Zurich, 7 April 2025 – Swiss Re, through its subsidiary Swiss Re Insurance-Linked Investment Advisors Corporation (SRILIAC), will assume the role of co-investment manager for GAM's insurance-linked security (ILS) fund range. This includes the GAM Star Cat Bond UCITS Fund, effective from 7 May 2025.
Swiss Re currently manages approximately USD 5 billion in ILS assets as of 31 March 2025. From the same date, it will also co-manage GAM's ILS funds, which have around USD 3 billion in assets under management.
As co-investment manager, Swiss Re will handle investment and portfolio management decisions. Meanwhile, GAM will continue to oversee risk management and lead global distribution and product structuring. The two entities will also collaborate on innovation within the ILS sector.
The Swiss Re Group is recognized as a leading provider of reinsurance and other forms of insurance-based risk transfer. It has been involved in catastrophe bonds since their inception in the 1990s and has arranged transactions with a notional value of about USD 50 billion through Swiss Re Capital Markets.
Investors in GAM's cat bond and ILS funds are expected to benefit from Swiss Re's extensive expertise in risk assessment and underwriting. This includes access to over 50 scientists specializing in catastrophe risk, more than 190 proprietary peril models, and around 200 terabytes of curated portfolio data.
The SRILIAC unit is led by Mariagiovanna Guatteri, who brings over two decades of experience in cat bond portfolio management at Swiss Re. She stated: "The ILS market set new records in 2024, and strong returns on cat bonds have highlighted the attractiveness and diversification value of the asset class for investors."
Catastrophe bonds offer financial protection against potential losses from natural disasters or other perils. They provide investors with an asset class that has low correlation with traditional financial markets.
The growth of the cat bond market is driven by increased demand for risk transfer due to economic development, concentration of insured values in vulnerable areas, changing vulnerability patterns, and climate change. This asset class offers scalable investment opportunities for diversification.
Christopher Minter, Head of Swiss Re Alternative Capital Partners, expressed enthusiasm about the partnership: "We are delighted to partner with GAM to co-manage their cat bond and ILS investment strategies. We look forward to working with GAM to bring SwissRe's unparalleled risk knowledge and cat bond industry experience to investors."