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

This episode features audio from the first panel discussion of the day at Artemis ILS NYC 2026, our tenth catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) conference in the ILS NYC series, held on February 6th 2026 in New York.The panel was focused on the private insurance-linked securities market segment and titled Private ILS: Achieving portfolio discipline and resilience through the cycle.This private insurance-linked securities panel discussion was kindly moderated by Lorenzo Volpi, Deputy CEO and Managing Partner, Leadenhall Capital Partners LLP.He was joined on stage by: Jessica Laird, CEO, Nephila Capital; Michael Stahel, Partner/Portfolio Manager, LGT ILS Partners Ltd.; Eveline Takken-Somers, Head of Insurance Linked Investments, PGGM; and Dr. Raffaele Dell’Amore, Investment Managing Director, Global Head ILS Research, Cambridge Associates.Our panellists explored the track-record of private placements in ILS, which has been particularly impressive in recent years. They noted the still healthy premium environment, despite recent softening in reinsurance markets, believing strong performance can continue as long as portfolio discipline is maintained. The discussion also covered the attractiveness of private insurance linked securities placements versus catastrophe bonds, the importance of transparency and trust, as well as in educating new investors, or those looking to move on from cat bond strategies.Speakers also noted that the capital raising environment remains more challenged in private ILS and blended strategies, than for pure cat bond funds. But there was a general belief that conditions continue to improve and the track-record of private ILS fund strategies is now attracting increasing attention from institutional investors.Listen to the full podcast episode from our Artemis ILS NYC 2026 conference to learn more about conditions in the private insurance-linked securities (ILS) marketplace and investors attraction to private reinsurance investment opportunities.

On February 6th 2026, Artemis held its tenth conference in the NYC series in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With over 450 registered attendees, it was the largest catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities market conference hosted by Artemis to-date.Using the power of AI, you can now listen to a review of the conference that provides insights into the main themes of discussion during the panel sessions at the event.Please note, being AI generated this is embellished somewhat, but it does provide an accurate representation of discussions that took place, key themes that emerged and how the conference went on the day.It’s clear from the discussions had at the conference that the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market is in good health, but still has a lot more it can do to meet its potential.Opportunities abound, but the need to meet them with discipline remains critical, to ensure the resilience and sustainability of the ILS product offering for both protection buyers and investors.At the same time, the industry has a clear need to continue its process of educating customers on both sides of the trade, while also explaining the beneficial way capital markets can play a growing role in global insurance, reinsurance and risk transfer.While the ILS market is in good health and considerably more mature in 2026, it still has the potential to grow and evolve much further, to play an increasingly important role by embedding itself ever more deeply into global risk and reinsurance capital provision.

Our sister publication Reinsurance News spoke with David Flandro, Managing Director, Head of Industry Analysis and Strategic Advisory at Howden Re, just weeks after the reinsurance broker released its comprehensive January 1st, 2026, renewal report. During the interview, Flandro discussed the opportunities and risks that could emerge from what Howden Re describes as a period of re-balancing, highlighting the important focus on geopolitics and macroeconomics as these trends are a big part of what's happening in the commercial insurance and reinsurance market. As geopolitical and macroeconomic trends reshape an increasingly risky world, and reinsurance pricing comes off of its peak in numerous lines of business, there's a clear need for rationality, with plenty of opportunity for underwriters to continue to achieve profitable growth, according to Flandro. Listen to this full interview with Flandro of Howden Re, as he discusses reinsurance market conditions in 2026 and how use of capital within reinsurance has changed.

The catastrophe bond market broke numerous records in 2025, as issuance soared to new heights. Insurance and reinsurance sponsors of cat bonds came to market in their droves, lifting the number of new catastrophe bond deals tracked by Artemis.bm to a new record in 2025, cementing the instruments role as both reinsurance and investment strategy.

