-in-class financial systems that managers and allocators already trust.”

The company sees this initial platform offering as core to its strategy but hopes to move further into the insurance-linked securities (ILS) and reinsurance investments space, by providing greater transparency to the sector in the hope of fostering a more liquid marketplace.

“We’re starting with cat bonds, but there’s no reason to stop there,” Stone said. “The infrastructure we’re building is designed to expand into collateralized re, sidecars, traditional reinsurance, ILWs, and ultimately any structure where investors need to understand and trust the reference point for risk.”

Hiring is already underway, and Stone provided some hints into what the market can expect to see in time.

“Our CTO brings more than a decade of experience leading engineering at one of the world’s largest financial technology platforms, with deep background in data architecture at global financial institutions. He will be leading a pod of talented engineers this summer as we run the sprint to Q4 launch,” Stone further stated. “He’s helping us build with the discipline and scale this market has long deserved, but has never had. When we formally introduce our team this summer, I believe our clients will immediately understand how seriously Siena Capital has invested in delivering them a best-in-class product. We cannot emphasise enough that we are sparing no expense to do this the right way, from the ground up.”

Adding that, “Importantly, we’re doing this without the interference of outside venture capital or the drag of corporate bureaucracy. This summer, we’re quietly testing the marks with a small group of long-standing ILS managers and allocators–investors who’ve been hungry for better pricing, willing to pay for it, and supportive of this initiative from the very beginning. Their feedback is directly shaping our rollout. Over the next 2-3 years, I am optimistic that managers who adopt our infrastructure will realise tremendous operational efficiencies, which is especially critical as some LPs become more fee-sensitive.”

Siena Capital has long-term ambitions to write primary personal and commercial lines insurance, which is why they have made their first investment with the aim of marshalling more LP capital to existing ILS managers.

Stone told Artemis, “Our ultimate goal is simple: to lower the cost of insurance for everybody.

“Looking ahead to the next five years, my business partner and I expect to personally capitalise U.S. admitted and E&S balance sheets, underwrite along the same infrastructure spine, and cede slices of risk into the ILS market, monitoring everything in real-time, at policy-level granularity.

“This is the future of the (re)insurance industry: where capital and risk meet transparently, dynamically, and without layers of inefficiency. So, of course we are interested in connecting risk to capital, just not yet.

“Getting tech and infrastructure right is the challenging part, and it’s the critical first step. Hiring top tier underwriting talent and managing the capital are the easy and fun parts, respectively.”

Siena Capital targets cat bond market with initial plan to launch daily pricing platform was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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Following the successful completion of its second catastrophe bond, the $50 million Black Kite Re Limited (Series 2025-1), Franz-Josef Hahn, CEO of reinsurer Peak Re, told us the issuance showcases the “tremendous potential” that insurance-linked-securities (ILS) solutions can play in narrowing protection gaps across Asia.

The Hong Kong headquartered global reinsurer returned to the catastrophe bond market in April, initially aiming to secure $50 million or more in retrocessional reinsurance from this Black Kite Re 2025-1 deal.

In late April, we reported that Peak Re had managed to successfully secure the targeted $50 million size, while the pricing of the notes were finalised at the upper-end of the initial guidance.

Issued via Hong Kong-based special purpose insurer (SPI), Black Kite Re, Peak Re’s latest cat bond builds on the success of the company’s debut cat bond from 2022, and according to Hahn, deepens the firm’s ability to “pioneer innovative risk transfer solutions for the Asia-Pacific region.”

The $50 million Black Kite Re 2025-1 issuance covers Japanese earthquake and typhoon risks on an industry loss trigger and per-occurrence basis for Peak Re, as well as the additional cover for Chinese and Indian earthquake risks on a parametric basis, all across a three-year period from issuance in late April.

“This latest transaction reflects our commitment to meeting the evolving needs of cedants and creating value for investors by introducing new risks and structures tailored to the region’s unique challenges. It represents another step forward in our mission to strengthen resilience for our clients and their communities,” Hahn explained.

He continued: “Our primary motivation for this issuance was support our growth ambitions in key markets.  In addition, we expect Black Kite 2025-1 to help our regulatory solvency requirements under Hong Kong’s Risk Based Capital regime. By securing collateralized retrocession capacity, Peak Re enhances its balance sheet resilience and ensures long-term sustainability.”

Hahn also highlighted how Black Kite Re 2025-1 introduces new perils, particularly the first-ever use of Indian earthquake risk in a 144A cat bond format, marking a significant step that expands opportunities for both issuers and investors.

“This issuance underscores our focus on developing markets, particularly in Asia and its emerging markets, where Peak Re is based and protection gaps persist despite increasing catastrophe exposures,” Hahn added.

