Bermuda cat bond, ILS, alternative capital reinsurance registrations rise in H1 2025

Bermuda has continued to see strong registration numbers of new catastrophe bond, insurance-linked security (ILS) and alternative or third-party reinsurance capital related entities through the first-half of 2025, with the total rising slightly according to Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) data.

The number of special purpose insurers (SPIs) registered by the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) through H1 2025 was exactly the same as the prior year, at 14.

13 restricted SPI’s were registered for catastrophe bond issuances in the period, while the other entity is an unrestricted SPI that can be utilised more broadly as a multi-use collateralized reinsurance structure. H1 2024 saw 14 restricted SPI’s registered, but no unrestricted SPI vehicles.

Remember that catastrophe bond SPI’s tend to be used multiple times over a number of years, in most cases, so the continued flow of new cat bond issuers is positive for a continuation of new issuance activity levels coming out of Bermuda.

In addition to this, 4 new collateralized insurer class companies were registered in H1 2025, which is 2 more than seen in the prior year.

Unfortunately the BMA has not reported on intermediaries at this half-year. Last year there was 1 ILS related intermediary, a manager, which took the H1 2024 total for new registrations we could definitely identify as ILS related to 17.

H1 2025 has seen 18 registrations by the BMA of companies we can definitively identify as having an ILS use-case.

The continued growth in registrations is particularly impressive when you consider that so many of the cat bond and ILS structures registered in Bermuda over the years are able to be used multiple times.

Gone are the days where new special purpose vehicles need to be established for every ILS transaction, with the majority of structures able to issue multiple series of notes or preference shares, and a growing number able to transact with multiple counterparties as well.

Focusing just on the SPI’s and collateralized insurer’s, Bermuda’s registrations have been keeping pace with market expansion.

The chart below includes H1 data for BMA registrations, focused on the structures we are able to identify as having an ILS use-case.

It’s worth noting that, beyond the Bermuda insurance registrations we can identify as having a cat bond or ILS use-case, there have been others registered this year that are structures used for channelling third-party capital efficiently to reinsurance opportunities, such as life and annuity reinsurance sidecar-style companies.

That’s another growing trend, with more of these structures coming to market over the last few years and almost every one registered in Bermuda.

Overall, across cat bond, ILS and third-party capital underwriting use-case company registrations, Bermuda saw 20 registrations of such vehicles in H1 2025, compared to only 17 a year ago.

Bermuda continues to maintain its position as the leading domicile for insurance-linked securities (ILS) of all kinds, as well as for the expanding use of third-party capital within structures that directly source reinsurance industry returns for investors.

Impressively, Bermuda is home to the vast majority of ILS issuance vehicles through registrations under the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA), as well as to ILS structure and cat bond note listings through the Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX).

You can read about and view details of many of the Bermuda registered SPI’s and other ILS structures in our catastrophe bond Deal Directory and our reinsurance sidecar transaction listing.