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Artemis has learned that a new Liongate Re DAC catastrophe bond is in the market with a target to secure $100 million of limit to provide Japanese mutual Zenkyoren with aggregate earthquake reinsurance, while also providing a source of German parametric quake cover as well which we believe may protect entities of the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe.

It’s interesting to see the dual-protection use-case of this new Liongate Re catastrophe bond issuance.

At this stage, with information limited, we’re not 100% clear on the beneficiary of the German parametric earthquake protection, but suspect it might be for one or more of the intermediating insurance and reinsurance entities which are part of the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe, as we’re not aware of Zenkyoren having any property catastrophe exposure in that country.

Liongate Re Designated Activity Company (DAC) has been established in Ireland to be the issuer for this first catastrophe bond through the structure, sources said.

Liongate Re DAC is aiming to issue $100 million of notes that will be sold to catastrophe bond funds and investors, while the proceeds from that sale will be used to collateralize the underlying reinsurance.

We’re told that there are two German re/insurance firms acting as intermediating and ceding entities for this first Liongate Re DAC catastrophe bond, while Zenkyoren is also a cedent.

First, Zenkyoren, the Japanese National Mutual Insurance Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives, is a ceding insurer to the deal and so will benefit from the collateralized reinsurance coverage the Liongate Re DAC cat bond will provide, we are told.

But facilitating that coverage is German reinsurance company Deutsche Rückversicherung, acting as an intermediating reinsurance entity, in turn facing off to a ceding reinsurance entity which is German held insurer SV Sparkassenversicherung, which in turn will face off to Irish entity Liongate Re DAC.

Both Deutsche Rückversicherung and SV Sparkassenversicherung are entities of the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe, which is an association of savings banks, public insurance companies and other financial service providers in Germany.

So, it appears that the Japanese earthquake reinsurance protection is passed down this line to Zenkyoren, while the German earthquake reinsurance may actually be for the portfolios of one or both of the intermediating re/insurers or the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe itself, although we cannot be certain at this time.

The currently $100 million of catastrophe bond notes that Liongate Re DAC will issue will provide Japanese earthquake reinsurance protection on a three-year aggregate and indemnity trigger basis, which is aligned with Zenkyoren’s other cat bond backed protection, such as from its recently completed Nakama Re 2025-1 deal.

It will also provide $100 million of per-occurrence parametric earthquake reinsurance covering Germany over a three year term, using a parametric box construction.

Maturity of the Liongate Re DAC notes will be scheduled for mid-April 2028, we understand.

The Japanese earthquake reinsurance protection from the notes would attach at JPY 2.15 trillion of losses and cover a layer to JPY 2.4 trillion, and also feature an aggregate franchise deductible of JPY 270 billion, which are the same attachment and deductible metrics as Zenkyoren’s recent Nakama Re cat bond deal.

Meanwhile, we understand that the parametric trigger for the earthquake reinsurance protection for Germany will have a stepped-payout mechanism aligned with boxes, with different percentages of principal payable depending on the magnitude of an event. We’re told the minimum magnitude required of a quake to put the notes at-risk will be M5.3 or more.

The $100 million of cat bond notes Liongate Re DAC is offering will come with an initial attachment probability of 1.43%, an initial expected loss of 1.15% and have spread price guidance in a range from 3% to 3.5%, sources said.

The additional of German parametric earthquake risk to this catastrophe bond is an intriguing new peril in the market, having only seen German quake risks once before in the King Max Re DAC 2023 cat bond for VKB Re. It shows that the cat bond market is seen as a viable source of reinsurance for this diversifying peril.

It is also good to see Deutsche Rückversicherung intermediating, as that is a role we have not seen the reinsurer play in any cat bond previously.

While the fact Zenkyoren is a beneficiary too suggests this is seen as an efficient additional way for the mutual to access the cat bond market, or that it has an existing relationship with the other parties involved.

You can read all about this new Liongate Re DAC catastrophe bond and every other cat bond deal in the Artemis Deal Directory.

