asia

As insurance-linked securities (ILS) continues to diversify and expand across Asia, MS Amlin, the Lloyd’s global insurer and reinsurer, remains committed to supporting the ongoing development of the market across the region, according to William Ho, CEO of MS Amlin Asia Pacific.

A recent paper authored by Kensuke Molnar-Tanaka, OECD Development Centre and Yang-Che Wu, Feng Chia University explores how the issuance of multi-country catastrophe bonds can enhance disaster cost management in Southeast Asia.

Speaking at the 20th Singapore International Reinsurance Conference (SIRC), Mr Gan Kim Yong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry, and Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, explained that multilateral development banks have a key role to play in bringing scale to insurance-linked securities (ILS) issuances in Asia.

While the Asia region is expected to see steadily increasing activity in catastrophe bonds and other insurance-linked securities (ILS), Fitch Ratings believes the participation of regional investors needs to increase, while continued development of regulatory frameworks and local expertise is also required.

Insurtech Floodbase, which acts as a data provider and reporting agent for parametric risk transfer arrangements, has partnered with commercial insurance and reinsurance broking group Oneglobal to develop parametric flood insurance solutions for the Asian region.

Speaking at the 19th Singapore International Reinsurance Conference yesterday, Ravi Menon, Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), explained that insurance-linked securities (ILS) are a critical tool that can unlock capacity for the sizeable protection gaps that exist in Asia.

Despite being home to a high frequency of natural catastrophes, re/insurance penetration remains low across much of Asia, but as risk accumulation and demand for protection rises, there’s an opportunity for the catastrophe bond market, according to Peak Re’s CEO, Franz-Josef Hahn.

Global reinsurance firm Swiss Re may be required to help pay claims related to typhoon Saola’s impacts in the province of Guangdong, China, as the company believes a parametric scheme that it reinsures could be triggered, executives said in Monte Carlo yesterday.

To the reinsurance and insurance-linked securities (ILS) market, earthquake risk is one of the biggest peril threats in the world and one that the market can’t be complacent about, according to Paul Wilson, Head of Non-Life Analytics at Securis Investment Partners.

After several years of rate and term improvements, notably in the property catastrophe arena, there are signs the market is levelling off. But generally, returns in the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market remain attractive, according to industry experts.