November 2024 – SALLYPHOCAYATE

Artex eyes growth through M&A, talent expansion, carrier outsourcing in 2025: Faries

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Kathleen Faries, CEO of Artex Capital Solutions, the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market service provider arm of Artex Risk Solutions, has emphasised a strategic focus on mergers and acquisitions, talent expansion, and building a dedicated carrier outsourcing practice heading into 2025.

According to Faries, who spoke with Artemis in a recent interview, these initiatives will strengthen the firm’s service offerings and provide clients with enhanced support in portfolio management, regulatory compliance, and operational efficiency.

Discussing Artex’s plans for differentiation over the next year, Faries noted that the firm will continue to expand its range of services, with a focus on enhancing the systems, tools, and data that improve operations, increase its value proposition, and give clients full confidence in partnering with Artex.

Commenting more on the opportunities ahead, Faries observed that Artex remains focused on providing the full suite of services that enables its clients to remain focused on portfolio management, pricing, underwriting and capital raising.

“We will continue to deliver exceptional services to our clients and carriers worldwide, and we have ambitious plans for the coming year. Through strategic M&A and talent acquisitions, we will expand the breadth of services we offer, solidifying our position as a global leader in the industry,” she said.

Faries continued, “One area of focus is the development of a comprehensive global practice for carrier outsourcing.

“Leveraging our exceptional talent and services across the globe, we will provide carriers with unparalleled support and expertise. Our depth of experience will be the foundation upon which we build this practice, ensuring that our clients receive the highest level of service and value.”

Artex also reportedly expects to see growth in its relationships and service offerings with existing P&C carriers, MGA’s and Life Reinsurers.

Faries went on, “We will continue to offer a broad suite of support services for our clients that effectively allows them to operate in a more seamless and efficient matter.

“For example, new regulations, codes of conduct and reporting requirements have left many organisations with gaps to fill to ensure they remain compliant and are liaising with regulators successfully.

“At Artex, we’re able to take that burden off the client and ensure all administration and compliance is in order. Additionally, there will be a focus on providing a broader array of valuation and actuarial services as our actuarial team continues to grow and expand across Artex.”

Hear more from Kathleen Faries in the replay video from our ILS Market Outlook 2025 webinar.

Read all of our interviews with ILS market and reinsurance sector professionals here.

Artex eyes growth through M&A, talent expansion, carrier outsourcing in 2025: Faries was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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CelsiusPro launches ParameterPro 2.0 to streamline parametric insurance structuring

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CelsiusPro AG, the Swiss headquartered weather index insurance and parametric risk transfer specialist, has launched ParameterPro 2.0, which is the latest iteration of its technology platform for brokers and the company says it can streamline parametric insurance structuring and modelling for them.

CelsiusPro has always had a technology focus, having previously developed a white label platform through which insurers could price and settle parametric insurance products, and even further back launched QuotePro (in 2011) as a weather derivatives pricing platform for distribution partners.

The company has continued to innovate in the parametric risk transfer space, both on the capacity and technology side, with ParameterPro 2.0 the latest new technological development from CelsiusPro.

ParameterPro 2.0 is said by the company to be “the first in a line of successive releases tailored for brokers and risk managers,” and it offers them a toolkit that allows for the rapid visualisation, structuring, and modelling of parametric climate and natural catastrophe insurance solutions.

CelsiusPro believes the tech platform will help brokers tackle the growing unpredictability of climate risks. It is initially focused on parametric hurricane and earthquake triggers, but also provides global access to comprehensive climate and NatCat datasets.

Risks can be analysed in near-real time and using historical data to support decision-making, while data-rich visualisations can help in translating solutions to clients.

But the ultimate goal with ParameterPro 2.0 is to reduce parametric deal structuring time, improve quote-to-bind ratios, and deliver faster, more accurate submissions to reinsurance capital providers.

Another beneficial feature of the platform is the ability to test out parametric structures and how they might respond to client needs, blending stochastic event sets with historical data, to model out loss scenarios and expected premiums that meet clients’ expectations.

Mark Rueegg, CEO of CelsiusPro, said, “With ParameterPro 2.0, brokers gain access to data, in-depth insights, and efficiency. Our platform combines leading-edge technology, climate data science, and risk modelling to help brokers deliver superior value to their clients.

“By enabling faster, clearer, and more informed decision-making, we aim to be the technology provider of choice to the parametric insurance industry.”