Liongate Re cat bond to cover Japan quake for Zenkyoren & German parametric quake was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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Global Parametrics, part of the CelsiusPro Group, has been named a Lloyd’s coverholder for Canopius Syndicate 4444, marking a significant expansion in capacity for its delivery of parametric risk transfer solutions for natural catastrophe events.

Under the agreement, Global Parametrics will be granted binding authority to underwrite on behalf of Canopius, building a portfolio of business focused on high-impact natural perils such as tropical cyclone, earthquake, flood, and excess rainfall.

In addition, the partnership will also allow Global Parametrics to underwrite business and deploy risk capacity under the guidelines set by Syndicate 4444.

The move builds on Global Parametrics’ expertise in managing climate and disaster risk, notably through its work developing the Natural Disaster Fund (NDF) since 2018.

By leveraging parametric structures, designed to offer fast, transparent payouts triggered by predefined events, the collaboration enables more efficient capital deployment and financial resilience in disaster-prone regions.

Mark Rueegg, CelsiusPro Group Chief Executive Officer, commented: “The partnership with Canopius is a major milestone for our company. We are doubling down on our Group’s core expertise of structuring parametric solutions and our approach to deploying risk capacity for climate and natural catastrophe perils.”

“We are also thrilled to become part of the Lloyd’s of London ecosystem as it will foster our ability to help more clients and communities become more resilient,” he added.

Alois Rouffiac, Canopius UK Chief Underwriter Officer, said: “We’re excited to partner with Global Parametrics as our Lloyd’s coverholder. This partnership enables Canopius to deploy risk capacity for parametric solutions globally, which represents an attractive opportunity to further expand parametric insurance as a scalable solution.

“We believe these products can address the growing protection gap in regions where underinsurance remains a pressing issue,” Rouffiac concluded.

Global Parametrics to underwrite for Canopius as Lloyd’s Coverholder was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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The main four parametric disaster insurance risk pools have signed a grant agreement with the Global Shield Solutions Platform (GSSP) to help them accelerate and deepen their collaboration, something which could have implications for how they transfer risk to reinsurance and potentially capital markets.

Back in 2023, the African Risk Capacity Limited (ARC), Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF SPC), the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Company (PCRIC), and the Southeast Asia Disaster Risk Insurance Facility (SEADRIF), signed an MOU that called for them to explore a joint reinsurance facility, to enable more efficient risk transfer and access to the capital markets.

The four organisations form the Sovereign Risk Pools, regional parametric insurance facilities which were set up to serve the sovereign climate and disaster risk insurance objectives of nearly 100 nations globally.

The grant agreement with the Global Shield Solutions Platform (GSSP), managed by Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, will provide €4.7 million to help them in implementing their joint collaboration agreements.

It’s seen as a “significant step forward in strengthening collaboration among the Regional Risk Pools and underscores their shared commitment to strengthening financial resilience and promoting sustainable growth.”

A study commissioned by GSSP and undertaken by broker WTW had identified measures that could help optimise the regional parametric risk pools exposure to the private capital and reinsurance markets.

The phased development of a global facility was one recommendation, which has the potential to accelerate the scaling up of the regional entities into a diversified global risk pool, which could be very attractive to both reinsurance and capital markets.

Dr. Annette Detken, Head of GSSP explained, “At a time when political and fiscal challenges on climate finance are intensifying, this grant agreement provides a timely and necessary response. Regional Risk Pools are a proven, functional model for climate disaster risk financing and the Global Shield Solutions Platform is proud to facilitate their further collaboration and support their mission to enhance financial resilience against climate disasters.”

Lesley Ndlovu, CEO of ARC Ltd. commented, “This grant represents a pivotal step in turning our shared commitments into practical solutions. It enables ARC Ltd to deepen its impact across Africa while reinforcing the collective strength of the regional risk pools. By working together, we are enhancing countries’ ability to respond swiftly to climate shocks and building long-term financial resilience where it is needed most.”

Isaac Anthony, CEO, CCRIF SPC said, “This joint agreement heralds an exciting new beginning in the evolution of CCRIF and other regional risk pools. It represents a game-changer in how we deliver on our mandate as development insurers. By providing a stronger platform for collaboration, CCRIF will be better positioned to support the Caribbean and Central America in closing the protection gap while enhancing regional resilience to climate risks.”

