The award for alternative capital dealmaker goes to an individual this year.

James Troughton has been called a unique professional in the global industry loss warranty (ILW) market. Getting re/insurers to try something new is no easy task, even if new is demonstrably better. But Troughton accomplished this last year when he structured the first ILW trade using the still relatively new PCS Japan index as a trigger, thus opening up a market of more than $600m in limit.

His work came at an uncertain time for Japanese ILWs. Loss creep on typhoons Trami and Jebi had alarmed participants. What was once a $1bn sector dried up, thanks to loss reporting and trigger failures. Due to a paucity of data sources available, triggers for Japanese ILWs tended to rely on Munich Re NatCat or Swiss Re sigma, neither of which is suited for such use. When the former published the Jebi loss at $9bn and indicated it would not revise the estimate later, the market began to worry.

Troughton tackled the issue by brokering the first ILW to use the PCS Japan index as a trigger. What followed was a massive wave of adoption, in which more than 20 companies subscribed to PCS Japan and at least $600m in limit was traded on the index– the direct result of Troughton re-energising the market for all involved.

It isn't the first time he has been involved with such an initiative—in 2017 he brokered the first ILW to use the PCS Global Marine and Energy loss index.

For stellar work in the ILW business and aiding the smooth working of the global reinsurance industry, Troughton wins the alternative capital dealmaker award this year.