After breaking all records last year, catastrophe bond market momentum persisted through the first-quarter of 2026, with a significant $6.7 billion of new risk capital analysed and tracked in the period, making Q1 2026 the second most active start to the year in the cat bond market’s history, .The Artemis Q1 2026 catastrophe bond and related insurance-linked securities (ILS) market report examines the second most active first quarter in the market’s history, as a record 35 transactions comprised of 56 tranches of notes .In 2025, the catastrophe bond market broke numerous annual records as new issuance highs set in the first, second, and fourth quarters took total issuance above $20 billion for the first time, and by some margin.

The momentum has persisted and Q1 2026 has become the seventh-largest single quarter of cat bond issuance ever, according to the Artemis Deal Directory..So you can track the market in real-time with Artemis, the only place with such depth of data available and aligned with the market as it moves through every quarter and year.

In Q1 2026, 22 of the transactions placed, amounting to $6 billion, were traditional 144A property cat bonds.While this isn’t a record quarter for these types of deals, it is robust.This quarter also saw $385 million of Rule 144A issuance covering non-catastrophe risks, including healthcare and terrorism exposures, , which while strong is below Q1 2025’s $7 billion.

Cat bond lite, or private cat bond issuance, was also strong this quarter at $278 million, and although property cat risks account for the majority, one of these transactions covers cloud outage risks.Q1 2026 new catastrophe bond issuance outpaced maturities, meaning , reflecting market growth of 4% from the end of December 2025.Looking ahead to the second-quarter, with a massive $7.3 billion of maturities scheduled between April and the end of June, it’s going to take an above average level of issuance just to sustain market growth.

As of this morning we now have , so the market could well see further expansion we feel.numerous metrics of quarterly cat bond issuance, including triggers, perils, maturities, and pricing dynamics, detailing the strong momentum in the market that persists as well as the continued softening of risk spreads that is being seen..

We will keep you updated on all catastrophe bond and related ILS transaction issuance as we move through 2026, and we’ll report on the evolving trends in the cat bond, insurance-linked securities (ILS) and collateralized reinsurance market.For full details of first-quarter 2026 cat bond and related ILS issuance, including a breakdown of deal flow by factors such as perils, triggers, expected loss, and pricing, as well as analysis of the issuance trends seen by month and year.  For copies of all our catastrophe bond market reports, ..

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