Hamilton, Bermuda November 3, 2020 – Integral ILS Ltd. (“Integral”), an independent alternative fund manager focused on insurance-linked strategies (“ILS”), today announced the final closing of a cornerstone investment mandate with the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (“PSP Investments”), one of Canada’s largest pension investment managers. PSP Investments has provided Integral with significant LP commitments to launch a new dedicated ILS strategy focusing predominantly on natural catastrophe-linked reinsurance and insurance transactions.
“Integral is honored to have been awarded a cornerstone ILS investment mandate by top-tier pension manager PSP Investments. We appreciate the trust placed by PSP Investments in the Integral team and are committed to meeting their high expectations.” said Lixin Zeng and Richard Lowther, co-founders and Managing Partners of Integral.
The vision of Integral is to drive further evolution in the ILS fund management model with an investor-focused fiduciary that also benefits from a long-term and stable alignment with industry leaders in reinsurance and insurance underwriting and distribution. Both co-founders have deep industry knowledge and played key roles in building up two large ILS platforms, initially working together to found AlphaCat Managers in 2008, before Lowther left in 2014 to launch Hiscox ILS.
“The Integral mandate represents PSP Investments’ first ILS allocation as part of our Alternative Risk Premium strategy,” said Eduard van Gelderen, Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer, PSP Investments. “ILS is an attractive asset class given its low correlation and diversification benefits for our portfolio. We are excited to enter into a long-term partnership with such an experienced and well-regarded team in the space.”
About Integral
Integral was founded in July 2020 by industry executives Lixin Zeng, the former CEO of AlphaCat Managers and Richard Lowther, the former Managing Principal of Hiscox ILS. Strategic partners TransRe, a leading global property and casualty reinsurer headquartered in New York, and AmWINS, the largest independent wholesale distributor of specialty insurance products in the United States headquartered in Charlotte, enable Integral’s investors to have comprehensive access to the entire insurance value-chain.
About PSP Investments
The Public Sector Pension Investment Board (“PSP Investments”) is one of Canada’s largest pension investment managers with CAD$169.8 billion of net assets as of March 31, 2020. It manages a diversified global portfolio composed of investments in public financial markets, private equity, real estate, infrastructure, natural resources and credit investments. Established in 1999, PSP Investments manages net contributions to the pension funds of the federal Public Service, the Canadian Forces, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Reserve Force. Headquartered in Ottawa, PSP Investments has its principal business office in Montreal and offices in New York, London and Hong Kong. For more information, visit investpsp.com.