asia

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.

While the Hong Kong regulator’s insurance-linked securities (ILS) grant scheme is expected to attract sponsors to the region, the new regime must show its competitiveness against existing and established ILS domiciles, say industry experts.

The impact and subsequent loss creep from typhoon Jebi in Japan in 2018 caught many insurance-linked securities (ILS) investors by surprise, but the eventual deviation from initial vendor model loss estimates doesn’t translate to a fundamental issue with the models themselves, say industry experts.

Knowledge and understanding of the insurance-linked securities (ILS) asset class is on the rise in Asia, and while local expertise is a real benefit, it’s also vitally important to communicate early and persistently with the investor base, according to industry experts.

Highlighted by the efforts of Singapore and more recently Hong Kong, there’s an exciting and growing opportunity for the insurance-linked securities (ILS) sector to play a meaningful role in the Asia region, according to industry experts.