Hiscox restores ILS momentum at 1/1, AuM back to $1.5bn

Hiscox reversed a decline in insurance-linked securities assets under management during the final quarter of 2025 and the 1/1 renewals, ending the season with $1.5 billion in AuM, as management noted that future reinsurance growth will depend on the availability of third-party capital.

The $1.5 billion figure is up from $1.3 billion at end-Q3 and the $1.4 billion it lists from after the prior year 1/1 fiesta. It should be a welcome gain for the group which has otherwise plotted a chiefly downward trajectory in AuM from a local peak of $1.9 billion at end-2022.

“The pipeline for further alternative capital inflows remains robust,” management said without further detail. 

And Hiscox claims to rely on that third party funding for its reinsurance operations. Gross premium growth in reinsurance “will be a function of the availability of third-party capital and growth in specialty lines,” CEO Aki Hussain (pictured)  said of the outlook for the reinsurance division Hiscox Re. 

For the full-year, Hiscox pegged gross capital inflows at $300 million, ahead of returns to shareholders, versus a prior year take that had been listed at $460 million, not enough to counterbalance that year’s outflows. 

Q4 and 1/1 flows remain guess work, but have signs of likely strength. Management had foregone any mention of flows in the traditionally quiet third quarter, but had admitted to a drop in AuM in H1 from scheduled maturities/returns and a hit, to flows or valuations, from California wildfires.

Fee income on the platform fell in turn, down to $109.4 million in FY2025 from the $128.2 million booked in 2024 from its ILS and quota-share partners. Managment cheered with note that 2025 represents the third consecutive year above the $100 million mark, with the majority from fixed fees. 

Hiscox is now hiving off its ILS operations from the Hiscox Re & ILS division that had housed a broader set of operations to date, the company has only recently announced. Hiscox considers the split a clearer and more streamlined way of presenting its product offering to cedants, brokers, institutional investors and re/insurance partners, the group said. 

Did you get value from this story? Sign up to our free newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.