Best of Artemis, week ending April 5th 2026

Here are the ten most popular news articles, week ending April 5th 2026, covering catastrophe bonds, ILS, reinsurance capital and related risk transfer topics. To ensure you never miss a thing subscribe to the weekly Artemis email newsletter updates or get our email alerts for every article we publish.

Ten most read articles on Artemis.bm, week ending April 5th 2026:

1. El Niño to shape 2026 Atlantic hurricane season. US landfall threat remains: Accuweather
   The 2026 Atlantic hurricane season will be shaped by shifting climate patterns in the Pacific, but a forecast from Accuweather highlights the potential for rapid intensification and warns of three to five direct storm impacts on the United States.
2. US property cat rates down 14% in 2026 after April renewal, biggest drop since 2014: Guy Carpenter
   Property catastrophe reinsurance rates-on-line continued to fall at the April 1st renewals and for the United States, broker Guy Carpenter’s index now shows that 2026 is experiencing the sharpest fall in US property cat pricing since 2014.
3. Plenum urges European Commission not to adopt ESMA’s UCITS cat bond recommendation
   Plenum Investments has published a position paper clearly communicating its thoughts on the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) recommendation regarding cat bond eligibility under the UCITS investment framework.
4. Ariel Re opts to use London Bridge 2 PCC for new Titania Re cat bond sponsorship
   Ariel Re has returned to the catastrophe bond market initially seeking $125 million of US multi-peril retrocession, but for the first time the reinsurer is using the Lloyd’s insurance-linked securities structure for this London Bridge 2 PCC Limited (Titania Re 2026-1) issuance.
5. LA wildfires a real-world stress test. Investor confidence in wildfire cat bonds rose: Swiss Re
   Wildfires that struck the Los Angeles area in January 2025 served as a real-world stress test for outstanding wildfire catastrophe bond structures, while also increasing investor confidence in allocating to the wildfire peril, according to Swiss Re Capital Markets.
6. Cat bonds not as soft as a quarter ago, but falling prices erode some returns: Lane Financial
   Consultancy Lane Financial LLC launches its new report on the catastrophe bond market with some good news, its analysis shows the outstanding market yield of non-impaired natural cat bonds is no longer as soft as it was at the end of 2025.
7. Private equity and capital providers to expand reinsurance presence via AI-linked securities: EY
   The reinsurance sector is entering a era of “latent market demand” where private equity and alternative capital providers are set to expand their presence by exploring AI-linked securities, cyber catastrophe bonds, and other innovative investment vehicles, EY said.
8. Aspen Capital Markets AUM rose 23% to $2.73bn in 2025. Fee income up 15% to $194.4m
   Aspen Capital Markets grew its assets under management AUM to a new high of almost $2.73 billion in 2025, representing 23% growth over the year.
9. Reinsurance renewals soften again at April 1st. Japan cat rates fall by up to 20%: Howden Re
   The April 1st reinsurance renewals saw a continuation of the softening trend, with risk-adjusted property catastrophe rates-on-line returning to levels last seen in the early 2020’s, according to broker Howden Re.
10. Alternative / ILS reinsurance capital grew 18% to $136bn in 2025: Aon
    Alternative or third-party reinsurance capital grew by 18% over the course of 2025 and 10% just in the fourth-quarter to reach a record $136 billion at the end of the year, according to the latest estimate from broker Aon.

This is not every article published on Artemis during the last week, just the most popular among our readers over the last seven days. There were 33 new articles published in the last week.

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