The ILS market got the chance to step out of the reinsurance spotlight this year at Monte Carlo, after several years as one of the key talking points during the annual Rendez-Vous.
Instead, the focus shifted to M&A and consolidation, as the industry paused for breath after a year of frantic deal-making.
Ironically, the transition has been prompted by the ILS market's previous success in hogging centre stage - after a storming few years of growth, lucrative catastrophe margins have eroded and forced change upon traditional reinsurers.
But at the same time, this also puts the onus back on the alternative market to consider what is next on the to-do list.
This was the ultimate theme of much of the thoughtful debate among industry leaders at the Trading Risk Monte Carlo Roundtable 2015.
Some still see plenty of room for further growth in the peak cat market - the initial raison d'être for institutional investors becoming more directly active in reinsurance.
However, others at the table suggested that the significant growth to be had from this model may have run its course. In order to keep up, ILS managers would need to offer a broader range of solutions, some of which might require the traditional infrastructure of rated carriers.
All these trends are clearly already playing
out in the market, and the ILS industry will continue to become a more diverse place as specialist managers plot varying routes to their destination of choice.
But ultimately, the voyage will be dictated by the needs of their ultimate investors, not just their own business ambitions.
It was noteworthy that the voice of the pension fund investor at the roundtable - AP3's Dan Bergman - reiterated that what he wants from the reinsurance sector is not just an uncorrelated asset class, but also reasonable risk-adjusted returns.
He questioned whether non-peak perils would tick both these boxes if they were accessing the market directly, rather than through a rated, leveraged reinsurer.
And so the market continues to converge - with reinsurers keen on tapping into such demand, and ILS funds seeking ways to offer such risk to investors themselves.
To view the roundtable please click here.
Fiona Robertson
Editor
Trading Risk