Archive for August, 2010

Locarno International Film Festival, Bielersee-Navigation-Company and Ski Lifts Schwyz-Stoos Fronalpstock are among the winners this summer as they have successfully hedged against bad summer weather conditions in Europe. They hedged their financial risks with customized weather derivatives and received an automatic payout following a rainy summer according to CelsiusPro.

Concerted action in the form of public-private partnerships is required from governments, insurers and pension providers if they are to tackle the risk of increased life expectancy. In its new report ‘A short guide to longer lives: Longevity funding issues and potential solutions’ published today, Swiss Re warns that time is running out for effective […]

The Guyanese government have issued a press release calling on the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) to get its much discussed rainfall insurance product ready by year end. The CCRIF teamed up with the Caribbean Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH) to create and launch a rainfall model for the Caribbean which can be […]

The Atlantic tropical storm season has kicked off with a vengeance. There are three named storms in the Atlantic right now; Danielle which reached Category 3 but never threatened land, Earl (more about him later) and Fiona who is a few days off becoming a hurricane. Both Danielle and Earl have blown up to become […]

A major hailstorm which struck the Perth area of Australia on the 22nd March this year has become one of the costliest disasters ever experienced in that country. The Insurance Council of Australia has released figures which show the storm was the third most costly event on record.

A new investment firm who will be specialising in insurance-linked securities has launched in Switzerland (according to Investment & Pensions Europe). Twelve Capital are a boutique investment and asset management firm who will be offering insurance-linked security and insurance related debt investment opportunities.

The Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has signed into law a bill which will allow the creation of a catastrophe fund designed to protect the rural sector.

Remember HURLOs? Hurricane Risk Landfall Options? They were launched in October 2008 by Weather Risk Solutions, LLC (WRS) and promised a mutualized marketplace for hurricane options (our previous coverage here and here). To date they’ve been dabbled with by investment professionals but we haven’t heard a great deal more until today.

There has been much discussion in recent years regarding climate change, man made global warming and their possible link to increasing disaster insurance losses. Studies have suggested in recent years that disaster losses have been increasing more rapidly and so people look for a reason for this increase and one suggestion has always been climate […]

Weather Services International (WSI) foresee a very active remainder of the 2010 Atlantic tropical storm and hurricane season. Their latest tropical weather update calls for 18 named storms, 10 hurricanes and 5 intense hurricanes of category 3 or higher. This after a benign start to the season demonstrates the need for insurers and catastrophe bond […]