On Wall Street, few propositions are as stark as this: you earn a floating coupon so long as a defined disaster does not strike; if it does, some of your principal is used to pay claims. That is the simple, disquieting bargain behind catastrophe bonds and reinsurance sidecars – insurance-linked investments that surged after a market “reset”, delivering the strongest two-year run in their history and luring in hedge funds, private-equity platforms, pensions and family offices. In 2023, the Swiss Re Global Cat Bond Total Return Index returned 19.7%, followed by 17.29% in 2024. By mid-2024, market yields hovered around