Swiss Re to be appointed as co-investment manager of GAM's catastrophe bond and ILS fund range

Zurich, 7 April 2025 – Swiss Re, through its subsidiary Swiss Re Insurance-Linked Investment Advisors Corporation ("SRILIAC"), will be appointed as co-investment manager of GAM's insurance-linked security (ILS) fund range, including the GAM Star Cat Bond UCITS Fund, effective from 7 May 2025.

Swiss Re manages approximately USD 5 billion in ILS assets as of 31 March 2025, including funds, sidecars and bespoke structures. From 7 May 2025, Swiss Re will additionally co-manage GAM's ILS funds, which have a total of approximately USD 3 billion in assets under management (AUM) as of 31 March 2025.

As co-investment manager, Swiss Re will be responsible for investment and portfolio management decisions, while GAM will retain responsibility for risk management oversight and will lead global distribution and product structuring. Swiss Re and GAM will also collaborate on ILS innovation.

The Swiss Re Group is one of the world's leading providers of reinsurance, insurance and other forms of insurance-based risk transfer, with a track record spanning more than 160 years. It has been a pioneer in catastrophe bonds (cat bonds) since the market was created in the 1990s, acting as a leading sponsor of cat bonds and sidecars and, through Swiss Re Capital Markets, is also a leading arranger of cat bonds having arranged transactions with a notional value of approximately USD 50 billion. This accounts for more than a quarter of the notional value of all cat bonds issued since 1997.

Investors in GAM's cat bond and ILS funds will now benefit from Swiss Re's extensive risk knowledge and underwriting expertise, including more than 50 dedicated scientists working in catastrophe risk, over 190 proprietary peril models and approximately 200 terabytes of curated portfolio data.

The funds will be co-managed by SRILIAC, a Swiss Re wholly-owned subsidiary and a US Securities and Exchange Commission registered investment adviser. The SRILIAC unit is led by Mariagiovanna Guatteri, who has more than 20 years' experience in cat bond portfolio management and natural catastrophe modelling at Swiss Re, including managing Swiss Re's proprietary ILS investments and managing third-party capital for Swiss Re's ILS-related investment strategies.

Mariagiovanna Guatteri, CEO and CIO of SRILIAC, commented: "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. It is an exciting time for the industry, and we see considerable interest both from cat bond issuers and investors."

Cat bonds, which are issued to provide financial protection against potential losses from natural catastrophes or other perils, allow investors to access an asset class, whose returns have low correlation with other financial markets asset classes.

The cat bond market continues to grow due to increased demand for risk transfer primarily driven by economic development, concentration of insured values in exposed areas, changing vulnerability and climate change. The asset class offers investors a scalable and diversifying investment opportunity.

Christopher Minter, Head of Swiss Re Alternative Capital Partners, said: "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 Swiss Re's unparalleled risk knowledge and cat bond industry experience to investors."