CelsiusPro launches ParameterPro 2.0 to streamline parametric insurance structuring was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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COP29 ends with Loss and Damage fund progress, strategic direction set for Global Shield

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COP 29, the United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Baku, Azerbaijan, has drawn to a close with agreement on certain areas and progress being made on the much-discussed Loss and Damage, as well as the Global Shield, two programs of some relevance to insurance, reinsurance and insurance-linked securities (ILS) markets.

While the COP29 meetings concluded with an agreement on financing amounting to $300 billion per-year for developing countries, concern has been raised over that figure falling far-short of the amount those nations believe is required to respond to the climate impacts they are already facing, as well as boost their readiness for and resilience to climate related exposures.

The Fund for Loss and Damage has been designed to help the countries that are most vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.

At COP29, agreement has been reached on fully operationalising the loss and damage fund, although there is still significant work to do on the finer details of how support and financing will be delivered.

Working with the Board of the loss and damage fund and the World Bank, the COP29 Presidency said it has advanced measure to operationalise the fund, while also appointing former Group Director General of the parametric risk pooling and parametric insurance facility, African Risk Capacity (ARC), Ibrahima Cheikh Diong as the Fund’s Executive Director.

In addition, key documents were signed at COP29, including a “Trustee Agreement” and “Secretariat Hosting Agreement” between the Fund for Loss and Damage’s Board and the World Bank, as well as a “Host Country Agreement” between the Fund’s Board and the host country, which is set to be the Republic of the Philippines.

Financial support and commitments to the loss and damage fund now exceed $730 million, with the largest contributions made during COP29 coming from Australia and Sweden.

As a result, the COP29 Presidency said that the loss and damage fund is now “ready to distribute funds in 2025 by securing contributor agreements and pledges as well as signing the host country agreement with the Philippines and hosting and trustee agreements with the World Bank.”

As well as the commitments made to the Fund, it is still expected that once operationalised there will be work undertaken to identify whether and how private capital financing instruments also have a role, in financing climate related loss and damage for the most vulnerable and developing nations of the world.

As we’ve also explained in the past, the insurance, reinsurance and insurance-linked securities (ILS) markets have a role to play here, albeit further down the line, once agreement has been reached on financing instruments, tools, structures and how to actually disburse loss and damage fund capacity, are made.

We’ve highlighted the potential for there to be an important role for responsive risk transfer, such as risk transfer and insurance delivered through structures that utilise parametric triggers and risk-sharing systems have been a topic of discussion around loss and damage since the start.

With a former ARC executive now leading the Fund, it will be interesting to see how financing structures can be hybridised, to incorporate elements of risk transfer, to finance responses to future climate disasters, as well as the pure financing for mitigation and resilience that is expected to be needed.

Around the set-up and operationalising of the fund for responding to loss and damage, insurance and related risk transfer instruments have been broadly discussed as having a role to play.

The Fund’s Board has explored examples of risk pooling and parametric insurance, while also gaining an understanding of other risk transfer instruments, including catastrophe bonds.

Premium subsidies are seen as one use-case for financing from the loss and damage fund, although there is a lot of work to do around how any instruments that require premiums to be paid to private market actors are integrated within the overall loss and damage financing deployment.

Which leads us onto the second area of progress seen at COP29 that has relevance for the insurance, reinsurance and ILS community, the setting of a strategic direction for the Global Shield against Climate Risks.

The Global Shield against Climate Risks was launched after COP27, alongside the World Bank officially launching its Global Shield Financing Facility.

These two initiatives embed disaster risk financing techniques, in particular responsive risk transfer and anticipatory financing, at the heart of global efforts to build resilience to climate change and climate driven natural disaster events.

In 2023, the Global Shield Solutions Platform (GSSP) was also launched as a multi-donor grant facility and one of the core financing vehicles of the Global Shield, designed to help vulnerable countries effectively address loss and damage exacerbated by climate change.

Now, at COP29, a strategic direction has been set for the Global Shield initiative, with at least 17 countries targeted for its initial implementation and for specific activities to be taken.

Within the scope is parametric insurance and risk transfer, with use of these instruments expected to be scaled up under the Global Shield, while insurance-linked securities (ILS) such as catastrophe bonds still feature in Global Shield related texts.

At COP29, like previous conferences, the insurance and reinsurance industry was well-represented by key players and the efforts to embed insurance at the heart of climate financing discussions continues.