Sascha Bruns, Head of Global Retrocession at Peak Re, highlighted the importance of the deal’s geographic breadth: “The inclusion of Indian earthquake risk in a 144A catastrophe bond is a market first, reflecting our deep understanding of the region’s risks and our confidence in the underlying data. By combining developed markets like Japan with emerging markets such as India and China, Black Kite Re II offers a unique diversification opportunity for investors.”

As mentioned, the inclusion of Indian earthquake risk in a 144A catastrophe bond is a first for the market, representing a major development in expanding risk transfer solutions across Asia.

Bruns also went on to explain that in order to ensure transparency and swift payouts in regions where data quality has seen meaningful progress, Peak Re opted for parametric triggers for both Indian and Chinese earthquake risks.

Bruns noted that this structure underscores Peak Re’s capacity to bring untapped risks to the global ILS market, helping to address persistent protection gaps in underinsured areas of Asia.

For the Japanese exposures, typhoon and earthquake, Bruns explained that the cat bond uses industry loss triggers, which offer broad coverage, including for secondary effects such as heavy rainfall, tsunamis, and fire-following events.

While for India and China, parametric triggers were selected based on Peak Re’s confidence in its understanding of local seismic risk.

Another key factor to highlight is that this Black Kite Re Limited (Series 2025-1) deal marks the first reuse of a Hong Kong SPI structure, a move designed to enhance operational efficiency and strengthen Hong Kong’s position as a regional hub for ILS activity.

“Black Kite Re II reflects Peak Re’s commitment to innovation in the catastrophe bond market. By being the first reuse of a Hong Kong SPI and in combining multiple perils and territories, we’ve created a structure that balances security, efficiency, and diversification,” said Iain Reynolds, Head of Third-Party Capital at Peak Re.

He added: “This issuance reinforces Hong Kong’s position as a growing ILS hub and demonstrates Peak Re’s ability to deliver tailored solutions to investors that ultimately help us serve our cedants.”

In addition, Reynolds states that Black Kite Re II underscores Hong Kong’s growing position as a competitive centre for ILS activity.

Reynolds also credited the Hong Kong Insurance Authority’s support for facilitating a smooth issuance process and helping advance the development of new structures in the cat bond market.

Furthermore, Hahn added that the transaction reflects the growing maturity of Asia’s ILS sector and its capacity to narrow protection gaps.

“Black Kite Re II showcases the tremendous potential of ILS solutions in narrowing protection gaps across Asia. By integrating developed and emerging markets, we’ve created a diversifier that supports the long-term growth of the region’s insurance and reinsurance sectors. This issuance also demonstrates the increasing maturity of Hong Kong’s ILS market, which we believe will continue to play a key role in driving innovation globally.”

He concludes: “Black Kite Re II is not only a testament to Peak Re’s innovative approach but also a significant milestone for the global ILS market. Its introduction of Indian earthquake risk, multi-territory coverage, and the reuse of a Hong Kong SPI highlight the evolution of catastrophe risk securitization in Asia.”

As a reminder, you can read all about this Black Kite Re Limited (Series 2025-1) catastrophe bond from Peak Re, as well as every other cat bond transaction in our extensive Artemis Deal Directory.

Black Kite Re II shows ILS can narrow Asia’s protection gap: Peak Re CEO was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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This video features an expert panel discussing the opportunity for investors in the growing casualty insurance-linked securities (ILS) space at our Artemis ILS NYC 2025 conference, which was held in New York on February 7th 2025.

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 latest video from the Artemis ILS NYC 2025 conference features the fourth panel discussion of the day, which was on the emerging casualty insurance-linked securities (ILS) market where investors are accessing the returns of longer-tailed casualty insurance risks, titled: The casualty ILS investment opportunity.

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.

Watch the full video of this casualty ILS market focused panel discussion at ILS NYC 2025 (embedded below), 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.

More videos will follow in the coming weeks from our ILS NYC 2025 conference.

Artemis’ next confirmed conference dates will be (please save them): Artemis London 2025 on September 2nd 2025, and Artemis ILS NYC 2026 on February 6th 2026!

All of our Artemis Live video interviews have a focus on reinsurance, ILS and the efficiency of risk transfer and can be accessed directly from our Artemis Live page.

You can also listen in audio to these interviews by subscribing to the Artemis Live podcast here.

Our conferences provide exposure in front of a highly relevant, senior and specialised group of attendees. Plus you’ll benefit from exposure in front of our entire global readership, which averages more than 65,000 individuals every month.

For all enquiries regarding sponsorship opportunities for future Artemis events please contact events@artemis.bm.

Our conference sponsors for ILS NYC 2025 can be seen below. We thank them all for their valued support:

For all enquiries regarding sponsorship opportunities for future Artemis events please contact events@artemis.bm.

The casualty ILS investment opportunity – ILS NYC 2025 video was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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