Investment manager Amundi US has celebrated the anniversaries of its two dedicated insurance-linked securities (ILS) and catastrophe bond fund strategies, the Pioneer CAT Bond Fund and the Pioneer ILS Interval Fund, which have collectively surpassed $1.35 billion in assets under management (AUM).
Recall that, Amundi US launched its dedicated cat bond mutual fund strategy, the Pioneer CAT Bond Fund, in the first-half of 2023.Since then, the investment manager has been steadily building its assets under management in the fund to complement its other ILS offering, the Pioneer ILS Interval Fund, which allocates to quota share reinsurance arrangements, reinsurance sidecars and private collateralized reinsurance deals.
In late January, we reported that Amundi US’ Pioneer CAT Bond Fund strategy had delivered a 14.27% return in the year to October 31st 2024, while AUM in the strategy had continued to expand through the end of the year.
The second anniversary of the Pioneer CAT Bond Fund was on January 26th 2024, and the manager said it “marked its second anniversary with an annualised total return since inception of 14.44% through January 31st, 2025,” while also noting that by the end of the month, “the Fund had over $700 million in assets under management.”
For the Pioneer CAT Bond Fund’s Class Y shares, the 1-year total return reached 14.23% as of January 31st 2025.
The firm’s other dedicated ILS fund strategy, the Pioneer ILS Interval Fund, “marked its 10th anniversary with an annualised total return of 5.21% through January 31st 2025,” Amundi US explained.
The investment manager also noted that as of the end of the month, “the Fund had $652 million in assets under management.”
Collectively, this now means that Amundi US’ Pioneer CAT Bond Fund and its Pioneer ILS Interval Fund, have surpassed $1.35 billion in assets under management.
Chin Liu, Director of Insurance-Linked Securities, Director of Fixed Income Solutions, and Portfolio Manager of Pioneer CAT Bond Fund and Pioneer ILS Interval Fund, commented: “We continue to believe both of these differentiated fund offerings are attractive options for investors seeking alternative income solutions.
“ILS has historically exhibited low return correlations to equity and fixed income markets, offering valuable portfolio allocation and diversification benefits.
“Many of the favorable market trends that we witnessed over the past few years, including more demand from the insurance industry for capital relief and elevated ILS yield spreads potential remain firmly in place entering 2025.”
Jonathan Duensing, Head of Fixed Income, US, at Amundi US, said: “Investments in Insurance-Linked Securities and CAT bonds are a longstanding core competency of our fixed-income team. We have been pleased with investor reception for this asset class and acknowledgment of potential investment benefits of allocating to the market segment.”
With ILS and cat bond assets also held in multi-asset strategy funds as well, Amundi US’ total ILS assets under management are likely somewhere north of the $2 billion mark at this time.
