Here are the ten most popular news articles, week ending February 8th 2026, covering catastrophe bonds, ILS, reinsurance capital and related risk transfer topics.To ensure you never miss a thing or get our email alerts for every article we publish.Zurich & Beazley reach agreement ‘in principle’ on £8bn deal After Beazley rejected Zurich’s acquisition proposals last month and in 2025, the pair have now reached an agreement in principle on the key financial terms of a possible recommended cash offer, with Zurich lifting the offer to a total value of up to 1,335 pence per Beazley share.

Winter storm Fern privately insured loss estimated at $6.7bn by KCC Catastrophe risk modelling specialists at Karen Clark & Company (KCC) have pegged private insurance industry losses from winter storm Fern in the US at $6.7 billion, with estimated losses the highest in Texas and Tennessee.Squarepoint hires Guillaume Legal as ILS Portfolio Manager Squarepoint, a leading privately held quantitative investment manager, is pushing into insurance-linked securities, with its latest move being the hiring of Guillaume Legal as ILS Portfolio Manager, who joins the firm from his most recent position specialising in ILS at SCOR Investment Partners.California FAIR Plan returns with $200m target for second Golden Bear Re wildfire cat bond The California FAIR Plan Association has returned to the catastrophe bond market for its second sponsorship, seeking $200 million or more in capital markets backed wildfire reinsurance protection through a Golden Bear Re Ltd.

(Series 2026-2) cat bond issuance.Elementum promotes five, including Lauer to Chief Operating Officer Elementum Advisors, LLC, an alternative investment manager that specialises in collateralized natural catastrophe event reinsurance investments, has announced five promotions within its business, the most senior of which involves Andrew Lauer being promoted to Chief Operating Officer (COO).Verisk estimates winter storm Fern insured losses could reach $4bn Verisk is the second of the catastrophe risk modelling specialists to release an estimate for insurance industry losses caused by recent winter storm Fern in the United States, saying the total could reach $4 billion.

Cat bonds a sustainable opportunity.Private ILS gaining investor momentum: JANA As the catastrophe bond market continues to expand, these particular financial instruments continue to offer a sustainable opportunity for investors, while interest in private insurance-linked securities (ILS) is increasing as investors seek to further diversify within the asset class, according to Chris McAvoy, Head of alternatives research at JANA Investment Advisers Pty Limited.High attachments anchor profitability despite renewal property cat rate declines: J.P.

Morgan In the wake of the 2026 January reinsurance renewals, which saw double-digit declines in property catastrophe reinsurance pricing, analysts at J.P.Morgan have highlighted that while attachment points have largely held up, this has driven profitability to be likely better than the pricing levels suggest.Slide targets $250m Purple Re 2026-1 cat bond, for broadest named storm reinsurance yet Slide Insurance Company is back in the catastrophe bond market with an initial target to secure $250 million of collateralized named storm reinsurance through a Purple Re Ltd.

(Series 2026-1) issuance, that seeks protection across a greater number of states than any of its previous cat bond deals.Twelve Securis partners with UBP to develop and launch new Mosaic ILS Fund Twelve Securis announced the launch of its new Mosaic ILS Fund, jointly developed with Swiss private bank, Union Bancaire Privée (UBP), building on their established working relationship.This is not every article published on Artemis during the last week, just the most popular among our readers over the last seven days.

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