Following the closure of the new  catastrophe bond by entities linked to MGU SageSure, John Forney, President and CEO of GeoVera Nova, one of the sponsors of the issuance, has expressed gratitude for the strong investor response that the cat bond received from the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market.As Artemis has been reporting, GeoVera and SafePort successfully priced its first catastrophe bond sponsorship towards the end of 2025, with the Meritage Re Ltd.Series 2026-1  transaction securing the firms with $200 million of US named storm reinsurance protection.During the marketing phase of the transaction, the target issuance size was raised, but eventually the sponsors settled for the initially targeted $200 million of reinsurance.

The Meritage Re Ltd.Series 2026-1 issuance was also met with strong investor demand, which allowed the transaction to price significantly tighter than its initial guidance.As well as being the first issuance from Meritage Re, a newly established Bermuda special purpose vehicle (SPV), it also marks the first US named storm catastrophe bond for the three ceding companies that GeoVera Nova oversees.

The cat bond will provide SageSure’s carrier partners GeoVera Insurance Company, GeoVera Specialty Insurance Company, and Safeport Insurance Company with fully-collateralized, capital markets backed reinsurance protection against certain losses from US named storm events, on an indemnity trigger and per-occurrence basis over a three year term beginning early March 2026.John Forney, President and CEO of GeoVera Nova, commented: “We are grateful for the strong investor response to the first Meritage Re issuance.This catastrophe bond supports the growth of GeoVera Nova’s insurance companies to meet the continued demand for our differentiated solutions.

He continued: “By leveraging capital markets for hurricane protection, we are further diversifying our reinsurance program and strengthening our ability to provide stable, reliable capacity in catastrophe-prone regions.” Terry McLean, President and CEO of SageSure, said: “We are pleased to see the ILS market’s confidence in the GeoVera Nova and SageSure partnership.Capital markets continue to enhance the resilience of our programs and position our carrier partners for long-term stability and success.” Swiss Re Capital Markets acted as the sole structuring agent and bookrunner for the transaction, as it has for a number of previous SageSure-related cat bond deals.Jean-Louis Monnier, CEO of Swiss Re Capital Markets Corporation, commented: “Strong investor interest for the Meritage Re issuance led to pricing well below the initial guidance.

This transaction highlights the market’s recognition of the quality of GeoVera Nova’s portfolio and its confidence in SageSure’s underwriting and claims handling platform.” As a reminder, you can read all about this new catastrophe bond transaction and every other cat bond ever issued in our extensive Artemis Deal Directory..All of our Artemis Live insurance-linked securities (ILS), catastrophe bonds and reinsurance can be accessed online.Our can be subscribed to using the typical podcast services providers, including Apple, Google, Spotify and more.