Members Capital emerges to (re)diversify ILS capital with Ben Fox as CIO

A new Bermuda-based asset manager has emerged named Members Capital Management Limited with well-known insurance-linked securities (ILS) industry executive Ben Fox in the Chief Investment Officer role and a mission to (re)diversify sources of reinsurance capital using digital and tokenized assets.

Members Capital Management Limited has been licensed and is authorised and regulated by the Bermuda Monetary Authority and seeks to “provide greater access to institutional-grade investment opportunities while meeting the needs of a prosperous future,” the firm’s LinkedIn page states.

Lloyd Wahed, an executive with a record of scaling regulated asset managers, fintech companies, and digital asset enterprises is Members Capital CEO, Co-Founder & Managing Partner.

Wahed has a background in fintech and a range of digital asset venture companies and has also been an advisor at Nayms, a fully-regulated marketplace for on-chain insurance that provides cover for digital asset-related risk, leveraging blockchain and smart contract technologies to deliver a platform for the trading of digital insurance-linked securities (ILS).

Patrick Barrett is COO and also a Co-Founder at Members Capital Management, coming with a track record in cross-border deal-making, business growth, and investor solutions, with a Partner level legal background, as well as venture and fintech investing.

Ben Fox, most recently Head of Strategy and Risk at Hiscox ILS, but also with a background that includes ILS investing at Ontario Teachers’​ Pension Plan and working as a financial specialist with a focus on catastrophe bonds, ILS and disaster risk financing at the World Bank, has taken the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) role at this startup asset manager.

Jeremy Williams, a compliance and security expert with a background in the AML and financial crime functions of HSBC Global Banking and Danske Bank, and as the global head of KYC at Wise (formerly Transferwise), is Members Capital Management’s Head of Compliance.

The goal of Members Capital Management, according to the firm’s new website, is to “unlock new sources of capital by bridging digital and tokenized assets into reinsurance.”

The aim is to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns that are uncorrelated, as is the mandate of ILS and reinsurance capital investment managers, with a focus on diversified sources of return, generated via effective risk modelling and allocation strategies.

The firm will target well-understood, well-priced, and well-structured areas of the ILS market, the company says, to provide access to institutional-grade investment opportunities “while meeting the needs of a prosperous future.”

The technology and on-chain focus is clear, with partnerships established with digital asset specialist Coinbase, insurance manager and fiduciary service provider Apex Group, and Nayms, the aforementioned on-chain risk transfer market specialist.

Strategic details beyond the initial marketing materials that have become available are not currently known, but we understand an official launch is coming soon and look forward to understanding more on the new venture.

Breaking ground in ILS with the use of digital asset technology and infrastructure, as well perhaps as capital currently stored in digital assets, has often been discussed in our coverage over the years.

But a concerted effort to leverage these techniques to offer diversifying ILS and reinsurance investment opportunities has yet to emerge, to-date, so this will be an interesting new venture to follow.