This content is copyright to www.artemis.bm and should not appear anywhere else, or an infringement has occurred.

As the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) risk transfer needs have been adjusting and its reinsurance tower shrinking, catastrophe bonds now make up almost 32% of the total as of February 28th 2025.

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

The CEA’s risk transfer tower, made up of traditional and collateralized reinsurance as well as cat bonds had totalled $7.99 billion as of Nov 1st 2024.

When we last reported on it, earlier this month based on January 31st information, the California Earthquake Authority’s (CEA) risk transfer tower provided total private market protection of roughly $7.85 billion, of which catastrophe bonds were approximately 31%.

Now, a further disclosure from the CEA shows another small reduction in its traditional or collateralized reinsurance cover , with the overall tower $125 million smaller as of February 28th 2025, at just over $7.72 billion.

Thanks to its recent sponsorship of the $400 million Ursa Re Ltd. (Series 2025-1) catastrophe bond, the CEA still benefits from $2.455 billion of multi-year reinsurance protection provided by cat bond funds and investors.

The traditional and collateralized reinsurance component of the tower remains much larger at almost $5.27 billion as of February 28th 2025.

But catastrophe bonds continue to demonstrate their vital importance for the CEA, now being almost 32% of the total tower as of that date.

Cat bonds were just 25% of the tower as recently as June 30th 2024, which then increased to 28% at November 1st, stayed flat around the 28% mark at January 31st 2025, then 31% after the inclusion of the recent $400 million new cat bond issuance, and now 32% after the latest slight shrinking of reinsurance.

It’s going to be interesting to see how the CEA’s risk transfer tower adjusts after its April 1st reinsurance renewal date.

The CEA has almost $1.2 billion of traditional or collateralized reinsurance limit maturing on March 31st and has been in the market for a renewal of some or all of that, we understand.

The reason for certain non-renewals in the reinsurance tower over recent months is the fact that the CEA’s probable maximum loss at the 1-in-350 year loss event level has been declining at a faster pace that its reinsurance contracts have been coming up for renewal, while it has also been building internal capital 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.

As we also reported earlier this year, the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) has been exploring the need for either a pre-funded subsequent or second-event funding tower (with risk transfer and reinsurance perhaps a part of it), or the infrastructure for one, that would support its functions after a significant earthquake loss that depletes its claims paying ability, with a focus on ensuring financial stability for the long-term.

Cat bonds move up to contribute 32% of CEA’s smaller still $7.72bn reinsurance tower was published by: www.Artemis.bm
Our catastrophe bond deal directory
Sign up for our free weekly email newsletter here.

This content is copyright to www.artemis.bm and should not appear anywhere else, or an infringement has occurred.

Allianz Commercial, part of global insurer Allianz, has announced the appointment of Lara Martiner as Global Head of Alternative Risk Transfer at Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE (AGCS), effective April 1st, 2025, succeeding Grant Maxwell, who is leaving the German insurer at the end of June.

Martiner will also maintain her current role as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AGCS subsidiary, Allianz Risk Transfer AG.

Martiner has been with Allianz Group for over 14 years, having joined the company in 2011 as Legal Counsel, Head of Compliance, and location head in Zurich.

Throughout her career, she has held several senior roles within AGCS and its Alternative Risk Transfer division, including joining the executive board of Allianz Risk Transfer AG in October 2021 and taking on the role of Chief Executive and General Counsel one year ago.

Alternative Risk Transfer is a strategic growth area for Allianz Commercial, with increasing demand from clients looking to complement their traditional risk transfer programs with non-traditional solutions.

Parametric risk transfer remains a key component of the Allianz ART offering. In the past the group had a significant role in fronting for insurance-linked securities (ILS) capital providers, although has since pulled-back from that area.

In 2024, the firm’s Alternative Risk Transfer unit underwrote over €2 billion in gross written premium including fronting premiums.

With growing demand for non-traditional risk transfer solutions, including structured insurance, captive fronting, and bespoke risk solutions such as parametrics and sustainable solutions, Alternative Risk Transfer has become a strategic growth area for the firm.

“Congratulations to Lara on her appointment to this key role in our business and I look forward to working with her,” commented Vanessa Maxwell, Chief Underwriting Officer at Allianz Commercial.

Adding: “Alternative Risk Transfer is an area of key growth for us, and I have every confidence that she will continue to build on our capabilities and expertise, for the benefit of our wider business in future. I would also like to thank Grant for his capable and effective leadership of this business unit over the last five years and his almost 17 years with Allianz Group.”

Lara Martiner appointed Global Head of Alternative Risk Transfer, Allianz (AGCS) was published by: www.Artemis.bm
Our catastrophe bond deal directory
Sign up for our free weekly email newsletter here.

This content is copyright to www.artemis.bm and should not appear anywhere else, or an infringement has occurred.

Reask, the catastrophe modelling, climate analytics and data specialist, has announced that it has appointed Moody’s Joss Matthewman as its new Chief Revenue Officer, to help support the company’s next phase of growth.

Matthewman brings extensive experience in insurance, reinsurance and catastrophe modelling, as well as a deep understanding of how models are built, applied, and scaled across global re/insurance, parametric insurance, and insurance-linked securities (ILS) markets.