Aholotu Palu, CEO of PCRIC added, “This partnership is a strong affirmation of the Pacific’s place in the global conversation on disaster risk financing. Through this grant, PCRIC can accelerate efforts to build tailored solutions for our region while contributing to a broader ecosystem of knowledge and solidarity among Risk Pools. We may be separated by oceans, but this collaboration shows our shared vision is united — to strengthen resilience and protect the lives and livelihoods of our vulnerable communities.”

Benedikt Signer, Executive Director of SEADRIF Insurance Company also commented, “The joint grant agreement marks a significant milestone in transforming evidence into meaningful action. This will support capacity building for beneficiaries, deployment of tested solutions, and strengthening of Risk Pools’ joint advocacy. Through close collaboration with regional risk pools, SEADRIF will expand its reach across ASEAN, further strengthening collective resilience and advancing sustainable growth.”

For these regional risk pools, the countries and people they serve, access to efficient risk capital is critical and anything that can be done to enable them to tap into the lowest costs of reinsurance capital can only help them expand their activities and deliver greater value to their constituents.

As a result, being able to diversify their sources of parametric reinsurance is also key, with the catastrophe bond market one instrument that could help in balancing their costs.

The capital markets and insurance-linked securities (ILS) have played a role for some of these risk pools in their reinsurance arrangements before.

For example, the CCRIF had benefited from a small private catastrophe bond with the support of the World Bank.

While, African Risk Capacity (ARC), at one stage had ILS players such as Nephila Capital involved in providing reinsurance to support its growth.

Accessing the lowest cost reinsurance capital and benefiting from economies of scale and diversification could help these risk pools to deliver even greater value to the regions they serve.

Parametric regional risk pools get Global Shield support to deepen collaboration was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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Generali Global Corporate & Commercial (GC&C) has named Michele Pignoli as Head of a newly established unit focused on Alternative Risk Transfer (ART) and Parametric insurance solutions, as the company sets its sights on scaling up this segment under its new 2025–2027 Next Level strategic plan.

Scaling up the product offering in ART and Parametrics is central to GC&C’s new roadmap, which focuses on driving technical excellence, enhancing client service, and delivering innovative risk transfer solutions.

The formation of the dedicated unit, now led by Pignoli, underscores the firm’s ambition to integrate both traditional and non-traditional risk transfer approaches into a more agile and client-centric offering.

Pignoli has over 10 years of insurance and reinsurance industry experience, having most recently served as the Global Head of Parametric Products & Solutions at GC&C.

Prior to this, he was Head of Group Insurance Capital Solutions at Generali, where he specialised in insurance-linked securities (ILS) and ART.

Before he joined Generali, Pignoli served as the Senior Global Practice Leader for Alternative Risk Transfer & Capital Solutions at Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS).

Then, before he joined AGCS, Pignoli spent several years working at reinsurer Munich Re.

He joined the firm in 2014 as a reinsurance accountant for financial risks, and then went on to become a manager of analytics within the Munich Re Capital Partners team in 2016, and then eventually became the Senior Financial Controller for the reinsurer’s Digital Partners and Capital Partners units in 2019.

Commenting on his new role, Pignoli said: “The establishment of a dedicated and structured unit for Alternative Risk Transfer solutions, including Parametrics, fully aligned with our vision of excellence and innovation, underscores our unwavering commitment to enhancing our client servicing.

“By integrating both traditional and non-traditional solutions, we aim to further elevate our steadfast client-centric approach and our dedication to being Lifetime Partners.”

The ART and Parametrics expansion is just one of several strategic pillars within GC&C’s Next Level plan.

The broader Next Level plan builds on the strong performance of the 2022–2024 three-year cycle, in which GC&C delivered more than €2.9 billion in GWP and increased profitability. It also aligns with the Generali Group’s overarching “Lifetime Partner 27: Driving Excellence” strategy.

