Over the course of 2021, Bermuda saw an uptick in deal activity,
reflected by both a greater number of transactions but also by
aggressive deal timetables. A wave of amendments to previous deals
based on the phasing out of LIBOR (and its replacement by new
reference rates - SOFR, SONIA etc.) unquestionably featured heavily
in the motivating factors behind this trend. We also saw a
noticeable increase in demand for debt products across certain
industries. Most notably, in reinsurance, a number of asset
managers - whose investment focus is in insurance-linked securities
or collateralised reinsurance - found themselves seeking
alternative sources of capital and increasingly took to debt to
help fund renewals in this space. As a result, we expect that
managers will make greater use of credit facilities and other debt
products in this field and that this trend will continue into
2022
