Meteo Protect and BNP Paribas partner on weather risk transfer

Meteo Protect, a weather risk management, data, pricing, broking and structuring firm has entered into a strategic partnership with banking group BNP Paribas to offer its corporate and institutional clients weather risk transfer products.

Through the partnership Meteo Protect and the bank have launched a range of weather risk management financial protection products for BNP Paribas’ client base, offering them the ability to hedge or transfer weather risks.

The partnership will extend access to insurance and reinsurance capital to BNP Paribas corporate and institutional customers, which is a shrewd approach as this is a captive audience of potential customers who may never have been approached about weather risk transfer solutions before.

BNP Paribas becomes the first bank in France to offer its clients solutions to manage their exposure to the increasing risk of adverse weather conditions, a positive step as many will have been going bare on protection to date.

Meteo Protect will offer consultancy services to BNP Paribas clients as well, helping them to assess and manage their weather risks, with its team of meteorologists, climatologists, quantitative analysts and actuaries offering the ability to help them manage volume, yield and price risks.

Meteo Protect, as a broker with offices in Paris, London, and Mumbai, enables those exposed to weather risks to access sources of insurance or reinsurance capacity, including the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market where appetite to invest in weather risks continues to grow.

Products can likely be structured in a number of ways, as derivatives, swaps and collars, or as pure insurance products, depending on the clients needs.

“Thanks to this alliance, clients of BNP Paribas whose activity is affected by the weather at any point along the supply chain may now cover against increased costs, offset declines in turnover, or limit the volatility of their financial results from one year to the next,” commented Dr. Jean-Louis Bertrand, Director of Research and Development of Meteo Protect.

“This exclusive partnership allows our customers to analyze and better understand their exposure to changing weather. This approach is fully in line with our purpose to serve our clients better by offering innovative services to support the growth of their business in a sustainable manner,” added Frédéric Rochoux, Head of Business Development Business in Retail Banking in France of BNP Paribas.

Meteo Protects range of solutions are underwritten by many of the world’s largest providers of insurance and reinsurance capital, and we’d imagine a number of the world’s leading ILS fund managers also quote on these products as well.