Alongside the ART and Parametrics push, the plan includes priorities such as advancing underwriting analytics, boosting the Captive and Multinational Programs offering, expanding cyber and specialty lines, and enhancing GC&C’s presence in markets including Germany, Iberia, Latin America, and Asia.

Sustainability continues to be a key driver, with the business embedding climate adaptation and mitigation measures throughout its operations and product innovation.

Generali GC&C to scale up ART & Parametrics, names Pignoli Head was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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This video features an expert panel discussing the investment opportunity in parametric insurance-linked securities (ILS) 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 second panel discussion of the day, which was focused on the expansion of parametric risk transfer investment opportunities in the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market, titled: The parametric ILS investment opportunity.

The panel discussion was moderated by Martin Malinow, CEO, Parameter Climate.

He was joined by: 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.

Panellists discussed the evolution of the parametric insurance, reinsurance and risk transfer market, speaking about the history of this segment and its maturity into a parametric ILS opportunity for investors.

Speakers also explored what it is that makes parametric risk transfer an investable asset class in its own right, how this can be an attractive portfolio complement for ILS investors and where they expect to see growth in the use of third-party investor capital to support parametric insurance and reinsurance market growth.

Watch the full video of this parametric ILS focused panel discussion at ILS NYC 2025 (embedded below), for unique insights into developments in the parametric risk transfer market and how these present attractive investment opportunities and an area where the ILS market can expand its scope.

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 parametric ILS investment opportunity – ILS NYC 2025 video was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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CelsiusPro Group has expanded its parametric Climate Resilience Solutions (CRS) capabilities with the addition of a seasoned Disaster Risk Finance (DRF) team from broker WTW.

According to the announcement, the new hires, who previously worked at broker WTW’s Climate and Resilience Hub, will join Global Parametrics, the parametric risk transfer platform acquired by CelsiusPro Group in September 2023.

The team brings extensive project management and consulting experience from their previous roles, specifically targeting public sector, multilateral, humanitarian, and conservation organisations.

Comprising five professionals, the team offers a collective experience of over two decades in disaster risk finance and related areas, demonstrated through their work on numerous programmes across the sector.

Based in London and Zurich, the expanded CelsiusPro Group Climate Resilience Solutions team will be led by Kay Tuschen, who has headed the unit since October 2023.

Tuschen said: “We created the Climate Resilience Solutions team with the objective to deliver cutting-edge parametric solutions to the benefit of climate-vulnerable communities in the Global South. With this expansion of the team, we bring in brilliant people with an amazing track record in this challenging market. I am thrilled by the prospects for our team.”

Jamie Pollard, who is joining as DRF Lead, commented: “We are delighted to make CelsiusPro Group our new home. The company’s distinct value proposition, which integrates technology-enabled parametric insurance structuring and risk capacity for climate resilience projects, resonates strongly with both our expertise and interest. Together, we will continue supporting communities and organisations to build climate resilience in geographies that have been underserved to date.”

CelsiusPro strengthens parametric climate solutions team with hires from WTW was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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As wildfires and droughts intensify across the globe, the insurance industry is searching for ways to close the growing protection gap. With traditional insurance struggling to keep pace with the escalating frequency and severity of climate-driven disasters, parametric insurance is emerging as a powerful tool, but its effectiveness relies on accurate data.

To address this challenge, Skyline Partners has partnered with the European Space Agency (ESA) to leverage satellite technology in the development of more precise parametric insurance solutions for wildfire and drought risks.

The project, part of the ESA’s Business Applications and Space Solutions programme, aims to enhance the accuracy of parametric triggers, ensuring faster, more reliable payouts and making these products more accessible to insurers, businesses, and exposed communities.

In an interview with Artemis, Skyline Co-Founders Laurent Sabatié and Gethin Jones explained how satellite-based data can reduce uncertainty, lower basis risk, and ultimately expand the reach of parametric insurance beyond its traditional niche.

With wildfire seasons lengthening and droughts intensifying, entire industries, from agriculture to utilities, face increasing risks. The recent January wildfires in Los Angeles, California, clearly highlight how once-seasonal threats are now a year-round concern.