Efficiency, of risk transfer, and its responsiveness, as well as the efficiency of risk capital itself, will be critical for the future of such efforts.

But so too will investment in mitigation and structural innovation, to identify equitable ways to use the funding appropriately and to harness the appetite of private capital in support of climate financing and the broader climate transition.

Also read: Risk-sharing systems must be a pillar of Loss and Damage architecture: Report.

COP29 ends with Loss and Damage fund progress, strategic direction set for Global Shield was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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More ILS M&A consolidation expected in the near term: LGT ILS Partners’ Paul

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According to Hilary Paul, Partner and Portfolio Manager, LGT ILS Partners, there will be further insurance-linked securities (ILS) M&A consolidation in the near term, with more transactions and join-venture agreements, especially as stand-alone managers increasingly seek economies of scale and access to rated paper.

“At LGT ILS Partners, we are following the most recent M&A activity in ILS with great interest, as we believe that we will see even more consolidation in the near term,” Paul observed in a recent interview with Artemis around the reinsurance conference season.

In this context, Paul shared insights on the optimal structure for an ILS manager in today’s market.

“At LGT ILS, we believe what matters is organizational size and access to rated paper. When teaming up with LGT Group over a decade ago, we acknowledged that a manager is able to achieve significant economies of scale when joining a well-established organization.,” she explained.

This strategic approach, Paul added, allows underwriters and portfolio managers to focus entirely on the investment process.

She continued, “Areas such as fund structuring, legal and compliance, human resources, finance and accounting, infrastructure, technology and facility management are outsourced to the servicing entity of the organization and allows to truly benefit from the economics of scale, i.e. from the size and a broader experience across various asset classes.”

Paul observed that distribution and sales in organizations with a broader product offering can generate more leads as the various investment specialist groups benefit from cross-selling and referrals across different asset classes.

She went on, “Established asset management platforms such as our parent company LGT Capital Partners offer muti-asset alternative investment solutions where ILS is only a sleeve in a diversified allocation strategy across many alternative asset classes.

“For such products, the sales pitch does not focus on ILS on a stand-alone basis, since investors are interested in the diversification and low-correlation aspect of the product as such.”

Meanwhile, investors who are engaging in a due diligence process with an ILS manager reportedly prefer and appreciate a larger organization.

“Size matters, as the servicing elements such as IT and risk and compliance are professionally managed,” she explained.

Paul added, “This reduces a variety of business risks up to the point where key man risks and succession planning are included as a standard management process within the organization.

“In short, with ILS managers being part of larger organizations, investors do not need to be concerned about changes in ownership during their investment term.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Paul disclosed that access to rated reinsurance paper is another key challenge for ILS managers, which is an area that LGT ILS Partners innovated on with its own affiliated Bermuda-based rated reinsurer Lumen Re.

“Engaging in private reinsurance transactions allows ILS managers to engage in a much broader discussion and negotiation with counterparties; often, these companies are also cat bond sponsors,” she said.

Paul continued, “The preferred access to data and information for an ILS manager that also underwrites private deals with the very same cat bond sponsor allows for the manager to base the investment decision on a much broader information flow, counterparty and deal assessment.

“It also means that the ILS manager becomes a more meaningful counterparty to the sponsor/insurance company, whilst having the ability to offer more attractive, so-called blended funds to investors, where private deals and cat bonds are optimally combined to achieve improved diversification. These blended funds currently generate an attractive pick-up in yield vis-à-vis pure cat bond funds.”

However, access to a rated reinsurance carrier is said to be key to sourcing and underwriting such private deals, and controlling the full value chain from deal sourcing to structuring significantly reduces cost and adds efficiency.

“We would thus expect more M&A transactions and join-venture agreements to occur, as especially stand-alone ILS managers will increasingly seek for economies of scale and access to rated paper,” Paul concluded.

More ILS M&A consolidation expected in the near term: LGT ILS Partners’ Paul was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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Oxbridge Re to add second tranche to tokenized reinsurance sidecar offering

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Oxbridge Re Ltd., the Cayman Islands based reinsurance company, is planning to expand its offering of tokenized reinsurance securities that fund its collateralized reinsurance sidecar vehicle Oxbridge Re NS, with the launch of a second tranche of notes that appear set to have a lower risk-return profile.

Oxbridge Re launched a Web3-focused subsidiary named SurancePlus back in 2022, as it looked to implement a strategy of issuing tokenized reinsurance securities using the Avalanche blockchain.

