Where the new ILS opportunities lie — and how to access them

In a webinar hosted by Intelligent Insurer’s Re/insurance Lounge, AkinovA CEO Henri Winand and Kirill Savrassov of Phoenix CRetro explored the possibilities for ILS to expand into new geographies and lines of business.

A significant motive for bringing insurance-linked securities (ILS) to new geographies is diversification of portfolios, according to Henri Winand, founder and chief executive officer of AkinovA. Speaking in an Intelligent Insurer Re/insurance Lounge webinar titled “New domiciles, new risks, new structures: another evolution for ILS”, he noted that while an attraction of ILS is that it is seen as uncorrelated from the capital markets, it has a disadvantage in that portfolios are largely concentrated in North America, and to some extent in Asia.

“Bringing in new regions so that portfolios are not all concentrated or moving up or down at same time is important,” Winand said, adding that to facilitate this, there need to be local regulatory frameworks in place that replicate aspects of Bermuda’s rules.
He added that a degree of education is needed for new investors—for example around issues such as trapped capital.

Geographical opportunities