Speaking with Artemis, Jones explained that Skyline had identified wildfire and drought as key areas for parametric innovation long before recent disaster events.

“We engaged with the ESA on this about a year ago, before the LA wildfires. We recognised that wildfire seasons are getting longer, and areas that weren’t previously high-risk are now more susceptible. Meanwhile, drought isn’t just an agricultural problem. The direct losses are obvious, especially in agriculture. But it also impacts utility companies, hydroelectric power, and even river-based logistics. For wildfires, the damage to property is clear, but parametric insurance can also cover things like emergency response costs, supply chain disruption, and denial of access.”

These non-physical damage losses demonstrate how parametric insurance can have a significant advantage over traditional coverage.

However, for parametric insurance to be truly effective, the triggers need to be precise, which is where Skyline’s partnership with ESA can play a crucial role.

One of the biggest challenges with parametric insurance is basis risk, when a policyholder either receives a payout despite not suffering significant losses or experiences significant losses that are still insufficient to trigger a payout.

Sabatié emphasized how satellite technology is key to minimizing this issue.

“Lots of the emphasis on parametric design is on basis risk. So how can we be more precise on the use of appropriate data to settle claims that will be better correlated with the losses faced by the customers?” he explained.

“Wildfire is a great example of that, because ultimately, you want to know if an area has burned or not. The best way to determine that is through satellite imagery, tracking fire hotspots, temperature anomalies, and burn scars in real-time.”

Traditionally, insurers have relied on ground reports, weather models, and local fire agency assessments, which can ultimately be slow and inconsistent. In contrast, satellite-based parametric triggers offer high-resolution, monitoring of fire events, making them a natural fit for insurance applications.

“If you don’t use space data and you use something else, the basis risk will be very high. But using space data, you could argue that the basis risk is near zero. Then it’s only a question of estimating the loss, but the hazard footprint itself is perfect,” Sabatié said.

By working closely with ESA, Skyline is gaining access to a range of satellite assets and advanced climate monitoring technologies, allowing them to refine trigger designs and improve payout accuracy.

Sabatié added: “A big part of the work that Skyline is undertaking is how to choose the appropriate data sets and the right trigger design. We needed to enhance our space capabilities by getting direct access to ESA’s expertise, skill set, and satellite data. It’s such a vast amount of information that you need experts to navigate it effectively.”

Jones also added that combining ESA’s space expertise with Skyline’s deep knowledge of parametric product structuring is what makes this project so impactful.

“This all comes to the core of what we’re trying to achieve,” he said. “It’s about making this technology usable and accessible, so that insurers and alternative capital providers can confidently engage with these risks.”

Furthermore, while the project predominantly focuses on wildfire and drought, Skyline sees opportunities to apply satellite-driven parametric solutions to a wider range of climate-related risks.

“Technology is core to much of what we do at Skyline. We’ve already got active solutions for hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods. The key is taking complex data and making it simple, so that insurers, brokers, and businesses can easily access, price, and trigger coverage,” Jones explained.

He emphasized that having ESA as a partner is a huge step forward.

“With this wildfire product, it’s absolutely amazing to have ESA jointly investing alongside Skyline. Having access to their expertise ensures that we’re using the best available data and technology to create effective parametric solutions.”

As parametric insurance continues to gain momentum, Sabatié and Jones believe that demystifying the product and making it easier to access is key to its broader adoption.

“Parametric is definitely getting a lot more attention than it did when we first started the business. People now understand, or at least have heard of parametric. But the market needs to grow, and that will only happen if we make it easier to write, place, and price these risks,” Jones said.

“It’s very much about making parametric insurance accessible and increasing everyone’s understanding. If we make it easy for markets, brokers, and consumers to access these products, more will become available, and that will drive growth.

“We want to be at the heart of that, the go-to within the parametric space in terms of product development and technology. We are the catalyst, working with data providers, both open-source and private, to design and create the best products available. That’s ultimately the goal,” Jones concluded.

