31: ESG in the ILS & Catastrophe Bond Market – Roundtable

This podcast episode features an executive roundtable discussion we held in December 2020 that brought together industry participants to discuss key issues related to the insurance-linked security and catastrophe bond market’s readiness for and adoption of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices.

This roundtable discussion sought to gain an understanding of the consequences of non-ESG compliance in insurance risk transfer; to identify starting points for improved compliance; alongside an exploration of the needs of the market and investors.

After an overview of the status quo around the implementation of the ESG framework in the European Union (EU), the conversation shifted focus to the ILS space and specifically, whether or not ESG is being sufficiently considered in the market at this time.

Industry experts noted that there is much more to do, on embedding ESG practices within insurance-linked securities (ILS) and catastrophe bonds.

In particular, the ability to be truly transparent and show investors that portfolios of risk ceded to, or underlying, reinsurance and ILS transactions are ESG compliant remains a significant hurdle facing the market as it seeks to meet rapidly evolving investor motivations and needs.