Bermuda Accounted for 63 Percent of ILS Issued during First Quarter

According to Bermuda Monetary Authority's Bermuda Insurance-Linked Securities (ILS) Market Report for the first quarter of 2018, the island remained the leading jurisdiction for ILS issuance, representing 75 percent of the global outstanding ILS capacity at the end of the quarter ($24.8 of $33.3 billion total global capacity).

The report stated that, globally, $2.2 billion net new risk capital was issued in the first quarter, resulting from 17 new deals and 11 maturing deals. Full global issuance for the quarter totaled $4.3 billion with $2.1 billion maturing, bringing the total outstanding ILS coverage to around $33.3 billion.

Of the total $4.3 billion ILS issued for the quarter, said the report, Bermuda remains the leading jurisdiction for ILS issuance, accounting for $2.7 billion (63 percent) of the issuance volume.

The Bermuda Stock Exchange lists 104 foreign ILS (171 tranches) with an aggregate nominal value of $25.8 billion, according to the report. Of the deals, around $1.4 billion (5.4 percent) were issued by vehicles domiciled in Ireland and the United States.

The average global deal size during the quarter was $253.4 million compared with $185.4 million for the first quarter of 2017. The largest deal was $500 million, and the smallest deal was $5 million. Comparatively, the quarter's average deal size for Bermuda-issued ILS was $284.4 million, an average increase of $64 million per deal compared to the first quarter of 2017. The average size increase resulted from large issuances of greater than $400 million with some small placements.

The report said the majority of ILS covers North American perils (60.2 percent or $20.1 billion).

The full Bermuda Insurance-Linked Securities (ILS) Market Report is available at the Bermuda Monetary Authority website.