He joins the organisation from ratings agency Moody’s (previously RMS) where he spent four years as Senior Director of Climate Change Product Management & Strategy, responsible for driving go-to-market and product strategy across all climate change products.

Prior to joining Moody’s, Matthewman worked at specialist insurer and reinsurer Hiscox, where he held the role of Group Head of Catastrophe Exposure Management, overseeing the the groups catastrophe risk exposure across all exposed lines of business.

In addition, Matthewman started his career by working as a catastrophe model developer at RMS, where he held various roles leading model development across hurricane wind and storm surge risk.

Reask said that Matthewman’s unique experience in re/insurance and catastrophe modelling go-to-market strategy, coupled with the firm’s product market-fit made him the clear choice to spearhead the company’s next phase of customer-centric growth.

Addressing his appointment, Matthewman said: “With their demonstrated expertise in catastrophe risk and cutting-edge innovation, I am delighted to be joining Reask. I very much look forward to having this opportunity to help drive continued growth of the company.”

Jamie Rodney, CEO of Reask, commented: “Joss is a rare and exceptional talent having worked across the entire value-chain of building, buying and selling models. Coupled with his deep curiosity and ability to provide extreme weather data solutions that do not exist today, there is no one better positioned to understand the challenges our customers face. Joss’ expertise will be key in delivering value and maximising our product-market fit as we enter our next phase of growth.”

Reask hires Joss Matthewman from Moody’s as Chief Revenue Officer was published by: www.Artemis.bm
Our catastrophe bond deal directory
Sign up for our free weekly email newsletter here.

This content is copyright to www.artemis.bm and should not appear anywhere else, or an infringement has occurred.

Yokahu, an insurtech and Lloyd’s Coverholder, has announced the launch of a parametric risk exchange platform for the London insurance and reinsurance market, aiming to seamlessly connect brokers, carriers, and data providers to streamline parametric risk transfer transactions.

Yokahu believes that its launch of cat-risk.com will reduce friction in the market when it comes to trading in parametric insurance or reinsurance arrangements, while ensuring fast, transparent payouts when catastrophic events strike.

The company says that it has built its new parametric risk exchange with a goal to enhance the market, rather than disrupt it, transforming what can be a slow and high-friction process to allow for rapid quote and bind times, while offering real-time risk assessment, pricing and importantly seamless capacity allocation to parametric opportunities.

The cat-risk.com platform will enable multiple carriers to co-insure parametric risks that are placed on the platform, based upon the individual risk appetites of capital providers.

So it appears that capital will be able to express its risk appetite for deals, to win access to parametric opportunities through Yokahu’s new parametric risk exchange.

As a Lloyd’s Coverholder, Yokahu will administer each carrier’s portfolio separately and discreetly, allocating capacity to the deal presented using “BiPar principles in a manner that reflects the traditions of trading at Lloyd’s but in a digital context,” the company said.

Yokahu explained that, “This allows more risk carriers to enter the parametric climate resilience market with smaller initial lines and reduced portfolio volatility.”

Policy triggering will be automated through the digital parametric risk exchange, with any claims instantly presented for approval to carriers reducing claim payment times to as little as 48 hours.

The platform has been launched with support for extreme weather risks, including hurricanes, typhoons, and storms, with limits up to $5 million per transaction, but the goal is to include earthquake coverage and higher limits, as well as enhanced risk insights from data partners.

Yokahu said the platform launch already sees leading data providers such as Reask involved, while it is being supported by major capacity providers and top-tier brokers as well.

Tim McCosh, Founder & CEO of Yokahu, commented, “Parametric insurance has long been heralded as a solution for fast, reliable disaster payouts, but inefficiencies in placement have hindered adoption. With cat-risk.com, we are delivering on the promise of parametric insurance – removing barriers, improving accessibility, and ensuring resilience in the face of growing climate and disaster risks.”

Farid Tejani, Co-Founder of Yokahu, added, “This is about evolution, not revolution. cat-risk.com enhances the existing parametric insurance ecosystem, making transactions smoother, data integration stronger, and payouts faster. We believe this will help unlock the full potential of parametric insurance for businesses, governments, and communities worldwide.”

Yokahu CFO, Carsten Wolheimer, further stated, “cat-risk.com is an important step forward in combining financial markets expertise with innovative parametric risk transfer. By streamlining transactions and leveraging robust financial market principles, we are creating a more efficient, transparent, and scalable solution for disaster risk transfer, fully aligned with Yokahu’s vision for a digital insurance marketplace that delivers real impact.”

Digitally connecting parametric risk transfer opportunities from cedents more directly and efficiently to risk capital providers is a natural evolution for the market and one that has been gaining increasing attention, with other platforms already available that seek to address this.

Yokahu, with its Lloyd’s Coverholder focus, can channel parametric risk through its platform to Lloyd’s capital providers, which could help to make parametric opportunities more readily accessible, while also enabling cedents to get access to broader panels and more competitive capital, as well as offering faster payouts and digital monitoring of risk transfer arrangements.

Yokahu launches parametric risk exchange for London re/insurance market was published by: www.Artemis.bm
Our catastrophe bond deal directory
Sign up for our free weekly email newsletter here.