The protection gap – underinsurance in emerging and developing economies and the gap between economic and insurance losses – the opportunity that is on every reinsurance CEO’s lips and which presents the largest opportunity to put excess risk transfer capital to use, requiring both traditional and capital markets support.
In a market that is faced with abundant and ongoing pressure, from excess capital, new entrants, the capital markets, reductions in buying, consolidation of reinsurer panels and difficult global financial market conditions, the reinsurance industry is focusing on the next big opportunity.
This opportunity provides both reinsurers and ILS fund managers with an opportunity to assist in building the world’s resilience to disaster risks, while providing rapidly paying post-event risk finance, at the same time as growing the world’s catastrophe risk markets.
It’s win-win for both sides, those in need of resilience and disaster risk financing and the re/insurance and ILS market which is keen to expand into new regions, perils and opportunities. Narrowing the protection gap is expected to be a key focus for years to come.
According to a new report from the World Bank and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), natural catastrophes push some 26 million people into poverty and cost a staggering $520 billion in losses, each year, underlining the importance of disaster risk finance and improved disaster resilience.
Read the full article
The global capital market has ample capacity to assume the international disaster gap with “relative ease,” and utilising insurance-linked securities (ILS) solutions to address the issue benefits both societies and investors, according to John Seo, Co-Founder and Managing Principal at Fermat Capital Management LLC.
Read the full article
The World Bank has announced that the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Assessment and Financing Initiative (PCRAFI) has renewed for its fifth season and transitioned into phase II, with the establishment of its own captive insurer.
Read the full article
The evolution of the convergence space continues to influence the global insurance and reinsurance industry and this is only the beginning of the market’s transformation, which, along with traditional forms of capacity can address the global protection gap, according to industry experts.
Read the full article
As the European reinsurance industry meets in Baden-Baden, to discuss the upcoming January renewal season, the focus is not solely on pricing and some are highlighting the positive contribution that reinsurance and risk capital can make to society.
Read the full article
Summer flooding from extreme rainfall and storms that affected the Yangtze River basis and north-northeastern China resulted in economic losses of over $38 billion, but just 1.5% or $596 million was covered by insurance, according to reinsurance broker Aon Benfield.
Read the full article
Insurance industry think tank, the Geneva Association (GA), has underlined the necessity of reducing the financial impact of extreme weather events across the globe, an area where the features and capacity of the ILS market has the potential to play an important role.
Read the full article
The Insurance Development Forum (IDF) has expressed its support of the G7 InsuResilience target and proposed the formation of a Technical Assistance Facility (TAF), which, aims to support increased insurance penetration in emerging regions and that could be supported by the insurance-linked securities (ILS) space.
Read the full article
The insurance and reinsurance industry has organised itself to address existential issues related to climate change risk and the industry has shown “genius” by recognising that catastrophes and weather disasters could become increasingly severe in the future, according to Mark Carney.
Read the full article
Launching an insurance-linked securities (ILS) market in the UK is a key deliverable over the next six months for the London Market Group (LMG), as the anticipated publication of ILS legislation and its enactment is seen as a critical piece of the London insurance and reinsurance market’s modernisation.
Read the full article