This podcast episode the fourth panel discussion of the day at Artemis London 2025, a session focused on the modernisation and liquidity needs of the ILS market as it grows, from our fourth cat bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) conference in the City of London, UK, held on September 2nd 2025.The panel, titled "Modernisation and liquidity needs of a growing ILS market", was moderated by Jack Stone, Chief Executive Officer, Caterina Technologies, Inc..He was joined by: Florian Steiger, CEO, Icosa Investments AG; Martin Dietz, Head of Diversified Strategies, Legal & General Investment Management; Simon Harris, Managing Director, Moody’s Corporation; and Sina Thieme, Senior Director, Insurance Consulting and Technology, WTW.With the discussion focused on the modernisation and liquidity needs of the growing ILS market, our expert panellists called for more standardised data and the use of technology to automate manual processes and improve investment decisions. The challenge of integrating ILS investments into standard fixed income investment processes was also highlighted, due to the differences seen between most asset classes and in cat bond and other ILS processes and structures. The importance of transparency and robust exposure information for better secondary market trading decisions, as well as the availability of granular information was also discussed and highlighted as important. The panel also debated the potential benefits of artificial intelligence in improving market processes, as well as the role of ratings in attracting broader investor bases. The consensus was that standardisation and transparency are crucial for continued and perhaps accelerating cat bond and ILS market growth and efficiency.Listen to the full podcast episode from our Artemis London 2025 conference to learn more about the modernisation and technology needs of the catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities marketplace as it grows.

This podcast episode features the third panel discussion of the day at Artemis London 2025, a session focused on the non-catastrophe opportunities in ILS, from our fourth cat bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) conference in the City of London, UK, held on September 2nd 2025.The panel, titled "Broadening the non-cat ILS landscape", was moderated by Des Potter, Special Advisor, Lloyd’s (INED – Howden Capital Markets & Advisory).He was joined by: Jonathan Gray, Chief Underwriting Officer, Pool Re; Sébastien Bamsey, Managing Director, Howden Capital Markets & Advisory; Callum O’Rourke, Vice President, Neuberger Berman; and Fergus Reynolds, Head of ILS, Cedar Trace.Our expert speakers discussed the non-catastrophe insurance-linked securities market, highlighting its still relatively small but now growing size.Key areas of focus included terrorism, cyber, and quota share structures to access broader types of risk, as well as innovations around stop-loss notes and the potential for investors to access new classes of risk via Lloyd’s. The panel emphasised the need for transparency, modelling accuracy, and building investor comfort, particularly in non-property risks. They also discussed the role of London Bridge in facilitating ILS transactions at Lloyd’s and the importance of continued regulatory responsiveness and cost-efficiency. The conversation underscored the potential for growth in non-cat ILS, driven by demand for flexible capital and diversification benefits, but also noted that communicating the opportunity is key with both cedents and investors.Listen to this full podcast episode from our Artemis London 2025 conference to learn more about insurance-linked investment opportunities outside of catastrophe risks.

Our sister publication Reinsurance News spoke with Nikhil da Victoria Lobo, Head of P&C Reinsurance for Western & Southern Europe and Middle East & Africa at industry giant Swiss Re in the run up to the annual Baden-Baden reinsurance event about market dynamics across his regions.Swiss Re will have a key focus on stability and consistency during its negotiations with clients at the 2025 Baden-Baden Reinsurance Meeting, as the market navigates underlying strengths and challenges ahead of the key January 1st renewal season, da Victoria Lobo explained.The discussion covered supply demand dynamics, the outlook for the 1.1 renewals, rising secondary perils and frequency covers, emerging technologies such as AI, as well as the role of innovative structures like parametric risk transfer, and more.Listen to this podcast episode for a Reinsurance News conversation with da Victoria Lobo of Swiss Re  to hear more on the January reinsurance renewals, the impacts of secondary perils and whether this signals a return to frequency covers, what reinsurers need to do to ensure they keep meeting their cost of capital in the softening environment, and also the role of emerging technology and some of the biggest challenges and opportunities for P&C reinsurance heading into 2026.