These tokenized reinsurance securities effectively act as a funding mechanism to support the firm’s collateralized reinsurance sidecar vehicle Oxbridge Re NS.

The reinsurer raised $2.4 million through the sale of the first series of digital or tokenized reinsurance securities, which were named DeltaCat Re in 2023.

That $2.4 million of capital was used to support collateralized reinsurance contracts, underwritten via its sidecar structure, Oxbridge Re NS.

The company later reported that the DeltaCat Re series of tokenized reinsurance sidecar securities realised a 49% return for the investors backing them, surpassing both initial and updated expectations.

Then, earlier in 2024, Oxbridge Re raised $2.88 million for its sidecar structure through a series of EpsilonCat Re tokenized reinsurance securities, issued by its subsidiary SurancePlus Inc.

For this latest set of EpsilonCat Re digital reinsurance securities, Oxbridge Re said at the time of issuance that the targeted return would be 42% this year.

Jay Madhu, Chairman and CEO of Oxbridge Re recently explained that going forwards, the company intends to issue two tranches of tokenized reinsurance securities, one higher and one lower risk/return, offering more investment options to access the returns of its reinsurance business.

He explained, “We are energized by the progress of our Web3/RWA subsidiary, SurancePlus, which issues tokenized securities backed by reinsurance contracts as the underlying asset and currently launched on the Avalanche blockchain. SurancePlus seamlessly integrates SEC regulatory standards with blockchain technology, ensuring full transparency and compliance.

“By opening access to an asset class historically limited to a select few due to high financial barriers to entry, SurancePlus is breaking new ground. Leveraging RegD and RegS frameworks, investors can now enter this unique asset class within minutes, efficiently completing AML, KYC, and document signing requirements.

“Going forward, we intend to issue two tranches of tokenized securities, one high yield token targeting a 42% return, and one balance yield token targeting a 22% return. Additionally, our strategic partnership with Zoniqx, which has facilitated over $4 billion of assets on-chain, positions SurancePlus for continued growth as we enter our second year of issuing tokenized securities. With a solid business model and no debt, we are confident that SurancePlus will drive meaningful growth for our shareholders and further expand our influence in the RWA space in the coming years.”

Expanding the range of reinsurance investment opportunities available through its digital securities platform may help Oxbridge Re in attracting more investor support for future issuances.

As we reported earlier this year, a new ILS focused investment manager named Members Capital Management Ltd. has launched with a mission to (re)diversify sources of reinsurance capital using digital and tokenized assets.

The strategy of leveraging digital asset technology and architecture to facilitate fractionalised investments into reinsurance-linked securities is gaining traction, it seems.

It is an intriguing way to both modernise the matching of capital with insurance risk and also tap into differentiated sources of funding for ILS strategies.

Finally, as we had also reported in 2024, Oxbridge Re had announced that it was considering “strategic alternatives” for the business, including a potential sale or merger, various capital actions, or even spinning out its tokenized reinsurance investments unit. It seems plans continue to evolve at the company, with this planned expansion of the tokenized reinsurance-linked investment opportunities it will offer.

View details of many reinsurance sidecar transactions in our directory.

Oxbridge Re to add second tranche to tokenized reinsurance sidecar offering was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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Schroders Capital invested $817m+ in ILS that help reduce protection gap in 2023

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During the full-year 2023, the catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) team at private markets focused investment manager Schroders Capital allocated over US $817 million to transactions that specifically help in reducing the insurance protection gap.

Schroders Capital has quantified this area of impact that its cat bond and ILS investment management unit has been making for a recent report on the firm’s broader sustainability focus.

While it is clear that catastrophe bonds and insurance-linked securities (ILS), as an alternative mechanism for sourcing reinsurance capital, are inherently providing protection against disaster and enabling the insurance industry to better bear the risks it underwrites, Schroders Capital has categorised transactions it specifically feels are making a difference on helping to cover more uninsured economic losses.

The investment manager sees its capital making a difference, saying that if “managed carefully, can unlock… significant improvement potential for people and planet.”

One area is in driving increased availability of insurance and reinsurance protection, specifically, “through increased climate insurance coverage in emerging markets, private equity or via ILS cat bonds.”

Schroders Capital further explained, “In 2023, only 40% of losses resulting from natural disasters globally were covered by insurance, leaving a value of US$172 billion uninsured.