Leveraging space technology to refine parametric wildfire and drought products: Skyline Partners was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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Skyline Partners Ltd., a parametric insurance specialist, has announced a new project in collaboration with the European Space Agency’s Business Applications and Space Solutions programme to leverage space-based technology for the development of parametric insurance solutions for drought and wildfire risks on a global scale.

By utilising satellite data and advanced space assets, the initiative aims to streamline access to parametric insurance, enabling risk carriers to enter the market without the need for significant upfront investment in expert personnel, data, or technology.

Moreover, the project aims to enable the transformation of parametric drought and wildfire coverage from a niche area of the insurance sector to a substantial line of business.

Skyline Partners Co-Founder and Executive Director Laurent Sabatié, commented: “As the triggers and indices used for parametric insurance become more complex to ensure coverage best matches the needs of insureds, the market is continuously exploring new sources of data which can help us to improve parametric products.

“We are delighted to have engaged with the European Space Agency to investigate the possibilities of using space assets to build resilience through insurance.”

Skyline Partners Co-Founder and Executive Director Gethin Jones, said: “It’s superb to be working with ESA. As uncertainty builds across the planet, it’s imperative that we harness new data sources which can be relied upon to underpin the financial instruments we use to help the world build resilience.. We are excited to work with the Agency to develop ways to apply space assets to the world’s practical challenges.”

Ana Raposo, Business Applications and Partnerships Officer at the European Space Agency, added: “We are delighted to support Skyline Partners to advance the application of space assets for the improvement of parametric insurance projects and products and look forward to a highly fruitful collaboration.”

Skyline Partners & European Space Agency team for parametric wildfire & drought solutions was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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ICEYE, the provider of satellite data and services to inform decision-making and analysis, has unveiled its industry-first hurricane data impact solution that’s designed to provide insurers with near-instant visibility into wind and flood damage across the United States.

By delivering high-resolution impact data within 24 hours of landfall, the solution could significantly improve how insurers assess claims, allocate resources, and even potentially structure parametric insurance products in the future.

According to the announcement, ICEYE’s Hurricane Solution leverages a combination of advanced satellite imagery, ground-based sensors, and auxiliary data to capture a comprehensive picture of hurricane damage.

The system covers vast geographic areas, spanning tens of thousands of square miles, and can pinpoint areas of major neighbourhood and building impact along the hurricane’s track.

Additionally, ICEYE’s synthetic aperture radar (SAR) technology enables on-the-ground monitoring through cloud cover and day or night for continuous impact assessment.

Furthermore, the solution allows users to overlay property portfolio data for the impacted regions with a detailed heatmap that pinpoints neighborhood-level and individual building damage, along with a flood depth footprint measuring water levels in inches.

This level of precision suggests that the data could potentially be used as a parametric trigger, offering a real-time, objective measure to automatically initiate insurance payouts based on observed damage rather than modeled estimates.

Immediate access to this actionable data provides insurers with a comprehensive view of hurricane impacts well ahead of traditional sources. This will ultimately allow insurers to quickly identify the hardest-hit customers, pinpoint areas with high loss concentrations, and strategically deploy field resources.

As well as this, ICEYE noted that insurance carriers will be able to conduct rapid claims triage and immediately identify complex claims that combine wind and flood losses to inform adjuster allocation and help reduce costs.

Rupert Bidwell, Vice President of Insurance Solutions at ICEYE, commented: “Our Hurricane Solution offers insurers a completely new level of situational awareness as we head towards the 2025 hurricane season. Access to near real-time, large-scale damage data for both wind and flood within 24 hours of landfall can help supercharge every phase of the response from initial loss estimates to claims resolution.

“Ultimately, it helps insurers deliver an enhanced customer experience through more effective support, better claims triage, and faster settlement when they need it most. That’s truly game-changing.”

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The Governing Board of the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) approved a revision to its guidelines for engaging in catastrophe bond risk transfer to the capital markets this week, while also noting a successful reinsurance renewal at April 1st, saying it secured favourable pricing and limit.

The California Earthquake Authority (CEA) is a significant buyer of reinsurance limit still, even after its risk transfer tower has shrunk over the last year.