This episode features the second panel discussion of the day at Artemis London 2025, a session focused on the catastrophe bond market segment, from our fourth cat bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) conference in the City of London, UK, held on September 2nd 2025.The panel, titled Catastrophe bonds: Sustaining momentum as relevance grows, was moderated by Tanja Wrosch, Executive Director, Cat Bond Portfolio Manager, Twelve Securis.She was joined by: Joe Tolen, Senior Investment Director, Credit Investment Group, Cambridge Associates; Gina Hardy, CEO, North Carolina Insurance Underwriting Association (NCIUA), North Carolina Joint Underwriting Association (NCJUA); Andre Rzym, Partner and Portfolio Manager, Man AHL; and Andy Palmer, Head ILS Structuring EMEA & APAC, Swiss Re Capital Markets.Our expert speakers discussed the growth of the market as well as potential challenges in sustaining that through different and increasingly competitive reinsurance market conditions.The need for efficient market processes was highlighted, as well as a desire to continue attracting and supporting new cat bond sponsors, including corporates and governments. The panellists also recognised that cat bonds and other ILS can still be a difficult sell to investors, with education and transparency remaining critical, while communication with sponsors was also highlighted. The discussion also covered the impact of ESMA’s recommendations on UCITS asset eligibility and how this might affect the cat bond market over-time, as well as the potential for product innovations in the catastrophe bond space.Listen to this full podcast episode from our Artemis London 2025 conference to learn more about the state of play in the catastrophe bond marketplace.

Our sister publication Reinsurance News spoke with Urs Baertschi, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Property & Casualty (P&C) Reinsurance at industry giant Swiss Re in the run up to the annual Monte Carlo Rendez-vous event to discuss his view of the market and outlook to end of year renewals.Baertschi said the reinsurance industry has been operating reasonably efficiently in 2025 and has shown resilience to large losses like the Los Angeles wildfires in January.“When you look at the supply and demand side, there's plenty of capital here to match up with the risks that the industry is facing. And then when you look at the behaviour of the various market participants, it is still reasonably disciplined. It is a dynamic and a competitive market, but it's still reasonably disciplined,” said Baertschi.During the interview, Baertschi also commented on the January 1st, 2026, reinsurance renewals, noting that while it is too early to predict as a lot can still happen between now and year-end, he expects the current environment around discipline and wordings to persist.Listen to this podcast episode to hear more from Urs Baertschi of Swiss Re on the state of the market, the end of year reinsurance renewal outlook and Swiss Re's priorities going forwards.

This podcast episode features the first panel discussion of the day at Artemis London 2025, a session focused on the private insurance-linked securities market segment, from our fourth catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) conference in the City of London, UK, held on September 2nd 2025. The panel, titled Private ILS: Enhancing Flexibility, Managing Complexity, Scaling with Investor Confidence, was moderated by Luca Albertini, Chief Executive Officer, Leadenhall Capital Partners LLP. He was joined by: Chantal Berendsen, Hedge Fund IDD Senior Analyst, Insurance Specialist, Albourne Partners; Niklaus Hilti, Chief Investment Officer, Euler ILS Partners; and Stefan Knab, Managing Director, PG3 Insurance Core AG. Our expert speakers discussed the evolution and current state of private insurance-linked securities investments, contrasting them with catastrophe bonds. Key points raised during the session included the diverse investment opportunities available in private ILS, offering greater geographic diversification and a broader range of risk profiles for investors. Panellists highlighted the importance of transparency, communication, and long-term relationships between managers and investors. They noted the challenges of illiquidity and complexity in private ILS, but also its potential for higher returns through leverage and customisation. Additionally, the discussion touched on the impact of reinsurance market conditions, the appetite of investors, and the strategic importance of maintaining relationships through market cycles. Listen to the full podcast episode from our Artemis London 2025 conference to learn more about the state of play in the private insurance-linked securities (ILS) marketplace.