A new report from S&P Global Ratings says that unlike in the corporate sector, where the pandemic led to widespread downgrades in 2020, credit ratings on Islamic (Takaful) and conventional insurers in the Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) have remained broadly stable over the past 18 months, supported by relatively strong capital buffers. 

Nasdaq, SVB Financial Group (SVB), Citi, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley have announced a joint venture to establish an institutional-grade, centralised secondary trading venue for issuers, brokers, shareholders and prospective investors of private company stock.

A handful of the highest-raising investment funds are scooping the vast majority of all money invested in a month, raising concerns that large passive managers are becoming “too big to fail”. On average, 87 per cent of monthly net investment flows go toward the top twenty funds alone, according to exclusive data from EPFR. 

Spanish insurance group MAPFRE has launched its first renewables fund – MAPFRE Energías Renovables I FCR – further leveraging the ongoing strategic alliance with Spanish energy company Iberdrola towards creating sustainable investment products.

After a benign catastrophe environment lasting several years, the insurance-linked securities market was tested by considerable losses following a number of natural disasters. While some investors may have been hit hard by these events, it gave others the opportunity to differentiate between ILS managers and their approaches.

After suffering considerable losses in 2017, investor faith in insurance-linked securities (ILS) might have been dented. However, investor appetite and demand for the asset class persisted as trustworthy managers with robust investment processes have shown clients they understand the risks within the portfolios they construct. 

The peak perils of hurricane and earthquake receive the most attention when catastrophe risk gets transferred in the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market. However, non-peak perils can contribute risk to ILS investments that may be difficult to quantify and easy to overlook. This is one reason why proprietary analysis is critical in this space.

Interest in insurance-linked securities (ILS) is moving beyond catastrophe instruments, although this is the most mature sector. There is growing appetite for climate related impact products and specialty insurance lines focused on issues like aviation, terror and cyber.

By A Paris – Large institutional investors are throwing their weight behind insurance-linked securities (ILS) with considerable allocations and mandates being handed down, despite the challenges experienced in the space since 2017. The asset class, particularly catastrophe (cat) bonds, proved resilient through the Covid-19 pandemic, living up to its diversification credentials. Further, with sustainability in investors’ crosshairs, ILS which account for climate change risk are also growing in appeal.

Today’s emerging market (EM) traders are different to just a few years ago, with an increasing need for information, access and liquidity for a broader spectrum of emerging markets to meet the investment profile of portfolios.