Ex-Pimco Executive to Run World’s First Catastrophe-Bond ETF (2)

Catastrophe bonds, whose returns have consistently trounced those of high-yield debt markets in recent years, are about to become accessible to a wider group of investors.

An exchange-traded fund based on a portfolio of as many as 75 of the 250 so-called cat bonds outstanding is due to start trading on the New York Stock Exchange next month, marking a world first.

“It’s a very nuanced asset class and our goal is to demystify it,” Rick Pagnani, co-founder and chief executive of King Ridge Capital Advisors Inc., which will manage the ETF, said in an interview. The fund ...