Schroders Capital, the private assets division of the global asset manager with a specialist insurance-linked securities (ILS) investment management business, has become the second manager in the catastrophe bond market to take its UCITS cat bond fund strategy over US $4 billion in assets under management (AUM).The Schroder GAIA Cat Bond Fund reached just over US $4.028 billion in assets as of November 21st 2025, setting a new all-time high for the strategy and the first time it has surpassed the $4 billion milestone.Like a number of the larger catastrophe bond funds, this strategy had been soft-closed for a time during the hurricane season when issuance is typically more scarce, we understand.But it has still been growing at a slower pace through the last month or so and this has led to the $4 billion in AUM milestone being surpassed.

It’s important to note that much of the growth in assets of recent weeks has likely been driven by the strong performance of cat bonds funds like the Schroder GAIA strategy, as returns accumulate as net asset growth., becoming the first insurance-linked securities fund launched on its Schroders Global Alternative Investor Access (GAIA) UCITS regulated hedge fund platform.The Schroder GAIA Cat Bond fund is therefore a particularly long-standing strategy in the UCITS cat bond fund market segment and it has been one of the largest for a number of years.

This cat bond fund first reached the $1 billion of assets under management mark back in October 2016, then grew to over $2 billion by March 2021.The Schroder GAIA Cat Bond Fund was then the largest of the UCITS cat bond fund strategies for a time and since 2022 it has been firmly in the top three UCITS cat bond funds, in terms of size, although occasionally trading positions with the other larger strategies.This cat bond fund reached $3 billion in AUM in early 2024 and hit $3.488 billion at December 31st of last year.

Which means the strategy has grown by more than $500 million in the current calendar year, reflecting the opportunity to welcome onboard more investors and capital through the busy period for the catastrophe bond market in the first-half of 2025, as well as the aforementioned continued strong returns generated through recent months.It’s testament to the Schroders Capital ILS teams expertise, discipline and access to distribution through the parent company that this strategy has been among the most consistent in growth terms over recent years.Which is also reflected in the returns generated, as the Schroder GAIA Cat Bond Fund had delivered its investors an 8.1% net return for 2025 to the end of October.

With catastrophe bond market issuance activity now picking up at an increasing pace towards the end of the year, we are likely to begin seeing some of the UCITS cat bond funds growing more meaningfully again.The Twelve Cat Bond Fund, managed by Twelve Securis, remains the largest in the market at this time, having now reached over US $4.477 billion in AUM as of November 14th 2025..

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