Daily Update — September 25, 2026
Barriers to US Offshore Wind; Inside Direct Lending Feeder Funds; and AI In Insurance Sector
Today is Friday, September 25, 2026, and here’s your curated selection of Essential Intelligence on global markets from S&P Global. Subscribe to be notified of each new Daily Update.
Energy Expansion
Listen: Checking in on US offshore wind: Lease buybacks and legal blowback
Lease buyouts have emerged as an issue for the US offshore wind sector as the Trump administration attempts to stymie industry development. In this episode of the “Energy Evolution” podcast, S&P Global Energy renewables reporter Noah Schwartz joined host Camilla Naschert to discuss federal deals that allow offshore wind developers to cancel leases in exchange for fossil fuel investment commitments and government reimbursement.
Additionally, S&P Global Energy offshore wind analyst John Murray explained the financial and regulatory pressures facing developers, while former Bureau of Ocean Energy Management head Elizabeth Klein discussed the legal challenges, state-level opposition and national security arguments surrounding offshore wind.
Private Markets
ABS Frontiers: Are Direct Lending Feeder Funds CLOs In Disguise?
Rated note feeders, or feeder funds that typically invest in a single limited partner interest in a master fund, are gaining attention among investors seeking alternatives to middle-market collateralized loan obligations for private credit and direct lending exposure. Rated note feeders (RNFs) create tranched exposure to the limited partner interest through the issuance of one or more classes of debt and a residual equity component. By obtaining credit ratings on the debt instruments, institutional investors such as insurance companies may benefit from lower regulatory capital charges compared with direct equity investments in the underlying master funds.
RNFs set up on a direct lending private credit fund can closely resemble middle-market collateralized loan obligations, but there are differences that can result in RNFs being assigned lower investment-grade ratings, according to S&P Global Ratings.
Artificial Intelligence
AI In Insurance Survey: Governance, Data Readiness, And Risk Controls Will Drive Competitive Advantage
AI is increasingly transforming the insurance industry. Deployment of the technology is growing rapidly, driven by optimism that it can improve business performance. Although adoption has yet to directly affect S&P Global Ratings' views on credit quality — with no AI-related rating actions in the sector to date — the potential for operational and financial gains, and associated governance and technological risks, is increasingly relevant to our credit analysis.
S&P Global Ratings’ global survey of 121 insurance entities, representing about 38% of rated insurers’ total assets, shows a transition from localized experimentation toward formal strategic integration, including at some of the largest multiline insurers and reinsurers.
In case you missed it
- Indonesia is planning to rapidly build out its power infrastructure and multiply its national data center capacity tenfold by 2029 to support expected AI and hyperscaler growth.
- Business activity rose across the UK private sector for a third straight month in September, rounding off a quarter of modest economic growth.
- Despite increased headline premium rates, insurance companies have lost billions of dollars covering war risks for shipping during the ongoing US-Israel war with Iran, according to a senior official of the International Union of Marine Insurance.
Upcoming events
- From Macro Noise to Market Edge: Actionable Signals for Investors | September 29 (New York)
- Digital Assets: U.S. Policy Developments & Outlook For Crypto & DeFi | September 30 (Webinar)
- Managing Country and Geopolitical Risk in an Era of Elevated Uncertainty | October 1 (New York)
Content Type
Segment