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Speaking today at a briefing held in Monte Carlo at the Rendez-vous event, Angela Yeo, Senior Director, Analytics at global ratings agency AM Best has highlighted how investors’ appetite for catastrophe bonds has helped the space continue to grow.

With third-party capital deployed in reinsurance anticipated to grow by almost 7% this year, with AM Best and Guy Carpenter projecting it to end the year at a new high of $114 billion, Yeo explained how a lot of this growth boils down to the substantial growth that’s been seen within the catastrophe bond market in 2025.

“In the first half of 2025 we’ve already seen record issuances reaching nearly $17 billion, which has already surpassed full year 2024 issuances. And we think that it is quite realistic to expect the year ending in about $19 to $20 billion,” Yeo explained.

“The total outstanding bond amounts is about $53 billion year to date, which is both a record in itself, but it is also now clearly the biggest sub segment under ILS.”

According to Artemis’ data, total cat bond and related ILS issuance in just the first six months of 2025 almost broke the annual record set in 2024 of $17.7 billion, while new annual records were set for 144A property cat bond and total 144A cat bond and related ILS issuance.

However, the total cat bond issuance record was broken soon after July 1st and at $18.4 billion at the time of writing, according to Artemis’ data, is on track to hit and exceed the $20 billion mark.

Yeo continued: “So, the next biggest sub segment is collateralized reinsurance, which could range between $46 and $50 billion without estimates. It is very difficult to know the exact figures as a lot of these deals are private.”

Yeo also highlighted how cat bond sponsor diversification has shifted throughout 2025, particularly regarding small-to medium-sized US domestic insurers, which has seen their market share increase from 21.2% in 2024 to 35.2% in 2025.

“So, what are the factors for cat bond growth? Well, investors just love them. The risk attachment is remote very much within the upper layers, the perils are very well defined. They are performing strongly and they’re still attractive, not correlated, typically, with other broader capital markets,” Yeo commented.

Adding: “The collateral yields themselves may be low in 2025 due to some of the actions taken by central banks. However, they’re still opposed to 2021 levels. So, we have seen good evidence that supply is still up in all disasters from investors.”

Later on, AM Best also highlighted how casualty securitization has continued to see steady growth across the ILS market.

“There’s different risks being securitized, so there’s a lot of movement in the market, and we’re watching that very carefully,” Yeo added.

She continued: “I think one of the attractions of cat bonds has been that they are relatively short term, and to securitize a more long-term risk is something that in the past people had doubts about it, but we have seen first steps towards that development. So, I think we will see more of that.”

Further adding to this, Greg Carter, Managing Director, Analytics, EMEA & Asia Pacific, explained how the industry appears to moving towards a point where casualty securitization is perhaps becoming more of a receptive instrument for investors.

“I think the non nat cat space is seeing growth, and there’s a lot of interest, but I think it’s that long tail nature. And if you look at the kind of risks that suit ILS structures, it’s those risks that can be modeled reasonably accurately. Catastrophe buffer fits that well, I think casualty fits it less well, but there’s a lot of work ongoing, and we are reaching the critical mass where it becomes a more receptive instrument for investors,” Carter explained.

Taipei, Sept. 7 (CNA) Taiwan’s consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.6 percent in August, staying below the 2 percent alert level for the fourth straight month, but low-income households continued to feel sharper price pressures, according to the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS).

The uptick, from 1.53 percent in July, was mainly driven by typhoons and heavy rain that pushed up prices for vegetables, pork and dining out, the agency said Friday when it released August CPI data.

While overall inflation pressure has eased, a breakdown by income groups showed that low-income households continued to shoulder a heavier burden, the data indicated.

Their CPI rose 1.82 percent in August from a year earlier, higher than the overall index, compared with 1.62 percent for middle-income households and 1.5 percent for high-income households.

From January to August, CPI for low-income households climbed 2.03 percent, above the 2 percent alert line, while the increases for middle- and high-income households were 1.89 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively, the data showed.

The agency noted that CPI for low-income households has historically run higher than the overall index, as food — the main driver of recent price hikes — takes up a greater share of their spending.

Among the major categories in the CPI, food prices rose the most in August, up 3.18 percent, followed by miscellaneous items (2.59 percent), housing (1.8 percent), healthcare (1.75 percent), and education and recreation (1.26 percent).

Clothing dropped 0.85 percent, while transportation and communications fell 1.34 percent.

The DGBAS said short-term weather factors had temporarily driven up prices but predicted CPI growth could ease in September if conditions stabilize. Still, essential goods will likely keep low-income households under greater strain, it added.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino has denied recent rumors that the stablecoin issuer is offloading its Bitcoin holdings to buy gold.

In a Sunday post on X, Ardoino said the company “didn’t sell any Bitcoin,” and reaffirmed its strategy of allocating profits into assets like “Bitcoin, gold, and land.”

The comments came in response to speculation from YouTuber Clive Thompson, who cited Tether’s Q1 and Q2 2025 attestation data from BDO to claim the firm had reduced its Bitcoin (BTC) position. Thompson pointed to a drop from 92,650 BTC in Q1 to 83,274 BTC in Q2 as evidence of a sell-off.

However, Jan3 CEO Samson Mow debunked the claim, noting that Tether transferred 19,800 BTC to a separate initiative called Twenty One Capital (XXI) during the same period. That included 14,000 BTC sent in June and another 5,800 BTC in July.

Related: Tether holds talks to invest across gold supply chain: Report

Tether moves $3.9 billion in BTC to XXI

In early June, Tether moved over 37,000 BTC, worth approximately $3.9 billion, across numerous transactions to support XXI, a Bitcoin-native financial platform led by Strike CEO Jack Mallers.

“Tether would have had 4,624 BTC more than at the end of Q1 if the transfer is accounted for,” Mow explained, adding that the firm actually increased its net holdings.

Ardoino echoed the explanation, saying the Bitcoin was moved, not sold. “While the world continues to get darker, Tether will continue to invest part of its profits into safe assets,” he wrote.

Tether, the issuer of the USDt (USDT) stablecoin, holds over 100,521 BTC, worth around $11.17 billion, according to data from BitcoinTreasuries.NET.

Related: Tether scraps plan to freeze USDT on five blockchains

El Salvador buys $50 million in gold

Tether’s Bitcoin sell-off rumors came as El Salvador revealed it has added 13,999 troy ounces of gold worth $50 million to its foreign reserves, marking its first gold acquisition since 1990. The central bank said the move is part of a diversification strategy to reduce reliance on the US dollar.