Humanitarian insurance – ethical tightropes, trade-offs and unintended consequences
Insurance can be a useful tool for managing the unpredictable costs of disasters. This seems a good fit for a sector whose core business is responding to the human impacts of disasters, and often struggles to find the resources to meet unexpected peaks in demand. But humanitarians have a number of particularities linked to their […]
Disaster Risk Financing could help to mitigate climate risk in Africa
Only three percent of losses caused by drought, floods and tropical cyclones have been insured on the African continent. This emerged at a recent DZ BANK Capital Markets Conference held in Berlin. Insured losses on the African continent are close to 97 percent, which means, at best, only three percent of losses caused by drought, floods […]
As reinsurance demand rises $5bn+, alternative capacity fills renewal gaps
The alternative capital markets, so insurance-linked securities (ILS) funds, ILS investors and other third-party capital sources, have played an important role at a mid-year reinsurance renewal that saw demand increase in a capacity constrained marketplace. Aon’s Reinsurance Solutions team explained that demand for reinsurance increased at the June and July renewal season. The broker estimates […]
Cat bonds on-track to match records in 2022, fresh capital expected: Aon
Mid-way through 2022, the market for catastrophe bonds is on-track to match the record levels of issuance seen in 2021, according to insurance and reinsurance broker Aon. Demand for catastrophe bonds from established insurance-linked securities (ILS) funds and investors continues to outstrip supply in the market in recent weeks, Aon’s Reinsurance Solutions division explained. “Insurers […]
Madagascar gets ARC parametric drought insurance payout as well
The country of Madagascar is the latest to benefit from a payout under its parametric drought insurance coverage from the African Risk Capacity (ARC), with almost $800k to be disbursed to the government. The African Risk Capacity Group and the African Development Bank presented the Government of Madagascar with a US $797,049 cheque as an […]
Novel cat bonds on the horizon: Brad Adderley, Appleby
On the back of a robust opening quarter, catastrophe bond issuance remained strong in the second-quarter of 2022, and with interest from new sponsors with novel transactions, growth could be on the horizon, according to Brad Adderley. “We have done a fair amount of cat bonds in Q2, and we have not had any transactions […]
PRA’s work on UK ILS market continues with consultation on ISPVs
As the UK’s top regulator, the Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA), looks to further evolve the UK insurance-linked securities (ILS) regime, it’s outlined some proposed changes to the authorisation and supervision of insurance special purpose vehicles (ISPVs). In a recently published consultation paper, the PRA notes that since the launch of the HM Treasury’s Risk Transformation […]
“Demand for catastrophe bonds outpacing industry’s ability to meet them” – Aon
Aon’s latest Reinsurance Market Dynamics: June and July Reinsurance Renewals says that the current demand for catastrophe bonds is outpacing the ability of the industry to supply them. According to the report, the current situation has arisen because insurers and reinsurers have turned increasingly to alternative capital markets to supplement traditional reinsurance and maximise placements in a […]
Diversification pays off for some catastrophe bond funds
Some catastrophe bond funds have been able to moderate the impacts of broadly widening spreads through their diversification in recent weeks, with diversifying perils and regions experiencing less significant widening on outstanding cat bonds, so delivering better returns in May and June. We’ve been documenting the spread widening seen across the catastrophe bond market in […]
UCITS catastrophe bond funds see sluggish growth through H1
The assets under management (AUM) of the main UCITS catastrophe bond funds as a group only rose by 1.2% through the first-half of 2022, which goes some way to explain the restricted capacity of recent months. Having expanded rapidly from AUM of just under $5 billion at the end of April 2020, to more than $8 […]