This was the third session of the day at our Artemis London 2023 insurance-linked securities (ILS) market conference, held on September 5th in London, UK.

Around 240 attendees enjoyed a busy day of thoughtful catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) focused discussion from industry experts, as well as valuable networking opportunities.

This session features a timely panel discussion focused on cyber catastrophe bond market developments, featuring some of those involved in some of the first wave of cyber cat bonds that launched soon after this event.

The panel discussion was moderated by: Kyle Freeman, Head of ILS Structuring, Property, AXIS ILS.

He was joined on stage by: Joe Gottlieb, Partner, Insurance Practice, Sidley Austin LLP; Rebecca Bole, Head of Industry Engagement, CyberCube; Richard Pennay, CEO of Insurance-Linked Securities, Aon Securities; and Benjamin Baltesar, Head of Underwriting and Pricing, Credit Suisse Insurance Linked Strategies.

The group explored the readiness of the market for cyber catastrophe bond, discussing the response of investors to the prospect of cyber cat bonds getting issued, and speaking to some of the challenges faced in getting investors comfortable with cyber risks in ILS form.

Event definitions were a focus, as this has been one of the key considerations for sponsors and their service providers, to ensure coverage is robust from a cyber cat bond.

The investor side was also discussed and the group agreed that, in cyber risk, event definitions are critical so that ILS investors understand what losses could qualify and they could be exposed to, if they invested in a cyber cat bond.

The group also said that the ILS market is ready for cyber and that investors have approached this in a pragmatic manner, with the initial cyber cat bonds ready to provide a good test for investor appetite and lay the groundwork for what could be an important new peril for the catastrophe bond market.

Listen to the full podcast episode to learn more about the nascent market for cyber catastrophe bonds.