Losses can take principal
One event can turn a year from gain to loss. In September 2022, Hurricane Ian cut a widely followed catastrophe bond index by about 10%. 5
ILS Products
Capital markets for insurance risk.
Insurance risk is a large market that most capital still cannot see into. Show investors the risk in detail, down to the policy, and move capital as fast as the claims, and the products get better: they reach a wider pool of holders, who see what they back, hold it as a transferable position, and exit when their view changes.
What capital sees today
- A report, months after the fact. Holders of insurance risk see a periodic summary, not the policies, cessions and losses underneath.
- Figures that can't be traced. A number in an investor report rarely leads back to the policy, clause or settlement that produced it.
- Collateral taken on trust. When the documents behind the collateral fail, the risk was never what holders thought it was. 7
A product built on one signed record lets capital check the risk it backs, down to the policy.
The opportunity
A large market that most capital can't reach.
Reinsurers carry most insurance risk on their own balance sheets. Only a slice reaches capital-markets investors, through catastrophe bonds and other insurance-linked securities, because outside capital can't see the risk well enough to price it.
- USD 800bnglobal reinsurance capital at 30 June 2026 1
- USD 144.5bnof it alternative capital, about 18% 2
- USD 24.9bnof catastrophe bonds issued in the year to June 2026, a record 2
The slice is growing, and it can grow much faster. Make the risk visible and verifiable, and insurance risk can reach the far larger pool of capital that stays out today.
USD 800bnReinsurance capital
144.5bnAlternative capital
65.6bnCat bonds
What the record changes
From a quarterly report to the risk itself.
01 Today: a report, months later
02 On the record: each figure to its source
03 The record a product needs
PDF
Investor report · Q2Sent 30 September
Premium earned4.1M?
Losses incurred1.3M?
CollateralHeld in trust?
3 months after the period Recovery · HUA-2026-0007USD 40,000 Atlas Re · 40% line
MGA
Policy bound within its binderHarbour Underwriting · Clause 4.1
CAR
Ceded through the quota shareNorthgate Mutual · QS-WH-FLOOD-2026
RE
Recomputed from the treatyAtlas Re · 100,000 × 40%
✓
Balance signed by both sidesStatement through 30 April
Not a product. The record a product needs.
Better products
Transparent, faster and transferable.
More detail on the risk and faster-moving capital make better insurance products, and better products reach a wider pool of holders. The record is the first step; the rest is what it makes possible.
- TodayOne signed record
Each policy, cession, loss and balance, entered once by the party that owns it.
- NextHolders see what they back
A product's risk described from the record, down to the policy, rather than from a quarterly report.
- NextCapital moves with the claims
Premiums, losses and recoveries reach holders as they are booked, not months later.
- NextPositions you can transfer
Tokenized positions that holders can hold, transfer, and exit when their view changes.
What to weigh
Insurance risk is real risk.
A verified record makes risk visible. It does not make it smaller. Anyone backing insurance risk should weigh these, whatever the product.
Judge the bad year, not the average
Averages across years hide single-event losses. What matters is the outcome in a heavy loss year, and whether cover pays per event or in aggregate.
Collateral can be held for years
After a large event, collateral stays held while losses develop. An estimated USD 5–10bn was still held a year after Ian. 6
Models are least sure where losses grow fastest
Wildfire, storm and flood made up 92% of insured catastrophe losses in 2025, the perils models handle least well. 4
Exits can be slow
Secondary markets for insurance risk are thin, and redemptions can be gated after an event.
Pricing moves with capital
Capital is plentiful and 2026 renewals saw rates fall. The case for the asset class is not a call on pricing. 1
Sources
- Aon, Reinsurance Market Dynamics, September 2026: global reinsurance capital of USD 800bn at 30 June 2026; 2026 renewal pricing. aon.mediaroom.com
- Aon Securities, Insurance-Linked Securities annual report, 28 August 2026: alternative capital USD 144.5bn; cat bond issuance USD 24.9bn in the 12 months to 30 June 2026. aon.mediaroom.com
- Artemis, Catastrophe Bond & ILS Market Report, Q2 2026: USD 65.6bn outstanding at the end of June 2026. artemis.bm
- Swiss Re Institute, sigma 1/2026: insured natural catastrophe losses of USD 107bn in 2025; secondary perils 92%; 5–7% real annual growth. swissre.com
- Artemis, on the September 2022 performance of catastrophe bond and ILS fund indices after Hurricane Ian. artemis.bm
- Artemis, on Hannover Re's estimate of ILS capital still held after Hurricane Ian. artemis.bm
- Bloomberg, 14 August 2023, on a reinsurance platform's bankruptcy after fraudulent collateral was found. bloomberg.com
Not an offer. Cork has no ILS product, offers no investment and is not soliciting capital. Nothing on this page is investment, legal or tax advice. Figures describe the market, not anything Cork has issued.
Capital markets for insurance risk start with a record capital can check.
Get in touch
Talk to us about issuing insurance risk onchain, on a record anyone can verify.
Firms and figures in the animations are illustrative.
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