“Our ILS team works to reduce this protection gap by allocating a percentage of their sustainable investment portfolios to specific transactions designed to increase insurance coverage, providing a sense of security to communities providing rapid relief when a disaster hits, and enhancing overall resilience. Developing and emerging markets are the most vulnerable to the consequences of climate change.”

In addition, Schroders Capital highlighted that between 2014 and 2023, some 85% of economic losses caused by natural disasters in Asia were not covered by insurance.

Highlighting the $125 million Charles River Re Ltd. (Series 2024-1) catastrophe bond, that was sponsored by American European Insurance Company, Schroders Capital explained why this transaction was deemed to contribute to narrowing the insurance protection gap.

“The need for such cover was exemplified with Superstorm Sandy: in such events, risks carriers often face ‘concurrent causation’ and are caught between the homeowners insurance company and the flood insurance company, one arguing that the event was caused by flood, the other one by wind. It is costly and leaves the policyholder uncovered, impacting the reputation of the insurance company and the industry more broadly.

“With this cat bond, the sponsor offered a flood endorsement on each quotation, resulting in a differentiated product with the target being value-oriented mass affluent homeowners,” the asset manager explained.

Despite certain deficiencies when it came to ESG scoring this catastrophe bond, Schroders Capital noted, “The transaction structurally and explicitly addresses the protection gap when it comes to the availability of coastal flood risk which is generally not offered by the insurance market.”

Insurance-linked securities (ILS) is an area that Schroders Capital sees as a focus in its sustainability and impact efforts.

“Our ILS sustainable strategies, including one of the world’s largest cat bond funds, are a good example: they provide a suitable reinsurance alternative for local governments or NGOs against e.g. extreme whether events, reducing insurance protection gap while at the same time delivering competitive financial returns,” the company said.

Schroders Capital has also been one of the ILS managers that have helped to drive greater ESG transparency through the catastrophe bond and broader ILS marketplace.

The investment manager was a founding member of the ILS ESG Transparency Initiative, which was formed as an insurance-linked securities (ILS) industry group focused on enhancing environmental, social and governance (ESG) transparency in the ILS market.

Schroders Capital believes that effort has made a significant contribution so far, highlighting that ESG disclosure has increased in the marketplace.

The company said that its internal data suggests “that 77% of ILS cat bond transactions have made ESG questionnaires available deals in Q4 2023,” which is a significant increase.

Georg Wunderlin, CEO, Schroders Capital, commented, “Sustainability is more critical than ever to deliver long-term competitive returns. It is simply a once in a generation business opportunity.

“Our ambition is to build a new type of private markets firm, one which is anchored in sustainability and delivers the superior performance and real-world difference our clients expect from us.”

ESG investing, sustainability and opportunities they present, remain an area of focus for the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market. Read more of our insights on this topic here.

Schroders Capital invested $817m+ in ILS that help reduce protection gap in 2023 was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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MS Amlin and HSZ Group target growth in 5th link up on 2025 Phoenix sidecar

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International insurer and reinsurer MS Amlin has now launched the capital raise for the 2025 edition of its Phoenix reinsurance sidecar, and with the vehicle’s performance consistently beating expectations, investor interest is high, according to William Ho, CEO of MS Amlin Asia Pacific.

Following our Artemis Live video interview with Ho last month, we spoke with the head of MS Amlin Asia Pacific and Tim Yip, Executive Director, HSZ Group, the parent of Hong Kong-based ILS Advisers, who has worked on all the Phoenix Re deals, about the importance of the partnership and the latest sidecar transaction.

“We’ve recently launched the 2025 iteration of the Phoenix ILS notes. With performance consistently exceeding expectations, feedback from existing investor partners has been positive and interest among prospective new investors is high,” said Ho.

“This renewal cycle has benefited from recent premium rate increases and favourable market conditions while a loss ratio of below 4% since Phoenix launched in 2021 has also captured investor interest,” he added.

Since inception, the Phoenix sidecar has become a common feature of the ILS space, and prior to the 2025 iteration, more than $160 million has been raised.

“Our Phoenix strategy, which targets major natural catastrophes in Asia, has proven its effectiveness despite significant regional loss events, including floods, earthquakes and super typhoons,” explained Ho. “By mimicking a portfolio of catastrophe bonds, the portfolio offers premium levels of between 7.5% and 12.5%, plus risk-free rates. These returns are aligned with peak-peril cat bond levels, while benefiting from diversification across over 150 layers in 15 to 20 regions.”

