Catastrophe bond & ILS news, week ending Apr 19th

Here's our latest Friday wrap-up of key news from the week.

The catastrophe bond market hit a new milestone this week, as our measure for the outstanding cat bond and related ILS market is up 5% this year to a new high of over $47bn.

Annual issuance also surpassed $7bn this week ($7.7bn by today). We highlighted some 82% of that is exposed to Atlantic hurricane risk.

The Swiss Re cat bond index hit a 4.57% return for Q1, although it is running slightly behind last year.

We reported that Allstate's aggregate cat losses for the last risk period are just slightly below the attachment for its last cat bond that features a $1m franchise deductible.

The government of Jamaica finalised its second catastrophe bond with the held of the World Bank and financing support from Hong Kong.

Registration is open for our ILS Asia 2024 conference, so get your ticket today to attend.

We published another video from our last conference, ILS NYC 2024, featuring an expert discussion on collateralized re and retro.

Broker Marsh noted that rate increases for catastrophe exposed property insurance risks have begun to slow.

K2 Advisors said that ILS yields remain attractive and keeps cat bonds as its top-pick for Q2.

Broker Lockton Re said that it expects the occurrence of a cyber catastrophe loss would stimulate more investor interest and opportunity.

We reported on another hurricane forecast late last Friday, which suggests an active year with a chance of impacts as the Bermuda High may steer storms further west.

Finally, if you haven't seen them, Artemis has a wealth of data and analytics on the catastrophe bond and broader ILS market. View our charts and Deal Directory.

Catch up on our video interviews with ILS market leaders here.

If you prefer to listen, subscribe to our podcast series for audio interviews & additional special episodes.

We'll be back next week with more regular coverage.

We hope you have a safe & relaxing weekend.