Plenum surpasses $1bn of AUM, as cat bond funds expand

Plenum Investments, the Zurich based specialist catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) investment manager, has surpassed US $1 billion of assets under management for the first time, with its catastrophe bond strategies benefiting from investor demand.

Plenum Investments has been managing insurance-linked assets since 2010 when it first launched a catastrophe bond fund strategy.

Since then the investment manager has branched out to also offer insurance bond fund strategies, longevity linked insurance funds, and also a second catastrophe bond fund that targets a higher return for its investors.

With a cat bond fund management track-record dating back well over a decade, Plenum has benefited from the increased investor demand for cat bond investments over the last year.

The ILS investment manager had last reported its assets as US $763 million at January 1st 2023.

Now, as of June 30th, the total has surpassed US $1 billion, representing over 31% growth in just six months.

Plenum Investments catastrophe bond fund assets make up US $780 million of that total.

A particular bright spot for Plenum Investments has been its Plenum CAT Bond Dynamic Fund, which was launched two years ago and now counts total fund assets of US $100 million, helping to drive this growth.

Dr. Rainer Grünig, CEO of Plenum, commented on the success, “This is a major breakthrough and great success for Plenum. What I am particularly pleased about is that our fund assets have grown steadily and, above all, organically over the years, which indicates that our specialization and focus are paying off.

“Such a result is only possible when the company and customers pull together. At this point, on behalf of our entire team, I would like to thank all our customers who made this possible and especially those who have accompanied us on our journey since the beginning.”

Daniel Grieger, CIO of Plenum, added, “We are benefiting from the current and future growth of the CAT Bond market, which has impressively delivered on its diversification proposition since its inception 27 years ago. The increasing demand for insurance coverage due to demographic, economic and climate changes as well as the sharp increase in investor awareness of this asset class will continue to drive this market.

“Our expertise in insurance bonds and longevity strategies complement our fund offering and will continue to thrive in line with our CAT Bond strategies and create value for our investors.”

Dirk Schmelzer, Lead Portfolio Manager of the Plenum CAT Bond Dynamic Fund also commented, “The strong demand for the Plenum CAT Bond Dynamic Fund is based on a growing understanding of investors that capacity in the CAT bond market niche is limited.

“To construct an optimal portfolio, investors need to be aware of the constraints of market size in the portfolio context. We believe that our constraint on fund size leads to better results for our investors.”

Plenum currently manages five investment funds, allocating to natural catastrophe risks via the catastrophe bond market, as well as to insurance bonds and longevity risk.

View information on many dedicated ILS fund managers, as well as reinsurers offering ILS style investment opportunities, in our Insurance-Linked Securities Investment Managers & Funds Directory.