Growing the Phoenix sidecar is a key focus for MS Amlin in 2025, with the company also looking to expand into non-ILS capital pools as it targets untapped interest in the Asia focused risk opportunities the vehicle offers.

“While we’ve set cautious growth targets, recognising that the portfolio’s success stems from its meticulous and disciplined underwriting, we are confident Phoenix will continue its growth trajectory in 2025,” said Ho.

With more than 150 layers annually, balanced across the APAC and MENA regions, Phoenix provides investors with strong diversification.

As explained by Yip, it functions similar to a portfolio of cat bonds, providing returns akin to a cat bond fund, rather than a single bond’s more binary risk profile.

“Asia’s diverse and fragmented nature enhances this diversification. Investors gain access to a variety of markets, from Papua New Guinea and Western Samoa to more established ones like Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as rapidly growing economies like India and Vietnam,” said Yip.

He went on to note that MS Amlin’s APAC portfolio strategically has little to no direct exposure to the region’s more accessible markets, such as Japan, China, and Australia, which helps to minimise any potential for clash and aggregation while still maintaining the non-correlation that ILS provides.

“The transaction focuses on high-attaching, natural catastrophe reinsurance layers, avoiding attritional, non-modelled and surprise losses and targeting only those perils which are most significant to that territory.

“Its quota-share structure promotes a partnership approach, minimising traditional pricing conflicts. The structure also allows for efficient isolation of regional impacts, with unique structuring aspects tailored to ILS investor needs, ensuring more efficient collateral return and specific risk exclusions.

“With deep local market knowledge and established relationships, MS Amlin provides a gateway to parts of the Asia-Pacific region that are typically difficult for ILS funds to access,” Yip noted.

With HSZ Group’s ILS Advisers having worked on all iterations of the Phoenix sidecar, Yip discussed the ongoing partnership between the pair and how this benefits investors.

“MS Amlin, as the transaction sponsor, brings underwriting expertise and a proven track record over more than a decade. Meanwhile, HSZ serves as both structurer and cornerstone co-investor, ensuring a strong alignment with other investors. This is what makes the partnership so unique. As a co-investor, we believe our message to investors is more powerful as we have significant skin in the game.

“HSZ’s regional expertise helps to bridge communication gaps with investors, explaining risks and translating reinsurance concepts for investors less familiar with the region. Both partners also provide comprehensive resources for due diligence and risk assessment, giving investors a clearer understanding of the challenges and opportunities in underrepresented regions,” said Yip.

To end, Yip explained how the transparent and collaborative nature of the partnership between MS Amlin and HSZ Group is a differentiator.

“We work closely with MS Amlin’s experts from underwriting to modelling to understand regional risks and exposures. This partnership model fosters mutual understanding and a long-term approach, rather than a focus on short-term transactions and annual decisions. The placement is also carefully managed, not widely syndicated, aiming for long-term, collaborative co-investors,” he said.

MS Amlin and HSZ Group target growth in 5th link up on 2025 Phoenix sidecar was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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Members Capital appoints Lord Chris Holmes MBE to strategic advisory board

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Members Capital Management Limited, a Bermuda-based asset manager focused on bringing new sources of reinsurance capital to the insurance-linked securities (ILS) sector using digital and tokenized assets, has appointed UK public and private sector leader Lord Chris Holmes MBE to its strategic advisory board.

The company said that it expects Lord Holmes’ appointment will significantly enhance its strategic direction.

“His commitment to innovation and inclusivity aligns closely with our strategic initiatives of unlocking new sources of capital, and democratising access to the global private reinsurance markets,” the company explained.

Adding, “We are confident that Lord Holmes’s insights will help guide our mission to provide greater access to institutional-grade investment opportunities while meeting the needs of a prosperous future. Lord Holmes has been a prominent advocate for accessibility and inclusion, and a strong proponent of digital technologies.”

Recall that Members Capital Management launched earlier this year with well-known insurance-linked securities (ILS) industry executive Ben Fox in the Chief Investment Officer role.

Commenting on his appointment, Lord Holmes said, “I am honored to join Members Capital Management’s strategic advisory board. The company’s commitment to bringing innovative solutions to the global reinsurance market, while promoting a democratized investment approach, resonates deeply with my own values. I look forward to contributing to MembersCap’s mission and helping shape its future direction.”

“We are excited to welcome Lord Chris Holmes to our strategic advisory board,” added Lloyd Wahed, Co-Founder, Managing Partner, and CEO at MembersCap.

