D&F start-up plans to tap ILS market for capacity support

ORIGINAL PUBLICATION HERE

A newly established start-up that will specialise in underwriting direct & facultative (D&F) property risks for the world’s top two thousand global companies is aiming to bring ILS investors along for the ride as supporting capacity.

Agile Risk Partners Limited has been founded by ex-broker James Poole (previously at Price Forbes and Arthur J Gallagher & Co.), alongside well-known D&F market underwriter Richard Foster (most recently the Head of Global Property at Brit Insurance), Artemis can reveal.

Foster has significant underwriting expertise in the international property and energy space, particularly in direct & facultative risks, so will provide the underwriting expertise for the venture.

World Bank extends parametric insurance grant to Marshall Islands

ORIGINAL PUBLICATION HERE

The World Bank has approved a $2.5 million grant that will pay the Republic of the Marshall Islands premiums for parametric disaster insurance coverage under the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Assessment and Finance Initiative (PCRAFI).

The grant is designed to support that Marshall Islands goal of strengthening its resilience to natural disasters, including tropical cyclones and tsunamis, and enhancing its ability to respond quickly when catastrophes strike.

Perhaps the state should buy risk transfer: Mumenthaler, Swiss Re CEO

ORIGINAL PUBLICATION HERE

The issues of under-insurance and the disaster insurance protection gap means people lack financial support after catastrophes strike and if the state always has to intervene after the loss event, perhaps the state itself should be buying risk transfer protection, according to Christian Mumenthaler, CEO of Swiss Re.

Christian Mumenthaler, the CEO of global reinsurance giant Swiss Re, discussed the issue of under-insurance in a recent interview with German paper Handelsblatt.

His firm Swiss Re has been increasing its focus on issues related to the protection gap in recent years, highlighting the business opportunity that is presented by the opportunity to put more of the reinsurers capacity behind emerging risk pools and into products that help in narrowing the gap.

Blockchain smart contracts unlikely to replace traditional processes: Solidum

ORIGINAL PUBLICATION HERE

The nuanced complexity of a re/insurance contract makes it an unrealistic candidate for replacement by blockchain smart contracts, according to independent investment management firm Solidum Partners.

A smart contract is essentially an immutable piece of code embedded into the blockchain that can execute binary decisions such as the automatic transfer of value from one account to another.

Swiss Re highlights rising global protectionism

ORIGINAL PUBLICATION HERE

As global protectionism continues to rise there’s potential for a longer-term decline in trade, which in turn will negatively impact marine and trade credit insurance premium growth, according to reinsurance giant Swiss Re’s inaugural edition of its Economic Insights series.

The report, titled Protectionism on the rise, and here to stay, states that although protectionism is on the rise, to date, the impact on the global economy and insurance has been negligible.

UNDP evaluates cat bonds as disaster risk transfer solution for ECIS region

ORIGINAL PUBLICATION HERE. НА РУССКОМ ЗДЕСЬ 

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is evaluating the use of catastrophebonds as part of a disaster risk transfer solution for use in the Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (ECIS) region.

The focus is on ECIS countries ( Central Asia, Southern Caucasus, Eastern and South East Europe, and Turkey) where underinsured natural disaster risks are costly burdens on government’s, society and taxpayers, drawing influential parties to focus on identifying macroeconomic solutions to minimise the cost of losses.

Between 2005 and 2014 this region of Eastern Europe and CIS faced 314 natural disaster events, which caused the deaths of more than 60,000 people, with 11 million affected by the disaster events.

ILW volumes rise in 2018, price softens despite capacity shortages: Aon Securities

ORIGINAL PUBLICATION HERE

Industry loss warranty (ILW) trading volumes have risen in 2018 so far, with protection buyers showing renewed interest in the industry loss trigger based product, but while volumes rose Aon Securities has also noted that, despite capacity shortages at times, ILW prices are tending to soften.

Year over year capacity has been in shortage at times for the majority of ILW products, Aon Securities explains.

However, reinsurance firms are becoming very flexible when it comes to the ILW product and Aon notes they were “willing to entertain lower trigger levels in order to raise their market profile and to differentiate themselves.”

ПРООН оценивает катастрофические облигации, как решение по трансферу рисков для региона ECIS

ОРИГИНАЛЬНАЯ ПУБЛИКАЦИЯ ЗДЕСЬ

Программа Развития Организации Объединенных Наций (ПРООН) оценивает использование катастрофических облигаций, как часть решений по трансферу риска стихийных бедствий для региона Европы и Содружества Независимых Государств (ECIS).

Для выявления возможных макроэкономических решений по минимизации затрат от убытков привлечены влиятельные стороны с фокусом на страны ECIS (Центральная Азия, Южный Кавказ, Восточная и Юго-восточная Европа, а также Турция), где недострахованные природные катастрофы являются серьезным бременем для правительств, общества и налогоплательщиков.

Между 2005 и 2014 годами регион Восточной Европы и СНГ пережил 314 природных бедствий, повлекших гибель более чем 60,000 людей с 11 миллионами пострадавших.

Should Fannie & Freddie transfer earthquake risk to the capital markets?

ORIGINAL PUBLICATION HERE

The two government-sponsored enterprises (GSE’s) in mortgage risk, Fannie Mae (the Federal National Mortgage Association) and Freddie Mac (the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation), should be required to transfer some of the earthquake risk exposure they carry to the capital markets, according to a report.

The report from nonprofit, nonpartisan, public policy research organisation the R Street Institute, calls for the two GSE’s to reduce the potential for a hit to a taxpayer, should a major earthquake strike.

Durability of ILS structures no longer in question: Tim Faries, Appleby

ORIGINAL PUBLICATION HERE

Any doubts surrounding the durability of alternative structures have largely been put to bed after ILS’ response to 2017 events. And while there’s been no surprises so far in 2018, the ongoing maturation and evolution of the sector suggests investors won’t be completely decimated by losses.

This is according to Tim Faries, Bermuda Managing Partner of offshore law firm Appleby, who met with Artemis at the annual meeting of the reinsurance industry in Monte Carlo recently to discuss trends in the catastrophe bond and broader insurance-linked securities (ILS) marketplace.