The CEA’s risk transfer tower had included just over $9.15 billion of limit as recently as following the June 2024 reinsurance renewal season, but has been steadily shrinking ever since.

As we reported earlier this week, at February 28th 2025 the overall tower stood at just over $7.72 billion.

Of that, catastrophe bonds provide $2.455 billion of multi-year reinsurance protection to the tower, so made up approximately 32% of the total as of that time.

Accessing the catastrophe bond market for reinsurance has been part of the CEA’s risk transfer strategy for many years and since 2011 the earthquake insurer has been a particularly consistent sponsor of cat bond issues.

But the CEA evolves its strategy and has now taken one step this week, to further streamline its use of the capital markets for reinsurance in a closed session of the latest Governing Board meeting.

Governor Designee Michele Perrault explained after the session reopened, “In consultation with legal counsel in closed session, the board approved a revision to the guidelines for securing risk transfer, traditional reisurance and alternative risk transfer.

“This revision removes a requirement that CEA, when transferring risk into the capital markets, procure an insurance policy to indemnify a reinsurer or service providers for claims related to their performance of duty.

“The board made this change in recognition of the maturity of the catastrophe bond market, as well as the increased sophistication of all of the involved parties, including CEA, its service providers and its legal team of in-house and outside counsel.”

It’s perhaps a signal that the CEA feels the cat bond market is mature enough that service providers should be able to participate in such a way that they take responsibility for their own delivery guarantees. Whatever the motive, it’s one additional way the CEA can reduce friction in its interactions with the capital markets for catastrophe bond issuances going forwards.

In our article earlier this week, we also explained that the CEA had a significant reinsurance renewal coming up for April 1st.

The CEA had almost $1.2 billion of traditional or collateralized reinsurance limit that was scheduled to mature on March 31st and we understood had been in the market for a renewal of some or all of that limit.

No figures have been disclosed, but CEA executives appeared highly satisfied with the outcome of its April reinsurance renewal.

Tom Hanzel, Chief Financial Officer of the CEA, noted when discussing the insurer’s finances, the reduction in reinsurance expenses, as the CEA’s reinsurance tower had become smaller over the last year.

But he also noted that the exposure base has stabilised somewhat, which might imply we’ve seen the last of the significant non-renewals that have occurred over the last year.

Hanzel also highlighted that the amount of reinsurance limit being purchased had reduced significantly, also saying that while the CEA’s risk transfer tower limit has come down, there have also been changes to its claims paying capacity overall.

Hanzel said that the CEA staff believes the sweet-spot in terms of claims paying capacity may be at the 380 to 400 year return-period. Recall that it targets maintaining claims paying capacity at least at the 350-year level.

Hanzel said, “We want to buy the correct amount of reinsurance, not over or under, at each period of time.”

Moving on to comment on the April 1 reinsurance renewal, Hanzel said that the CEA’s staff have, “Just finished up our April 1st, or finalising our April 1st renewal, and it was very successful, really well done. I think it was in our favour and our policyholders favour, in the amount of limit and the pricing we were able to secure.

“So that’s the first large reinsurance on a syndicated basis that we’ve done this year, and it went really well.”

Hanzel also said, in reference to the sponsorship of the $400 million Ursa Re Ltd. (Series 2025-1) catastrophe bond earlier this year, “We did the cat bond in February, which went equally well. So we feel strong about where we stand with the risk transfer market coming into 2025.”

It will be interesting to see whether the CEA renewed the full expiring limit of reinsurance at April 1st, or whether its risk transfer tower shrank any further. The commentary on stabilisation of exposure and the favourable renewal outcome might suggest more stability will have been seen in the reinsurance towers’ limit as well.

The CEA has $2.455 billion of outstanding catastrophe bond coverage still in-force at this time, continuing to occupy 3rd position in our cat bond sponsors leaderboard.

View details of every catastrophe bond sponsored by the CEA in the Artemis Deal Directory.

CEA revises cat bond issuance guidelines, says April reinsurance renewal a success was published by: www.Artemis.bm
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