The catastrophe bond market is on course for only the second year in which issuance tops $20bn, and it is getting there faster than in 2025, Artemis reported on 23 October. The specialist publication has tracked $18.92bn of settled cat bond issuance this year, and a further $1.3bn is being marketed.
If that pipeline settles as planned, Artemis expects the 2026 total to reach about $20.22bn around the week of 9 November. In 2025 the market crossed $20bn for the first time on 25 November and ended the year at more than $25.6bn of Rule 144A and private deals. Artemis calculates that about $6.7bn of further issuance this year would be needed to set a new annual record.
Artemis links the pace to more sponsors, many of them first-time users of cat bond-backed reinsurance, to rising maturities that return cash to fund managers, and to growth of about $1bn in UCITS cat bond funds during the third quarter. It describes conditions for sponsors as "extremely conducive".
One example is USAA. Artemis reported the same day that the insurer has priced and secured $350m of four-year, per-occurrence, multi-peril indemnity cover from Residential Reinsurance 2026 (Series 2026-2), 56% more than the $225m first targeted. All three classes priced below initial guidance; the $100m Class 2 notes, which carry the highest expected loss of the three, priced at 7.25% against guidance of 8.5% to 9.25%. The notes have not yet settled. Once they do, the cover is due to run from 1 December 2026 to 30 November 2030.
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Artemis ↗News publisher · 23 Oct 2026
This is an original brief based on the linked publication. Company statements and forecasts are attributed to their source.
