Swiss Re secures market’s first $50m cyber retro ILW for US events
Reinsurance heavyweight Swiss Re has purchased the market’s first cyber retrocession industry loss warranty (ILW), brokered by Gallagher Re, securing $50 million of catastrophic US cyber insurance event protection.
The cover includes protection against widespread malicious ransomware or malware, prolonged catastrophic cloud outage and systemic data breach.
The news follows the recent launch of one of the first underwritten-rule 144A cyber catastrophe bonds, PoleStar Re. The trade was structured and placed by Gallagher Securities, with expertise provided by the Gallagher Re Cyber team and achieved an 87% upsize in marketing to $140 million. The cyber cat bond market continues to develop at pace, with more growth expected in the months and years to come.
Nick Meuli, head of P&C capacity management at Swiss Re, said: "Accessing alternative external sources of cyber capacity to support our inwards cyber business has been a key priority for us. We are very pleased to have secured significant ILW protection which provides yet another novel and complementary cover for our cyber portfolio."
Ian Newman, global head of cyber at Gallagher Re, added: "Alongside traditional retro and cat bond solutions, we believe ILWs and parametric solutions will form a critical part of the cyber value chain in the coming years. We are proud to have delivered another market first on behalf of Swiss Re, a true market leader in this space.”
Theo Norris, head of cyber ILS at Gallagher Re, added: "Successfully executing this innovative solution for Swiss Re is another step forward in broadening the potential access for capital to enter the Cyber insurance space and to provide effective, alternative solutions for insurers and reinsurers alike."
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