Gavin Parker, of Barclays, discusses the ILS market in
Guernsey and investor interest in the market.
Captive Review (CR): The ILS market has seen
significant growth in the last year, why do you think that is?
Gavin Parker (GP): It is a symptom of difficult
market conditions that investors look around for new types of
investment, needing to work harder to get a return on their assets.
In the current economic climate we are seeing investors considering
putting their money into alternative products, structures and
services and also being more realistic about the returns that are
possible and available.
Insurance-linked securities (ILS) is one such area. With the
insurance industry continuing to write more diversified lines of
business, such as cyber terrorism and hijack, the industry is
continuing to seek more efficient ways of accessing capital. At the
same time, investors are looking for better returns and
diversification in asset classes which are uncorrelated
