Twelve Capital gets strategic investment from Graubündner Kantonalbank

Twelve Capital Management, the Zurich-headquartered catastrophe bond, insurance-linked securities (ILS) and reinsurance linked investment fund manager, is taking a strategic investment from one of Switzerland’s cantonal banks, Graubündner Kantonalbank.

Graubündner Kantonalbank has agreed to acquire a 30% stake in the holding company of the specialist insurance and reinsurance focused investment firm, Twelve Capital Holding AG.

Switzerland has 24 cantonal banks, serving the 26 cantons and Graubündner Kantonalbank with a history dating back to 1870 is one of the most established.

It’s a significant stake and will provide Twelve Capital with funding stability as well as a strong partner to support its continued development and growth.

At the latest count, Twelve Capital had almost $4 billion in assets under management across its insurance-linked investments business, according to the Artemis Insurance-Linked Securities Investment Managers & Funds Directory, $2.6 billion of which is allocated to investments in catastrophe bonds and other insurance-linked securities (ILS) instruments.

Twelve Capital also manages investments across the insurance and reinsurance balance-sheet, including in insurance bonds, private insurance debt and equities, as well as launching a recent partnership to target insurtech.

Twelve Capital explained that the strategic financial investment from Graubündner Kantonalbank (GKB) will strengthen GKB’s position as an investment house, while also supporting further expansion for the investment manager.

“Meaningful synergies” are expected to be exploited through the partnership, particularly in the Swiss market, and mutual competencies of the two parties are also expected to be strengthened.

GKB will also have a representative serving as a member of the Board of Directors of Twelve Capital.

GKB CEO Daniel Fust commented on the investment in Twelve Capital, “We are proud to be able to take this step and thus strengthen our sound investment expertise and expand the range of investment solutions. We are pleased to be able to offer our customers new opportunities in this way.”

Urs Ramseier, Executive Chairman of Twelve Capital added, “The strategic investment brings stability to our shareholder base and together with GKB we can continue to pursue our growth objectives.”

The transaction is expected to close in Q2 2022 subject to the approval of the relevant authorities.

This is the first investment we’ve seen into an established insurance-linked securities (ILS) manager for a while and for Twelve Capital this strategic move could help to drive growth, as well as further market share in its home country.

It’s another sign of the continued attraction to investments into the insurance and reinsurance sector, as well as a vote of confidence in Twelve Capital’s diversified investment platform focused on the sector and operations.