Euler ILS Partners launched by Hilti and Credit Suisse ILS team as buyout completes

Euler ILS Partners Ltd. has been launched as a new independent insurance-linked securities (ILS) investment manager by Niklaus Hilti and the team that was formerly Credit Suisse Insurance Linked Strategies, after their management buyout of the company has been completed.

With the buyout closed there are some name changes and legal details of the transfer to be completed, but we understand that the entire Credit Suisse ILS team will now move to work as Euler ILS Partners and the newly named ILS manager will look to build on the business already created, with expansion in terms of product offering a target.

As we reported back in July, UBS had announced that it reached an agreement to sell the Credit Suisse Insurance Linked Strategies Ltd. business to its existing management team, led by Niklaus Hilti.

UBS Group sold its 100% holding in the Credit Suisse ILS operation to the team, with Euler ILS Partners Ltd. now the new brand that has been created for the ILS investment management business.

Effectively this is just a share ownership change and a rebranding, allowing Euler ILS Partners to now operate fully-independently, while all team members and products offered have been transferred to the new ILS manager entity, we understand.

Euler ILS Partners will continue to operate the same set of ILS funds and single investor fund mandates, with all products and funds moving over as part of the buyout.

Products and certain funds will be renamed in time to bring them into line with the new Euler branding, we are told.

Which means that Euler ILS Partners will continue to offer a registered UCITS catastrophe bond fund, as well as closed-end or private fund versions, plus ILS fund strategies and mandates focused on collateralized and fronted reinsurance and retrocession investments.

With the management buyout transaction now closed, Euler ILS Partners is now up and running with the same team and offering.

Speaking with Artemis, Niklaus Hilti, Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of Euler ILS Partners said, “The team is excited to be up and running under the new ownership.

“We are happy to continue to serve our investors and aim to bring innovation and new ILS investment products to market in the future.”

There has also been no change to the status and structure of Bernina Re Ltd., the reinsurance entity utilised by the team as a sourcing, underwriting and risk transformer platform.

Bernina Re remains wholly owned by Bernina Re Holding Ltd., which is capitalised by certain investment funds managed by the ILS team at Euler ILS Partners.

There will be a process of renaming certain fund strategies over the coming weeks and months, to align them with the new name.

On the name, Euler has been inspired by the field of mathematics, named after Leonhard Euler who was one of the most prolific and influential mathematicians in history, born in Switzerland in 1707.

Euler’s theories and statistical methods remain influential in risk management and are felt to have had a profound and lasting impact.

The Euler ILS Partners team say that the buyout of the business highlights their commitment to clients and is a pivotal moment for the company, allowing it to build on the strong foundation developed, while focusing on the same mission and innovation, all while maintaining the highest standards of excellence in everything undertaken.

Now, the new Euler ILS Partners business and its team can move forwards under the new ownership and brand, while benefitting from their long-standing more than 20 year track record in the ILS marketplace.

Sustainable investing is also set to be a focus for Euler, with the team saying that, “As an active investment manager, we believe in the integration of specific material environmental, social and governance characteristics, alongside commercial and economic considerations, into our investment decision-making process and risk management practices where applicable.”

Now independent, the Euler ILS Partners business could have more freedom to innovate and develop new offerings for its investors, with an ability to be more agile than it perhaps could in the past.

A new independent ILS manager offering may also prove attractive to certain investors and a new brand will likely gain some attention as well, so we look forward to watching as Euler develops.