“His proven track record in championing innovation and navigating complex regulatory environments will not only guide our strategic vision, but also enhance our ability to deliver an exceptional product to our investment partners. We look forward to leveraging his insights, experience, and expertise, as we enter an extremely exciting growth period for the company.”

Lord Chris Holmes MBE is a Peer in the UK House of Lords and was the Diversity Advisers to the UK government’s Cabinet Office for almost 9 years.

He had also been a non-exec and Deputy Chair for UK broadcaster Channel 4 and in the past had been a Non Executive Director for the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

He has been a thought-leader and adviser on the use of digital technology for public good and has sat in the House of Lords on committee’s focused on artificial intelligence, financial inclusion, digital skills, democracy and digital technology.

Members Capital Management expects to launch its flagship fund in Q1 2025, as it pursues its mission to “democratize reinsurance by matching the right capital with the right risks.”

This fund, said to be a first of its kind offering, is going to be denominated in both fiat (USD) and digital (USDC) currencies, focused on deriving returns from the global private reinsurance market.

The investment manager aims to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns that are uncorrelated, as is the mandate of ILS and reinsurance capital investment managers, but will utilise a digital asset strategy to both source differentiated capital and deliver a differentiated way to invest in reinsurance and ILS strategies.

Members Capital has also recently added Neil Cunha-Gomes, the former Head of Fintech and Digital Assets EMEA at SoftBank Vision Fund to its advisory board.

Cunha-Gomes has experience in digital assets, investment in innovative insurance solutions, and structured insurance transactions, through roles held at Deutsche Bank, Coller Capital and SoftBank Vision Fund.

Cunha-Gomes said, “I believe that MembersCap is leveraging a new technology to innovatively bring a much-needed new source and form of risk capital to the ILS market.

“If successful, MembersCap will not only facilitate increased insurance risk transfer by adding liquidity, transparency and accessibility, it will also further democratise access to a non-correlated risk premium for a much broader set of capital markets investors.”

Members Capital appoints Lord Chris Holmes MBE to strategic advisory board was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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Kettle appoints former Root SVP of Reinsurance Espinoza as new CEO

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Kettle, the reinsurance focused deep-learning and artificial intelligence (AI) MGA, has announced the appointment of Isaac Espinoza as its new CEO.

Kettle launched with a mission to enhance the understanding of catastrophe and climate exposures with its advanced technological approach to modelling risks.

The focus has predominantly been on wildfire risks, although the insurtech has also branched out to write hurricane reinsurance coverage with the assistance of Reask.

Using advanced AI and machine learning, Kettle aims to better-model exposures and then establish mechanisms and structures to transfer risks to both traditional and capital market sources of reinsurance capacity.

Back in 2022, the company launched Kettle Re Ltd., its own collateralized insurer class of company registered in Bermuda, through which its goal was to transfer a portion of the risks it underwrote to capital markets sourced reinsurance capacity.

Now, two of the Kettle co-founders Andrew Engler and Nathaniel Manning are transitioning to advisory positions at the firm, leaving a gap for a new CEO.

Taking on that challenge will be Isaac Espinoza, the former SVP of Reinsurance at insurtech Root.

Co-founder and CTO, Son Le, remains at Kettle as well and will lead the company alongside Espinoza.

Espinoza has almost 20 years of experience working in insurance, reinsurance, and insurtech.

Before joining Root, Espinoza was an investor and operator at Greenlight Re, supporting insurtech startups and working on the actuarial, underwriting and innovation teams. He began his insurance career as an actuary at Fireman’s Fund in California.

Espinoza commented on his appointment, “I’m excited to continue my career as an operator and leader, working on some of the most important existential questions for the insurance industry and for our planet.

“Kettle has a head-start on modeling emerging risks and providing insurance options in a market where protection is harder and harder to come by.”

Son Le added, “We’re at an inflection point where our unique models can offer protection to customers currently underserved by incumbent providers. Isaac’s arrival is exciting for Kettle and our future in the industry.”

Lauren Kolodny, partner at Acrew Capital, which led Kettle’s $25 million Series A round in 2021, commented, “Isaac’s arrival is an exciting evolution for Kettle as it expands into new lines and new states. This year has been an important growth year. We’re thrilled to welcome Isaac’s leadership.”

Kettle appoints former Root SVP of Reinsurance Espinoza as new CEO was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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